We’ve Never Been This Way Before

i want to ask you to turn if possible in your bibles to joshua chapter 3 and i want to read joshua's word this is so important this is the basis for my book you've never been this way before because here's what joshua commanded the children of israel as they're getting ready to enter the promised land they're going to cross jordan they're going to enter into canaan this is new and different unprecedented and so joshua gives them this order keep your eyes on the ark the ark of the covenant because where the ark goes you'll be safe where the ark goes you go as long as you keep your eyes on the ark so here's the way he puts it as soon as you see the ark of the covenant of the lord your god being carried by the levitical priests then you shall set out from your place and follow it yet there shall be a distance between you and it about two thousand cubits in length do not come near it in order that you may know the way that you shall go for you have not passed this way before as some versions put it you've never been this way before brief word of prayer heavenly father i pray now for the sprinkling of the blood of jesus to rest upon every person who's watching at this moment in order that their perception of what i say will be received as you intend cleanse my tongue that i will be your transparent vehicle to pass on all that needs to be said nothing that doesn't need to be said help me to be very very clear very very simple and make this a blessing to all and may this word bring great honor and glory to your name i pray in jesus name amen well just a few days after i began writing my book we've never been this way before i realized that america has been given a double whammy i started out to write the book just because of the coronavirus crisis but do you realize that something happened and we now have more than the coronavirus crisis the threat of violence and so many of you will remember it as though it were yesterday on may 25th a day that may live in infamy like the bombing of pearl harbor an african-american named george floyd was brutally murdered by a minneapolis policeman and violence erupted all over america scored the store buildings were slashed businesses that took years to build up gone overnight statues torn down and many demanding asking demanding the defending of the police well the question is where is god in all this good question do you know what i've heard many answers there's one answer forgive me those who have a theology of one inch deep are saying the devil did it why do they say the devil did it oh god would never cause anything like this people like this don't know their bibles i can tell you right now god does this he said in the old testament i am the god who brings calamity and i can tell you now god does it in fact when a famine came in the land of of david in of israel in the reign of king david david wanted to know why and god gave the reason do you realize that whenever there is a crisis god expects us to ask why he wants us to ask why well some people say but wait a minute that's old testament listen to me the god of the old testament and the god of the new testament of the same god never forget that jesus never apologized for the god of the old testament we're talking about his father and as for that philosophy do you realize in corinth something was happened the church of corinth some were sickly some were weak some were dead and they wanted to know what's going on why paul said i'll tell you why you can read it 1 corinthians 11 because they had abused the lord's supper and they were not allowing poor people to take part because the poor people got there late and the rich and the wealthy they just went ahead and paul said this is not the lord's supper this is not the lord's supper that you're keeping it was disgraceful and god stepped in well i can tell you now whenever there's a crisis god expects us he wants us he wants us to ask why some weeks ago when i was halfway through my book i was watching fox news martha mccallum interviewing cardinal timothy dolan and she said where is god in all this and i was so thrilled with the answer he said god is right in the middle of it i thought oh this is wonderful i want to meet that man and it took a while i finally traced him down and got an email to him and do you know what he's given me the most wonderful uh wonderful endorsement it's on the cover of the book and a lot of people from different streams have endorsed that even alvita king the niece of martin luther king jr she's endorsed it uh bishop joseph garlington has endorsed it bishop harry jackson has endorsed it and i pray that this will be a blessing because in the book i show that what we're going through god is behind it and it will end up in revival indeed i believe the greatest revival in the history of the church that is what i believe well i want you to know that god has a way of turning evil into good well here's the question is what we are experiencing in america judgment from god yes yes it is god's judgment there's a difference between israel and america in this way god chose israel america chose god and it happened there in new england 200 years ago the great awakening led to the declaration of the independence and the reason for god being in the constitution of course it precedes the great awakening the pilgrim fathers came across the atlantic and they wanted to be thankful to god so god was behind this america chose god but sadly in recent decades it's hard to