James Rafferty - Armageddon

good morning Church I was trying to figure out a way to hook together the sermon this morning with Mother's Day so I came up with this title Armageddon Mother's Day and you and it actually does work because if we open our Bibles either computer or old school this is good I'm good yeah I'm good thank you if we open our Bibles to Revelation chapter 16 we're going to find there a description of the Battle of Armageddon now a lot of people have given a go at this scripture at this battle lots of presidents and a lot of various theological experts so I thought we could give it a go this morning what do you think Revelation chapter 16 though is coming in a timeframe when probation is closed the seven last plagues are being poured out what everything is basically over it is kind of like well what would the Battle of Armageddon have to do with us and so I'd like to suggest this morning just as an introduction that the Battle of Armageddon doesn't really belong in the seven last plagues now let me just illustrate this a little bit I live in the United States I'm a Yank but I was actually raised in England that's where my mother lives she's Irish so I'm Irish on my mother's side American on my dad's side born in America but raised in England and when I when we moved to to America when I was a young lad my mom and my sister ended up moving back to England and they've lived there ever since I was a teenager but I've lived in America and as I grew I thought it was important for myself to keep in contact with my mother especially on Mother's Day so I would always send her a card on May 14 or the second Sunday in May or whenever my Mother's Day was and every time I would send her a card the next time I would talk to on the phone she would say I got your card I thought you forgot about Mother's Day because Mother's Day in England is in April and I would make the excuse well Mother's Day in America is in May year after year after year we repeated that cycle until this year and this year I decided if Mother's Day in England is in April then I need to send my mother a Mother's Day card in April I don't want to wait until May to send my mother a Mother's Day card when she's expecting a Mother's Day card in April and she feels like I've forgotten her for a whole month until finally she gets the Mother's Day card so what does this have to do with Armageddon you're asking well you may not be asking that but I know David is Armageddon as a battle is in the wrong place now I think the reason why it's into seven last plagues is because God wants us to consider the idea that by the time we get to the seven last plagues and we read about the seven last plagues we realize realize how awful the seven last plagues really are we're going to be thinking well how did we ever get out of this or what is the way that we can be prepared so that we don't find ourselves on the wrong side of the seven last plagues and so God puts this little quote out in here this thing these three little verses Revelation 16 13 14 15 and 16 actually yes 16 to remind us how we get here prepared and to remind us who it is that we need to get through the seven last plagues and of course that is Jesus the seven last plagues if we get it right actually belong back before probation closes among the three angels message in the proclamation of the gospel they they actually belong where we are today and that's what we want to consider as we study this message this morning let's just pause for a word of Prayer father in heaven again I want to thank you for your word and for this opportunity that we have this Sabbath morning to open it John was in the spirit on the Lord's Day and we know that that day is the Sabbath because the Bible tells us the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord our God and so we pause to ask that you would set us in the spirit that we would not enter upon the holy pages of your word without the illumination of your Holy Spirit not just to guide and teach us but to seal us into the truth so we can't be moved father do this work for us today we can't do it for ourselves and we're asking in the precious name of Jesus Christ amen the Battle of Armageddon well it's a pretty serious battle when you think about it all joking aside Revelation chapter 16 verse 12 says that the sixth angel pours out his vial upon the great river Euphrates and that river is dried up that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared now this language comes from the Old Testament as does most of the language in the book of Revelation we have to go to the Old Testament and/or the New Testament but we have to go to the rest of the Bible to really unpack what's going on in the symbolism of Revelation so the river Euphrates when we go back in history was a river that ran through the great city of Babylon this was a power in the earth like none other back in its day it was described by Daniel and God as the head of gold the whole earth they prostate at her feet now Babylon was surrounded by the medon Persian army cyrus was trying to conquer this city but he couldn't because of this River and the supply of food that it gave to the city there was no way that he was going to be able to bring it down but there was a prophecy in the Bible that predicted that Cyrus the anointed of the Lord the king from the east would be able to take Babylon down by going through the gates that ran down in the riverbed and so Cyrus eventually diverted the river and was able to march his army through the riverbed to these unlock gates and go into