Participants:
Series Code: WHO
Program Code: WHO200030S
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00:25 Hello, friends, and welcome to 3ABN Worship Hour.
00:28 And we are indeed going to take this hour 00:30 and dedicate it to the Lord in worship, 00:33 worship Him as the Bible says, in spirit and in truth. 00:36 And we're gonna worship Him 00:37 just like that in song and in word today. 00:39 We have a powerful message 00:41 in which I'm gonna be declaring kind of a warning, 00:44 it's a famine warning. 00:45 The title of this message is "A Famine is Coming." 00:49 But before we get right into the message, 00:51 we have our brother, Tim Parton, 00:52 who is going to sing for us, the beautiful song, 00:55 "Turn your eyes upon Jesus." 01:06 O soul are you weary 01:10 And troubled 01:14 No light in the darkness You see 01:22 There's light For a look at the Savior 01:30 And life more abundant And free 01:39 His word will not fail you, 01:43 He promised 01:47 Believe it and all will be well 01:54 Then go to a world That is dying 02:01 His perfect salvation to tell 02:11 Turn your eyes upon Jesus 02:20 Look full in His wonderful face 02:29 And the things of earth Will grow strangely dim 02:39 In the light of His glory And grace 02:51 If you turn your eyes Upon Jesus 03:11 Praise the Lord. 03:12 Turn your eyes upon Jesus, 03:15 one of my favorite songs 03:16 and that's exactly kind of the theme, 03:18 the motto of this message is 03:21 as we're declaring a warning, a coming famine. 03:25 We're gonna be talking about 03:26 what kind of famine in just a moment, 03:28 but the answer to it, of course, is simple, 03:31 a sermon in and of itself, turn your eyes upon Jesus 03:35 and everything will be okay. 03:36 Let us pray 03:38 before we get into our message right now. 03:40 Father in heaven, 03:42 Lord, I just want to thank You and praise You, Lord, 03:44 at this moment. 03:46 As You have bestowed upon all of us, 03:49 the wonderful privilege of representing You, 03:52 preaching the Word of God for You, Lord, 03:57 for the redemption of man. 04:00 And so, Lord, as I break open the bread of life, 04:05 as we attempt to rightly divide the word of truth, Lord, 04:08 do not let it be a man-made effort to do so. 04:14 What I'm praying right now in Jesus name 04:16 that you will bestow upon me and in me the Holy Spirit 04:19 to lead and guide me to speak Your word. 04:21 But this message will not only penetrate 04:23 the hearts and minds 04:25 of every person around the world listening, 04:27 but also mine as well. 04:30 We thank You for all that You have done 04:33 and for who You are is our God. 04:36 And we pray this in confidence 04:37 and in the name of Jesus Christ. 04:39 Amen. 04:42 A famine is coming. 04:45 A famine is on its way, 04:50 perhaps one of the greatest phenomenons. 04:53 At least from my perspective, 04:56 one of the most interesting occurrences 04:58 in the history of our nation 05:01 and the history of this world happened back in March of 2020. 05:08 Exactly, 05:09 not so far distant away from where we are now, 05:12 just March of 2020. 05:15 You can read all the historical occurrences of this nation 05:18 and of this world, 05:19 and one of the strangest most interesting occurrences 05:23 that happened in March of 2020, 05:25 of course, was the very sudden, 05:28 the very swift shutdown of the world 05:31 due to the pandemic COVID-19. 05:35 Of course, it will forever mark the year 2020 05:38 as probably one of the worst years 05:42 that perhaps we've ever experienced 05:45 in our country in recent times at least. 05:50 It was almost as if everyone was living in peace 05:53 for the most part, 05:54 living as if everything was okay, 05:58 everyone was safe, 06:00 nothing was gonna happen, 06:03 and then boom. 06:05 It was upon us. 06:07 A pandemic that would forever change our society 06:11 and rock the known world that we happen to live in. 06:16 You know, the Bible gives us a couple of passages 06:19 that provide some insight 06:22 and somewhat of a prophetic imagery 06:25 toward this event 06:27 and, of course, many others that will soon take place, 06:31 I believe 06:32 as the Bible plainly tells us that it will. 06:35 I want to start by going to 1 Thessalonians 5:1-3. 