say the exact date perhaps in 1973. i'll come back to that in a minute but god is fed up i can tell you now he's angry and he is behind what we're going through so the question is how are we to cope and does the bible have an answer well now one theological question you could say philosophical question what is the difference between what god predestines and what he permits well a good example this is something i learned from my mentor dr mark lloyd jones moses saw a bush on fire and he kept looking at it why doesn't that bush burn up he said i'm going to figure out i'm going to see what's going on here and he rushed toward the burning bush and god said stop moses don't come any closer take off your shoes you are on holy ground what do we learn from this there are some things god doesn't want us to figure out and so there's some technical theological questions uh we just don't try to figure everything out but that said there are some things god will speak about and i can tell you he has spoken with regard to what we're going through now there are three kinds of chastening i just referred to corinth there's internal chastening there's external chastening there's terminal chastening hebrews 12 6 whom the lord loves he chastens or disciplines that's the translation of the greek word that means enforced learning plan a internal chastening that's when god speaks through his word and by the way that's the best way to have your problem solved because plan b is external when you don't listen to the word you don't obey the holy spirit and god steps in and in corinth some are sickly some are weak external chastity and then paul had to add plan c terminal chasing him some of you are dead 1 john 5 talks about the sin unto death that's terminal chastening well that said i want to talk about five kinds of judgment number one there is retributive judgment that is when god punishes sin that's when god gets even you have in the old testament eye for an eye tooth for a tooth and you wonder why is there a hell something not mentioned often these days why are people in hell is it to do them good is it to make them better no it's to punish for sin the god of the bible is a god of justice that's retributive judgment but then there is gracious judgment partly retributive partly merciful that's what david experienced david committed adultery with bathsheba david killed uriah to cover up the sin and god was unhappy he was fed up except he sent nathan the prophet and said you will not die because there was mercy this time and you read in psalm 51 where god said have mercy on me and god did have mercy and there was a future for david i think maybe i should say maybe someone watching right now god has dealt with you and god is not pleased with what you did and what must you do but cry out to him fall on your knees and say god i'm sorry please forgive me because it's wonderful when god will use what you've gone through he'll cause it to work together for good romans 8 28 all things work together for good to them that love god to them who are the called according to his purpose but the fact that it works together for good doesn't mean that what happened was right at the time and so what david did it would work together for good and i pray that would be the case if someone right now listening you need this word just ask god for mercy gracious judgment which i believe that's the good news that's what we're experiencing in america it is gracious judgment god is wanting to get our attention uh but to go on with the list there's what could be called redemptive judgment in the old testament god sent poisonous snakes that bit the people and they died and then said to moses erect a serpent of brass and ask the people to look at the serpent and they'll be healed and they were and do you know in john chapter 3 verse 14 jesus said as moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness so must the son of man be lifted up and that is the gospel charles spurgeon the great preacher of the 19th century would say there's life in a look how are you saved by looking to jesus life in a look how are you converted when you give up hope in your good works and you trust what jesus did for you on the cross and that is the way you're saved and maybe i should just pause right now and say to anybody watching if you don't know for sure that if you were to die today that you would go to heaven i would urge you right now right now pray this prayer lord jesus i need you i want you i'm sorry for my sins wash my sins away by your blood i welcome your holy spirit and as best as i know how i give you my life well may god use this time today to give you this wake-up call and god is on your case redemptive judgment and then there's a fourth kind it is natural judgment you reap what you sow it speaks for itself natural judgment you reap what you sow but then there is what i would say is the worst kind of all silent judgment when god does not speak he does not say anything you wonder what is going on you know you and i when we get angry we we show it some way do you realize god the angrier he is the calmer he is perhaps you didn't realize this sodom and gomorrah were punished no warning in advance no warning in advance god rained fire and brimstone on sodom and gomorrah no warning and this is why silent judgment worst of all you don't want that it's good that god has stepped in and there is hope for this wonderful place called america when i think of that him america the beautiful i don't want to sing