the city of Babylon and conquer it in one night you can read about the fall of Babylon in Daniel chapter 5 so we take this story now we place it into the book of Revelation we find there that the same thing is happening again in Revelation the waters of the river or the river Euphrates are being dried up that the way of the kings of the East might be prepared now in Revelation we are told all about these waters what they represent and where they are located in Revelation chapter 17 verse 1 it says then one of the seven angels that have the seven bowls of the seven last plagues so so these are one of the angels that are that are pouring out the place it's possibly the very angel it pours out the sixth plague that dries up the river Euphrates one of the seven angels support out the seven bowls came and talked with me saying come and I will show you the judgment at that great harlot who sits where upon many waters so we've got a harlot sitting upon many waters then John is told and on her forehead was a name written revelation 17:5 Mystery Babylon the Great mother of harlots and of the abominations of the earth so now we have a connection between Old Testament Babylon and a Babylon that is described in the book of Revelation we have a connection between the Old Testament River Euphrates and this river that is described in Revelation chapter 16 that is going to be dried up continuing on and he said unto me the waters which you saw where elation 1750 where the harlot sits are what people's and multitudes and nations and tongues they're us they're the people's and the nation's and the multitudes and tongues of this world's we are symbolized by the waters that are described as being dried up in Revelation 16 as the river Euphrates was diverted and dried up in the Old Testament those waters represent people's nations multitudes and tongues you would be so far all right let's continue on so the waters of the great review freight ease represents the peoples nations and multitudes and tongues who support the mystical modern babylon the great city and its leaders of the present day economic system did you get all that you can read it again let me just explain it a little bit further the book of Revelation is taking in an economic system controls the world leaders the kings of the world and all the peoples of multitudes of the world and this economic system is it described as Babylon that's the code name for the system Babylon this Babylonian system the spiritual Babylonian system has control of all the peoples nations and multitudes and tongues of the world those peoples nations and multitudes and tongues actually supports this mystical Babylon you and I are part of all of that I'm going to see how in just a few minutes continuing on now the water thereof being dried up was dried up that the ways that the kings of the East might be prepared what does it mean that it was dried up the drying up of the water means that babylons economic system loses support and begins to collapse have you seen a little bit of that taking place in the world today the economics of the world is in a very scary place up and down up and down up and down there's a number of elements that are developing and have been developing over the last few decades that are bringing us to the precipice of economic collapse now we could look at the world we can see that that is happening and perhaps some of us would say no it's always been that way etc etc but the Word of God is actually indicating that that is going to happen there's coming a time when the economics of this world are going to collapse and you can read Revelation chapter 18 it makes it very very clear that the whole chapter describes in detail that collapse of the of the economics of the entire world's under that codename Babylon we see its fall now going back what does that have to do with the Battle of Armageddon what does that have to do with the Battle of Armageddon I think it's really interesting when you look at these verses that the drying up of the waters that is the people's support for Babylon and the collapse of the global economic system prepares the way for the return of Jesus Christ there is something that is going to take place in our world on an economic level that is going to cause the whole world to come into a time of crisis economic crisis revelation 13 describes it this way as a time when no man was going to be able to buy or sell that's economics isn't it no one even if they're rich or poor rich or poor they won't be able to buy or sell so there's there's going to be some something taking place here the Bible is predicting in relation to our economics and that is going to prepare the way for the kings of the East now we need to understand from a biblical perspective who the kings of the East are who are these kings of the East we know in the Old Testament it was Cyrus and Cyrus was the Lord's anointed in the New Testament we find that Jesus Christ himself is described as Messiah the Lord's anointed in fact the word Christ means The Anointed One could Christ be the king of the east in Matthew 24 Jesus gave an outline of endtime events signs of the times and in that he described his second coming this way he says in Matthew 24 verse 70 27 for as the Lightning comes from the east and flashes to the west even so will the coming of the Son of Man be Jesus Christ is going to return from the east and he is indeed a king is he not does he come by himself when Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin when he was being tried by the religious leaders of his time he