06:42 Notice what the Bible says. 06:44 And, of course, this is Paul writing. 06:46 He says, 06:47 "But concerning the times and the seasons, brethren, 06:49 you have no need that I should write to you. 06:53 For you yourselves know perfectly 06:55 that the day of the Lord so comes 06:58 as a thief in the night. 07:01 For when they say, 07:03 'Peace and safety!' 07:06 then sudden destruction comes upon them, 07:08 as labor pains upon a pregnant woman, 07:11 and they shall not escape." 07:17 The words found right here, 07:19 of course, that really stand out to me 07:22 is the concept of living in a state of peace and safety. 07:26 Similar to what perhaps, maybe society somewhat felt 07:31 prior to March 2020. 07:34 While the world, of course, we know is horrible 07:36 and there's horrible things that happen in the world. 07:39 For the most part, 07:40 most Americans and most other citizens 07:42 from other countries all around the world, 07:45 we're living in somewhat of a state of peace and safety. 07:50 But then it's almost as if the pandemic 07:53 that happened and occurred 07:55 as it began to spread across the world 07:58 begin to cause a state of shock. 08:02 It launched people into a state of fear. 08:05 And within just a week and a half to two weeks 08:08 our world was changed, probably, permanently. 08:12 I don't know that we'll ever see 08:14 or see a world that we once lived in, 08:16 this probably has forever marked... 08:19 This historical event 08:20 will for sure be marked in history 08:22 as a life-changing scenario. 08:26 But nearly 2,000 years ago, 08:29 Paul wrote as he was given inspiration by the Holy Spirit 08:34 that when they say peace and safety, 08:38 everything's okay, 08:40 life's going on just fine and dandy, 08:43 then sudden destruction comes upon them 08:47 as labor pains upon a pregnant woman 08:48 and they shall and the Greek says, 08:51 "No, not escape." 08:55 Of course, 08:57 it begs to mention that we also, I believe, 09:02 have been living in a state of peace and safety. 09:04 And while some people consider the pandemic to be a disruption 09:07 to our way of life and to society, 09:09 and to the world as we knew it, 09:11 my friends, I'm here to tell you that 09:12 I believe that was a very small miniscule occurrence 09:16 compared to what is coming in the near future. 09:21 Notice, also in Luke Chapter 17, 09:23 this is another passage. 09:25 Luke 17:26-27 and also verses 28 and 29. 09:32 In Luke chapter 17, 09:34 it maps out for us also in a similar scenario 09:38 exactly what we've been talking about so far. 09:40 People living in a state of what maybe the Bible, 09:43 as the Bible clearly says, peace and safety, 09:46 a state of never-ending bliss, I guess you could say. 09:51 Everything's okay. 09:52 We're just going to live out our life 09:53 and then all of a sudden, 09:55 destruction comes 09:57 that of course would disrupt their known reality. 09:59 Notice, Luke Chapter 17, 10:01 we've all read the passage many times. 10:02 Beginning at verse 26 and 27 the Bible says, 10:06 "And as it was in the days of Noah, 10:08 so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man: 10:12 They ate, they drank, they married wives, 10:16 they were given in marriage, 10:17 until the day that Noah entered the ark, 10:19 and the flood came and destroyed them all." 10:24 Now I'm gonna continue on reading verse 28 and 29 10:26 and we're gonna come back 10:27 and just mark something interesting here. 10:30 Verse 28 continues to say, 10:31 "Likewise as it was also in the days of Lot. 10:34 They ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, 10:37 they planted, they built, 10:39 but on the day that Lot went out of Sodom 10:41 it rained fire and brimstone from heaven 10:44 and destroyed them all." 10:47 Now I find this passage interesting because, 10:49 again it communicates that same theme 10:51 that we're talking about, 10:52 living in that state of peace and safety, 10:54 everything's okay, 10:56 everything's gonna be all right. 10:57 Almost in some cases it's living on as if there is no God 11:00 and that Bible prophecy is of no avail. 