it i just start crying when i think of how people today hate it america america god shed his grace on thee god has been so good to america and i can tell you we have broken our promise to him and god now is fed up i can tell you he has brought judgment and i want to explain why why i believe we are under judgment four things now you could add to the list but here are four the first racism the second is legalized abortions without penalty third same-sex marriage and fourth theological liberalism in churches now let me begin with racism this is something that many white american christians want to sweep under the carpet listen to me i speak to myself i was brought up in kentucky the southern state and i know how many people in the south feel and their attitude toward black even black christians well that's their problem listen listen to me that's not the way jesus would look at them most of us who are white don't even begin to worry what is it like to have your the color of your skin be the reason you're isolated marginalized uh you have to sit on the back of the bus you can't go there if you get to know any black person whether they're saved or lost and if they're honest they'll admit they're conscious of the color of their skin and by the way do you know what in britain where i've spent over 30 years less racism in britain than in america but even in britain one of the key black leaders he's from jamaica in britain told me one day he said i never go outside my house but when i'm aware of the color of my skin even in britain by the way there was a famous american comedian black comedian who recently went to ghana and you know what he said he said for the first time i felt like a white man he said i wasn't conscious of the color of my skin well i can tell you they are conscious it's our duty to love them jesus would love them he cares for them and when i think about how in the 19th century those black slaves in alabama mississippi georgia how they were treated how they were treated by their slave owners you wonder why did any of them become christians you would have thought that was enough to turn them against christianity but they were put in the balcony that's where black people had to go when they went to church they were in the balconies separated but they listened and heard one thing that appealed to them there's a heaven there's a heaven when god will wipe away all tears from their eyes no more death crying pain and they said i like that i like that that's what made them want to be christians but you see now i'm afraid this is not thought of very much and the original christian message god so loved the world that it gave his only son that whoever believes in him should not perish it means not go to hell but have everlasting life well do you know we had the equivalent in the new testament i mean the earliest church james chapter 5 verse 4 the distinction then was not black or white it was rich poor and you had poor christians who got their wages from wealthy christians and sometimes the wealthy christians just didn't pay them and these poor white christians would cry out to god and say lord don't you hear us don't you hear us and james chapter 5 verse 4 says he has heard you your cries have been heard by the lord of hosts and i want to say now to black christians you may be watching this do you know something god heard you god heard you and guess how we know he has sent judgment god is angry with the way white christians in america and white people everywhere have treated black people this is part of the reason i'm telling you like it or not god has judged america but there's a second reason legalized abortions i can tell you the bible is clear that life begins at conception now do you know why people want abortions generally not always but the primary reason and the purpose of abortion is sexual freedom without the responsibility of raising children that's that's what it's all about that's the bottom line and it's what people we're living in a day people want sexual freedom uh and they ignore what god has to say about it listen life begins at conception the fact that the virgin mary visited her cousin elizabeth with the son of god in her womb one day after being conceived by the holy spirit and the baby john the baptist leaped in elizabeth's womb that shows there were two living human beings john the baptist in the womb and the son of god in the womb of the virgin mary listen david wrote psalm 139 my frame was not hidden from you when i was being made in secret intricately woven in the depths of the earth your eyes saw my unformed substance i mentioned 1973 i wouldn't make a big issue of the date because i can't say when god's wrath began to set in but i will say this since 1973 the supreme court decision which allowed abortion for any reason without penalty opened the way for countless abortions in the united states it is reckoned that 61 million babies have been murdered since 1973. 