talked about his second coming he said in Matthew chapter 26 verse 64 he said it is it is as you said nevertheless I say unto you hereafter will you see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power and coming on the clouds of glory you see when Jesus comes the father's going to come with him and we could say the father is also a king and because they're coming from the east we could say that the Father and Jesus Christ are the kings of the east that the economic system Babylon is going to be dried up in preparation for the coming of Jesus Christ with his father in glory you with me so far not lost yet okay let's go just one step further here and make this a little bit more interesting because we want to unpack the battle itself Armageddon only mentioned one place in the Bible that's Revelation chapter 16 it's not mentioned anywhere else not in the New Testament all in the Old Testament so we want to ask a few questions God loves for us to ask questions question number one who's the battle between who is the Battle of Armageddon between now we could go to various different locations on the internet and the web we could search and we could find people who will give us various answers to this but I'm suggesting this one that we might want to try just going right to the Bible and just ask God to tell us who the battle is between and this is what he's going to tell us Revelation chapter 16 verse 13 I saw three unclean spirits like frogs come out of the mouth of the Dragon and out of the mouth of the Beast and out of the mouth of the false prophets so here's a description of the battle and there are these three frogs or speaks QB three unclean spirits like frogs the Beast the dragon the false prophets then it goes on to say in verse 14 to gather them to the Battle of the great day of who God Almighty so it's very clear here from the Bible that the battle is between the Beast the dragon the false prophet and God okay next question who is involved in the battle who is involved in the battle again we want to go to the Word of God and the Word of God tells us for they the Beast is Regulus and the false prophet all are the spirits of Devil's working miracles and going forth to the kings of the earth and to what the whole worlds the whole world this isn't an isolated conflict that takes place somewhere over in the Middle East between these military powers this conflict the Battle of armed gedan involves the entire world and all the rulers of the worlds so the battle involves the world leaders and the whole world that would include you and me good so far all right next question what weapons are used it is a battle some kind of fight some kind of conflict what weapons are used let's take a closer look at this and I saw three unclean spirits like what frogs come out of the mouth of the dragon now this is really important as we understand this they are the spirits of Devil's working miracles miracles which lead to deception and we want to understand again the from the old testament what these frogs are all abouts God again is boring symbolism from the Old Testament the frogs remind us of a plague that took place in the Old Testament story of the Exodus Moses was called by God to bring his people out of Egypt and God used him to deliver his people through various plagues that came upon Egypt ten of them and one of those plagues was a plague of frogs now for those of you who may not recall specifically what the plague frog plague was all about let's just go back in and take a look at this so we can understand exactly what happened because frogs are kind of cute little slimy creatures that just rivet at night and quietly love you to sleep right as long as they're in their place and don't multitude multiply too much but the problem with the frogs in in Exodus 8 verse 3 is that they were everywhere Exodus 83 says so the river bed shall bring forth frogs abundantly which shall go up and come into your house and into your bedrooms and into your bed and into the houses of your servants they will also be in your on your people and in your ovens and in your kneading bowls they're going to be everywhere this was the plague of the frogs now God is purposely taking this plague the specific one and applying it to some activity that's taking place in this battle of Armageddon that involves all the world in the leaves of the world in the end of time a battle that is taking place right now preparatory to the final work of Christ just before he comes what is the point that God is making here with these frogs let's break it down if we can we could say it this way your house would represent your personal space your bedroom would represent your private space your bed would represent your sleep space your houses or the house of your servant would represent your work space your people would be your friend space your ovens would be your cooking space and the kneading bowls would be your food space in other words these frogs whatever they represent are everywhere you can't really get away from them even the pastor even the pastor has access to these frogs what would these frogs represent these frogs these unclean spirits could I suggest that they represent Satan's attempt to inundate our minds and hearts 24/7 through the media in your private space in your bed space in your work space in your food space in your church space I hope there's no one here this morning that's playing a video game while I'm preaching a sermon but if you are God's grace is still available and we'll have a talk after church now don't misunderstand I'm