61 million that's virtually the equivalent of the population of britain 65 million or add the population of california and the population of new york you get 61 million that's how many babies have been destroyed because of the law and i can tell you god is angry he is angry with america and he is at the same time wanting our attention this is why i think it's gracious judgment the coronavirus the violence it's god's way of saying listen to me i know what's best for the people i made and that comes to the third thing in genesis chapter 1 verse 26 words now that are hated by so many that is god made humankind male and female male and female why it's because this was god's way of populating the earth i can tell you now it was because he wanted marriage between a man and a woman well until recent years that was recognized and virtually the whole world sees it that way but in america do you realize that until 10 years ago this was regarded as shameful that is i'll come right and tell you same-sex marriage people didn't think it was good at all even president obama supported marriage only between a man and a woman and he was against same-sex marriage and then the second term he changed his mind and not only that america much of america changed their minds with him and now the stigma the shame of same sex marriage it's gone there's no outcry there's no outrage it's it's generally accepted and it is so sad well we have four things first as i said uh the first thing is racism legalized abortion contempt for god the creator who made mankind humankind male and female and there's a fourth reason theological liberalism in so many pulpits in america for example the virgin birth and the eternality of the son of god are truths that are essential to the christian faith now rejected generally by the church the church is silent and i'll tell you another thing that is almost perishing from the earth not only the fear of god because there's no fear of god in the nation almost no fear of god in the church but not only that soul winning how many churches exist because they want to be people saved this is what we should be after we should want to see people saved and i would ask you have you i don't mean to be unfair but have you ever led a soul to christ i'll never forget as long as i live just a month a month after i was minister of westminster chapel in london i asked that question i said how many of you here at westminster chapel have never led a soul to christ well there's one man who his name was bob george 60 years old he told me later he said when you said that i was shaken rigid i thought i've never led a soul to christ he was so ashamed he was so ashamed and some years later when arthur blessed came to westminster chapel we started our pilot ministry going to the streets talking to everybody about jesus bob george was the first to join us and he wanted to make up for lost time and he loved to talk to people about jesus don't be ashamed to go up to people i mean you can do it with integrity with sensitivity with care but try at the right time to ask them do you know for sure if you were to die today would you go to heaven this is what matters and then ask him this if you were to stand before god you will and he were to ask you he might do why should i let you into your heaven and get the answer and by the way there's only one answer it's because of the death of god's son on the cross the bloodshed that satisfied the justice of god don't be ashamed of the gospel paul could say i am not ashamed of the gospel and one reason god is angry with the church we put the gospel to one side and we've tried to give people a good feeling when i lived in key largo our neighbors across the street would come to hear me preach if i preached because they liked me as a as a neighbor and when and we fished together and it was all personal i said well look when i'm not in key largo why don't you go to the local church oh no we stay home and we have our preacher that way we can drink our martinis and smoke and listen to him and when he finishes we feel so good i said this is not what it's all about it shows these people hadn't been converted i'm ashamed to say even though they like me we're living in a day paul said it would happen he says men with itching ears would seek teachers who would just tell them what they wanted to hear that's where we are and i can tell you now god is fed up these are the four things if you want to know why judgment is on america this is why these four reasons you could probably come up with other things well how are christians to cope in this time of judgment and this is something that i hope will bring comfort to you uh my book that i referred to um we've never been this way before joy strang a friend of mine in florida her husband is the owner of the publishing house that published my book she read my book and you know what she said to me just spontaneously she said your book gave me peace in this crisis your book gave me peace well that's what i want to do right now i want to show you the way of peace why did joshua say to the children of israel keep your eyes on the ark of the covenant that's because you've never been this way before follow the ark because where it goes you know you can safely go and so this is fulfilled 12 verse 2 the ark of the covenant symbolizes the glory of god and jesus who is the glory of god we see the glory of god in the face of jesus we're told hebrews 12 2 fix your eyes focus your eyes on jesus this is the way you know you will be safe because he said i am the way the truth and the life he says i will lead you where you should go he said i'm with you always even to the end of the world i will never leave you i will never forsake you and i'll tell you this crisis that we're in whether you take coven 19 or the violence that's in america i can tell you this will reveal whether we've got true faith when people lose their faith all of a sudden they fall apart they crumble they collapse it shows how real their faith was there's a verse in one of the proverbs if you faint