standing up here preaching a sermon with one of these little devices but by the grace of God we can use technology for the proclamation of the gospel it's just that there's a fine line there isn't there and we do need the grace of God to make sure that we're in control of this and that this isn't in control of us I've seen it happen I've seen it happen I've seen times when people will be in church will be in worship will be in the presence of God not the presence of a speaker per se because men women speakers are insignificant they're just vessels and channels we are here in the presence of God in the presence of His Holy Word and we're listening to him communicate to us a message from heaven and the phone rings now back in the day when I was a young lad way way way long long time ago because Kyle is half my age approximately if the phone rang and you weren't home there was no way you could answer it you'd have a little box that would beep and have a recorded message and when you got home there would be flashing red lights do you remember those days flashing red lights and you would run over to the box and you would push the brass the red flashing red light and you would hear all these messages come through and then and then you would pick up the phone which was hooked to a cord which is hooked to your wall so you could never get it off the wall into your house into your car or into your person without it breaking and you would listen to the message and call the people back but now we have these handy-dandy things everywhere and somehow someway we've gotten to the place where we think that if that thing rings we need to answer it and when you allow that to take place you are no longer in control of that device that device is now in control of you it is now dictating whether or not you're going to stay in this meeting whether you're not you're going to continue a conversation with someone Oh whether or not you're going to engage whether you're in your personal space or your work space or your family space or your food space or whether you're going to disengage from everything that's around you could that be it could it be that simple well let's go a little bit further with this these frogs are everywhere we turn can you imagine what it was like for the Egyptians you slip into bed at night you're exhausted you've been through a few plagues already and it's getting kind of tiring and as you push your feet down the sheets you feel some slimy green mass something starts crawling up your leg and you pull back the sheet and there it is right in your face ribbit ribbit it's almost impossible to get away from it I always put my phone on airplane mode at night got to do it there's got to be a time to shut it off there's got to be a time when we disconnect from the frogs when there's no access we've got to maintain control so the Bible says revelation 10 excuse-me 16 verse 15 behold I'm coming with becoming as a thief blessed is he that watches and keeps what His garment now here's the key because this first in a sense is a transition it's it's different from the three verses that we just read it still involves the Battle of Armageddon but it takes us now to a solution it takes us now to where we really need to be blessed is he that watches and keeps his garments lest he walk naked and they see his shame there's a lot of shame in this building this morning this afternoon that is being covered by the blood of Jesus and there's not a single ounce not a fiber of shame that Jesus Christ does not want to cover in that day he wants to cover it all he wants it all going down kujan Creek he wants all our sins down under way down under he wants to cover all our shame and so he says we need the garments what are the garments we'll all through the Bible we're told what the garments are revelation tells us in 3 verse 4 that the garments of the faithful and 3:5 the garments of the overcomers and 3:18 the garments that are needed by the lost in 4 for the garments of the 24 elders in 1913 the garments of Christ because the garments of his righteousness and in 1916 of the garments with the name written king of kings and Lord of lords that's what we need and have you noticed have you noticed that the world and the Spirit of the world is trying to consume our time and our attention so that we would not have the garments of Jesus Christ's so that those garments would be removed so that so the world would become more important to us than being clothed with Christ's righteousness because that is the Battle of Armageddon and that's where we are right now we don't want to miss Mother's Day in England we don't want to miss the Battle of Armageddon it's not often the future somewhere it's taking place right now right here even today continue on continuing on Ephesians chapter 6 verse 11 tells us what these garments actually look like what are these garments it describes the garments as an armor that we're to wear it says in Ephesians 6 verse 11 put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the what the wiles of the devil remember the three unclean spirits going forth to all the worlds to deceive to end clean spirits like Devils that you may be able to stand against the wall the devil wiles of the devil then it goes on to say in verse 12 for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers against the rulers of the darkness of this age against spiritual wickedness in heavenly places the most of spiritual wickedness in heavenly places where for he says take on yourselves the whole armour of God that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand stand therefore having your loins Girt about with what truth that's part of the armor the truth and then it goes on to say having on the breastplate of righteousness that's part of the armor the righteousness of Jesus Christ so we have the truth of the word of God we have the righteousness of Jesus Christ it goes on to say have your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace the gospel the good news and above all taking the shield of faith the shield of faith that can withstand those darts quench all the fiery darts of the wicked and then it says and take on yourself the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit which is what the word of God now friends it's really important for us to understand this because sometimes we think that the helmet of salvation is all we need some of us would be content just throwing on the helmet of salvation and going on our way no shield of faith no sword of the word of God no gospel no truth just the helmet of salvation but the Bible tells us we need the whole armor to withstand in this evil day we need every piece of the armor on every day and then it goes on to say this praying always with all prayer and supplication in the spirit watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints prayer kind of seals it all up prayer so what about this armor is it going to cause us to stand in this day the weapons that are used are the miracles and the false gospel the deception of Satan and the gospel and God's armor on the other side continuing on identifying this battle where does the battle take place where does this battle take place well this words Armageddon is an interesting word it says in Revelation chapter 16 and verse 16 that we're being gathered to gather into a place called in the Hebrew tongue Armageddon now the word itself has two different meanings one is the hill or the mountain of Megiddo and the other is inferred the Mount of the assembly or the Mount of the congregation both of them I think are significance I would not want to to focus on one and leave out the other so let's look at the first here at the bottom on the second one the Mount of the Assembly of the Mount of the congregation this one takes us to Isaiah chapter 14 where Lucifer is prophesied as saying how out there fallen Louis from heaven o Lucifer son of the morning how I'll cut down to the ground which did weaken the nation's for thou have said in your heart I will ascend into heaven I will exalt my throne above the stars of God I will sit also upon the Mount of the congregation in the sides of the north I will ascend above the house heights of the clouds I will be like the Most High there's a lot of I in there isn't there aiiii phone i plaid i Mac I there's a lot of self there there's a lot of selfies in that verse isn't there and there's a lot of self in us let's be honest there's a lot of self in us and sometimes we can put on a form we can put on an outward appearance we can we can try to pretend that self isn't alive but the fact of the matter is every one of us is dealing with self it's all alive all the time and there's only one person can actually take care of that for us and that person is Jesus Christ Jesus Christ so Satan is putting a lot of I enough from the fall till now he's put in a lot of I in us he wants to sit them out of the congregation he wants to sit in the place of God and we do to God can get a lot of the glory that we want a little bit we want enough to make us look good last night we had an incredible agape feast with a foot washing service and we were reminded the rice students and those who attended were reminded of the place of Christ as he came to this earth which isn't really something that he did just for example but more of something that he did to reveal what God is really like Jesus didn't come down here to say you guys are fallen so you really need to humble yourselves in order to make it to heaven Jesus came down here and said you guys are fallen and you don't realize that humility is heaven you've lost that vision of what heaven is really like and in in order to you to be able to enjoy yourself in heaven that humility needs to be restored to your hearts because when we get to heaven I don't want you arguing with me the king of the universe the god of glory I don't want you arguing me when I start serving you at the Last Supper you know that right we're going to have this table set out and Jesus is going to be serving every one of us serving serving serving serving serving and some of us would say no no no your God you're the King of glory you shouldn't serve us we should serve you with true true enough but ultimately service is the image in which we remain to serve to give I loved what I was hearing this morning didn't you about the whole emphasis of the kingscliff Church on service because we get that to that as we take the truth that we believe in combine it with service for our community we will be a powerful light in this world God has called us to service but there's another understanding of this verse the hill or mountain of Megiddo I had the privilege to go to Israel some years ago and we went to this valley of Megiddo and as you look out in this valley of Megiddo there is a mountain that looms up in the distance job pauline professor andrews at the time was our tour guide and he was explaining to us how this all fits in with the Battle of Armageddon because this mountain that you see there when you sit in the valley of megiddo is Mount Carmel do you remember the story of Mount Carmel Mount Carmel