in the day of adversity your strength is small and so one thing the present crisis is doing is going to reveal who has genuine faith hebrews 11 6 without faith it is impossible to please god and it's a time for us to come to terms with the fact that god requires faith of us and don't expect a christianity that's just going to make you feel good it's whether you have your eyes on the true god well god is teaching us another thing to respect him to fear him you say oh no that's that's old testament stuff how about the book of revelation chapter 14 where the everlasting gospel the everlasting gospel is preached opening words fear god give glory to him you see the gospel is the same and you should understand this as the psalmist put it come and i will teach you the fear of the lord we need to be taught it but then sometimes god has a way of teaching you in a way you wouldn't expect in new england in enfield connecticut my wife and i have gone there four times just to stand at a spot a vacant lot in enfield connecticut just a few miles south of the massachusetts connecticut border and there is a plaque embedded in the ground that says on this site july 8th 1741 jonathan edwards preached the sermon sin is in the hands of an angry god it was so historic that that is what people remember about the great awakening and in that sermon jonathan edwards said what i don't think people would like to hear today but here's what he said it's by the mercy of god you're not in hell right now you see we're living in a day where everybody feels entitled i think sometimes that entitlement is the curse of our day and this is why we need to learn gratitude to god because if you develop gratitude you'll get over that feeling of being entitled but what it's worth three or four years ago mayo clinic came out with a an observation a statistical conclusion they weren't quoting the new testament here's what they said thankful people live longer we need to learn gratitude and it comes parallel with learning the fear of the lord by the way when jonathan edwards preached that sermon people began to hold on to church pews to keep from falling into hell men were seen outside holding onto tree trunks to keep them sliding into hell you say well that was in a day where people were superstitious listen he preached the same sermon a month later no effect whatever he preached that in his own church in northampton massachusetts no effect god only did it once just to give people a taste of what is out there and this is why the first message of the new testament do you realize this the first matthew chapter 3 john the baptist who has warned you to flee from the wrath to come we're living in a day where people don't even believe in the wrath of god i'm telling you now god is angry and you're getting just a taste of it the judgment the judgment is because there is an angry god but he's a loving god and he's trying to get our attention and it's a wonderful thing i want to bring this message to a close forgiving you what i think is the most wonderful news of all and that is this is not for nothing you see the children of israel crossed jordan on dry land it was another miracle like crossing the red sea god this time did it again he can repeat himself if he wants to and then they came to jericho the walls were shut tighter than a drum nobody could get in you think how are they going to conquer jericho it's the same thing now you think the great awakening how's this going to happen how is it going to happen well right after joshua entered in to canaan he saw this awesome figure with a drawn sword and joshua went up to him and said are you for us or for our enemies and it was the angel the commander of the lord's army he said neither and joshua felt a little bit betrayed he thought well why aren't you for us surely you're on our side we're the people of god do you know what joshua himself had to learn that god is a god of glory and the army of the lord listened to this commander why did the walls fall what happened was it because joshua shouted was it his voice you see the children of israel they must have felt like fools fools for seven days they marched around the city of jericho what's this all about and then on the seventh day they marched around it seven times the people in in this thousands they must have thought why are we doing this but joshua was listening to god he was taking orders from god and then on the seventh day after they'd circled the city of jericho the seventh time joshua said shout and the people shouted do you know what happened it was the armies of the lord they came from above that went down and the walls fell that's the way the great awakening will be it won't be because of things we do it will come in such a way that only god will get the glory what he wants us to do in the meantime is to be unashamed of the gospel keep your eyes on jesus and he will show you the way paul said i'm not ashamed of the gospel i can say it i'm not ashamed of the gospel i pray that you are not ashamed of the gospel and i can tell you what is going on it's not for nothing it's because god loves us he's not finished with us yet and guess what the walls of jericho will fall and the great awakening will come in a way that only god gets the glory and he comes never too late never too early but always just on time

Channel: RT Kendall

Views: 1,660

Rating: 4.8222222 out of 5

Keywords:

Id: nvz1lZ0cH04

Length: 38min 47sec (2327 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 25 2020