again boring from the Old Testaments imagery the stories of the Old Testament coming into the book of Revelation it was a time of apostasy all of God's people worshiping Bale which means Lord they were worshiping the Lord's but they weren't sure if the Lord was the lord of the Lord was spelled they were confused there was such a mixture of truth with error that the people weren't even sure what they were worshipping and so God called a messenger his name was Elijah and he came to the King first Kings chapter 17 Ahab and Elijah the Tishbite of the inhabitants of Gilead said to Ahab as the Lord God of Israel lives before whom I stand there shall be neither do nor rain these years except by my words many of you know the story it didn't rain for three and a half years the land was barren and then finally when they have found a lot Elijah when when God told Elijah to make his presence known a have said to Elijah you troubler of Israel what are the lies you say I haven't troubled Israel I haven't troubled Israel you are the one that is troubled Israel because you have turned away from the commandments of the Lord's where do we stand today the story comes to us in the Battle of Armageddon the story comes to us right now today as we sit here in this congregation are we serving the Lord's bail or are we serving the Lord God there was a showdown and that showdown took place at Mount Carmel with all the prophets of bail and Elijah came to Mount Carmel he was commanded the Lord to come there and build an altar and the prophets of bale built an altar and they began to pray because whoever was whoever's God would bring fire down to consume the sacrifice that was in those altars whichever God answered by fire that was the God and so they prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and prayed and nothing happens and finally Elijah set up his altar and he prayed after soaking it with water several times and God answered by fire and when God answered by fire all the people said the Lord he is God the Lord he is God well that's the story in summary but what does that have to do with the Battle of Armageddon well Elijah had called the people to a decision Elijah had called the people to a decision because they were halting between God and Bale and he said how long are you going to compromise how long are you going to have one foot in the world and one foot in the church how long you want to be hesitating between fully serving God and surrendering it to him and serving this world's I guess that's the message this morning in the Battle of Armageddon I don't know what you're compromising I don't know how much of your foot is in the worlds how much of your body is on one side while the other is on God site I don't know where you are only the Holy Spirit knows that but I do know this that this message placed in the book of Revelation is for us today even this morning or this afternoon God is speaking to us in this message put in the sickle Joel chapter 2 13 and 14 says but the harvest is right come get you down for the press is full the fats overflow for their wickedness is great multitudes multitudes in the valley of decision for the day of the Lord is near in the valley of decision it wasn't long ago died a friend a good friend of mine he was attending church as I was pastoring there in Bend Oregon for a couple of years his name was Andy and he wasn't a member he wasn't an Adventist but he was a Christian a lawyer married to an Adventist and and we developed a good friendship I couldn't play golf with him because I'm not so good at golf but tennis was a game that we both enjoyed and we spent time fellowship together and I could see Andy growing and he could see me growing because that's what the body of Christ does it it edifies one another and we grow together and I remember we had spent some time together at his house watching a football game rather a waste of time I think now and we were trying to talk over the game but as men do we were distracted very distracted by the physical sport that was taking place in front of our eyes and as time went on we continued to keep in contact and have fellowship and football season ended and another season began and and I came to the place without where I felt like you know I just don't have time for this that was a little bit difficult for me because well the Seahawks the Seattle Seahawks Wilson the quarterback that that was my team and they were doing pretty good and the quarterback was pretty good and and and that was looking forward to a good season with them and I thought ah this is going to be a little bit hard you know because because I want to be able to keep up but but I thought no I'm just gonna I'm just gonna I'm just going to cut it out completely cut it out I'm not going to watch any games I'm not going to spend any time I'm going to I'm going to devote myself to exercise I got myself a little Fitbit and I started exercising instead of watching exercise I started exercising and I was going in on this experience and and got to the place where I was so disconnected from it that I became indifferent to it that's how the gospel works you don't the more disconnected we come become we come the more disconnected we become with sin the less interesting it is I remember visiting Andy I didn't really want to say anything to him because I thought he's going to want to watch a football game with me and we went there I went there to his house with my wife and we were sitting in the living room with a big-screen TV there and there was some nature program on there and we talked and we visited and we visited and we talked but he never brought up watching football I kind of wondered about that so I asked and he shared a testimony with me but I want to share with you this morning as we close out a testimony that I believe will bring everything together he James you asked me to write about my decision to cancel my cable TV in my home simply put God placed the issue on my hearts and like so many other ungodly things in my life this did not happen overnight unfortunately for me and my family I had to suffer the consequences of allowing Satan into my home through our TV I usually have to beat my head against the wall before I will change Satan is clever what better way to brainwash I feel like TV was not always as bad as it is today say it must be getting desperate it seemed like more and more I was watching the justification of homosexuality and divorce and infidelity and bad language and gossip and drugs and alcohol and children disrespecting their parents and an attempt an attempt to normalize these things through repetition even the political shows were making me angry and causing me to be unloving to what others I read every time I was tempted to look up the news I read my Bible app instead new King James Version he says of course that's an inside joke what a blessing I'm reading my Bible more than ever I couldn't even watch baseball or football anymore worse yet my young kids were watching this stuff and God spoke to me and he told me that this stuff is hurting my spirits he also said do you want you kids thinking that this stuff is okay and normal of course not that was it I called DirecTV and I canceled my 2-year contract even though it cost me $200 to get out of it I don't like to waste money but I had to make up my mind I'm done allowing this garbage and Satan into my home a week later I got a call from DIRECTV they offered me free channels and a lower monthly rate as incentives to keep my TV I refused the incentives I told them that I was sick and tired of the garbage that was on TV I told them that their company was being used as the device of Satan to get into everyone's home you got that into this is a Christian on an Adventist who is telling a secular company that it's being used by Satan taking into people's homes the frogs of Egypt are everywhere and I mean everyone he said you'd have to know I mean really he's like a David ashtray most people have cable or satellite TV I told them that I couldn't even watch sports anymore because of the commercials the commercial to become just as evil as the movies and the shows and then I asked them I'm either only one who feels this way the lady said the lady at DIRECTV no you would be surprised how many people are canceling for the same reasons the rocks are crying out he said I'm so grateful James I am so grateful that Jesus has never given up on me he won't let me go he has stuck with me through so many awful decisions only Jesus has the love and the grace of the mercy and the patience to stick with a sinner like me I am grateful that he doesn't let that he doesn't let me get away with anything words can't express the relief I have because he paid the price for all of my sin when he conquered death after being brutally murdered by a bunch of sinners like me I don't have to beat myself up I don't have to feel guilty for my sin I am forgiven I only have to confess my sin and change and why is something so simple and healthy so hard to do moreover I can't talk about TV without discussing my initial battle with alcoholism and drugs by the grace of God I'm sober today I do not drink or do drugs anymore after a life-threatening battle with drug addiction and alcoholism he has been cleansing me of my sin big and little at one at a time it's always seemed like there was some sin that I was working on I feel like I'm worse than most maybe I am maybe I'm not I don't know but I do know that he loves me and I love him even though I don't always show it I know he is always perfect in his love for me even though I'm not and I look back and I see so many periods in my life where I ignored him like the footsteps in the sand but he was always there for me what a great God we have Emmet is his little boy is reading his Bible now - I read him I read him my letter to you and after I read this letter to you Emmet grabbed his Bible and with no prop for me he read the Bible verse to me below he must have remembered this page in his Bible and my letter reminded him of it he found the page in his Bible unbelievable and he told me he doesn't want to play video games anymore I'm just sitting here blown away this is what he read to me what is an evil spirit from the Lord for samuel 19 9 the Lord overruled this is the Bible this is the explanation of the Bible verse the Lord overrules everything even evil spirits but because Saul turned from God he allowed the presence of an evil spirit within him and this spirit made him moody jealous angry and even violence see I remember when my Hawks would lose especially those close games and I would try not to be Moody but I was Moody I would try not to be angry oh that ref that was a bad call man that was a bad call I'm still sore about the Seahawks Pittsburgh Super Bowl but I was I was being influenced I was being controlled my moods my attitudes even if just for a moment or two Super Bowl Sunday is one of the most violent days in the United States when it comes to domestic violence true the Lord he says has been good to me and I say he's been good to all of us amen he's leading us step-by-step to understand this battle of Armageddon and how it affects us today let's close it out shall we the word in Revelation 16:14 that we've got to understand is the word gather it says that these unclean spirits are gathering now when you look up this words in the Greek here's what you're going to find the word gather means Strong's definition from 4-8 63 to lead together ie to bring together hints to come together to enter Cain there it is right there in the Word of God very clear very powerful Satan is seeking to entertain the world on to his side to put in the place of the word of God in the place of the armor of God and the place of reliance on God in the place of the truth of God to put in that place entertainment that's his plan how is it working in your life how's it working in your life let's finish it up the Holy Spirit is drawing us to the Bible and the plan of salvation while the spirit of The Devil's like frogs are seeking to distract us so that we give our precious time to entertainment and neglect our great salvation in Jesus Christ after these things I saw these four angels stand on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds of the earth right now the winds are being held back by these strong angels the influences are being held back the grace of God is still here still drawing our heart but God won't force us he draws but he doesn't force we need to make the decision what's our decision today what is our decision today there's an angel ascending from the east and he has the seal of god the seal of living God and he's crying with a loud voice to the four angels numerous granted on the earth and the sea saying do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the service of God in their foreheads we are living there right now in this time what is the seal of God if he's ins four-thirty says do not grieve the Holy Spirit by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption the Holy Spirit the one who has inspired the Scriptures is the means by which we are sealed notice what it says here in Ephesians 1:13 in whom also you trusted after you heard the word of truth the gospel of your salvation in whom also having believed you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise the Holy Spirit the third person of the Godhead sealing us into the character of God sealing us into the truth sealing us into the gospel restoring us the image of God Satan trying to recreate us in His image of selfishness of i-i-i-i-i and God seeking to restoring us the image of selflessness of other centered service and love you know the battle you know it well each one of us do every moment of every day that is the battle that is before us and the only way to victory is to keep our focus steady on Christ amen Annie's testimony was shared let's just summarize this we are presently involved in this great battle of Armageddon today's spirits of Devil's are working through the world media gathering entertaining people to stand against God in that battle we now is the time for all the decide to be gathered to the battle on the side of God now is the time to put on the whole armor of God the gospel of salvation to be clothed with Christ's righteousness now today as you hear these words my prayer is Heavenly Father today I choose to say yes to you and to put on the garments of salvation the armor of God to be clothed with Christ in the Battle of Armageddon today today say yes to God today how many of you here this morning want to say yes to God today I want to be clothed with the armor of God God sees every hand and reads every heart praise God [Music] please Oh [Music] three [Music] [Applause] [Music] ah [Applause] [Music] [Music] Oh Oh and Oh [Music] I Oh [Music] he now ah [Music] ah and Oh [Music] [Applause] [Music] Oh [Music] ah ah ah [Music] I threw the wrong I [Music] [Music] let's pray father in heaven we just want to thank you this morning that you have a fount of blessing that still flows with grace and mercy and we pray this morning that it would come come now found of every blessing tune our hearts to sing your grace because we're prone to wander lord we feel it we're prone to leave the god we love we give you our hearts we ask that you would keep them in your care we ask for your forgiveness we ask that you would cause us to dump all that plastic garbage the TV's everything that is interfering with our relationship with you may the council heaven it be on the street corners in our hearts be in tune to sing your praise and as we go from this place bless us as we partake of that physical food that you have provided for us through the cross of Calvary for we ask it in Jesus name Amen hey greetings from beautiful and sunny kingscliff Australia want to take just a moment of your time first of all to thank you for tuning in watching the program I trust it was a blessing to you and your soul drawing you closer to God and His will for your life I also want to let you know that we are planning a significant expansion of our existing media ministry here at the kingscliff Church to find out more about this expansion and how you can get involved go to bring it kingscliff com you can go either to the home page or to the our gifts page to find out how you can come alongside us and support not just with your viewership but also financially and with your prayers hey thanks again so much for watching and take care [Music]

Channel: Kingscliff Church

Views: 3,741

Rating: 4.8367348 out of 5

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Id: spldBTFX5MY

Length: 57min 10sec (3430 seconds)

Published: Sun May 14 2017