11:03 That it's not really that important 11:04 because everything is just gonna be okay. 11:08 But it's interesting right here, 11:10 that the language and the communication, 11:13 the literary devices that are used from the author, 11:17 in this case, Luke, 11:18 as he uses some language to clearly communicate this 11:23 and emphasize it very clearly. 11:25 For instance, if you go back to verse 27 where it says, 11:28 that they ate and they drank and they, notice this, 11:32 and they married wives and, of course, 11:36 they were also given in marriage. 11:38 Well, in the original Greek, 11:40 the words they're used 11:42 actually communicates a sense of almost like, nya-nya words, 11:46 like kind of linear, 11:48 a passive like 11:49 yeah, they were doing this and they were doing that. 11:52 For instance if you listen to the words, 11:53 they were esthio and they were pio 11:57 and they were escamadiso 11:59 and so it's kind of like this blah, da-da. 12:02 And then boom, 12:04 sudden destruction came and the flood came 12:06 and it washed them all away, right? 12:08 It destroyed them all. 12:09 Same thing, same language used, same concept communicated 12:13 in verses 28 and 29, 12:16 where it says, likewise it was also in the days of Lot. 12:18 They did, they ate, they drank, they bought, they sold, 12:25 they planted, they built the Greek, 12:27 they ethizo, they pio, 12:31 they agorazo, they phuto. 12:34 I know these are Greek words, 12:35 but still notice the common theme. 12:37 It's kind of this nya-nya kind of like, oh, 12:40 they were doing this and they were doing that. 12:42 Life was just going on as just so blissfully peaceful 12:47 and everything's okay. 12:48 And then all of a sudden 12:51 there came upon Lot and his family 12:53 and of course, we know they were saved 12:55 with the exception, of course, of his wife. 12:57 But they were taken out of the city 12:59 in which upon that city 13:00 fell fire and brimstone from heaven 13:03 and destroyed them all. 13:08 You see, 13:09 in the last days Bible prophecy tells us that 13:11 if there will come a time, 13:13 very soon, 13:15 where destruction will come upon this earth. 13:19 And many of us have been told this, 13:21 we've been warned about it, we've heard about it, 13:24 we preach about it, we teach about it. 13:27 But of course, 13:28 some of us are not as prepared as others, 13:32 because we're living in a state of peace and safety, 13:36 but the Bible says, 13:37 that then sudden destruction comes upon them 13:40 as labor pains upon a pregnant woman 13:42 and they shall no not escape. 13:49 You see, Paul continues on 13:51 in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3. 13:56 And he talks about how 13:58 not only the world will be affected 14:00 by this coming destruction 14:02 or this horrible work 14:06 that will be going on in society 14:08 that will bring about the end time events. 14:11 He talks about how it would directly affect the church 14:15 and how people within the church 14:18 will respond to this, 14:19 not in a positive way 14:21 but in a very negative way. 14:23 Notice again 2 Thessalonians Chapter 2, 14:25 and I'm gonna read verses 1 through 3, 14:27 part of verse 3, 14:28 'cause there's a point that I want to emphasize here 14:30 for the message. 14:32 Paul starts by saying, 14:34 "Now, brethren, " 14:35 again we got to keep... 14:36 We got to memorize and be reminded 14:38 that he is writing this to the church at Thessalonica, 14:42 so his audience is not non-believers, 14:45 it's church members. 14:47 So 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3, 14:51 he says, "Now, brethren, 14:52 concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ 14:55 and our gathering unto Him, 14:58 we ask you, 15:00 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled." 15:05 Okay, so pause there for a moment 15:06 and let's get this in our mind. 15:08 He just said not to be soon shaken. 15:10 That doesn't mean that 15:11 the church is not gonna experience a shaking, 15:13 that doesn't mean that there's not gonna come 15:15 some type of trouble upon the world 15:17 that will soon obviously bring 15:19 some type of discomfort to those, 15:21 perhaps in the church. 15:23 But he says 15:24 for these particular brothers and sisters, 15:26 do not be soon shaken in mind or troubled, 15:29 of course, either by spirit or by word or by letter 15:32 as if it's coming from us, right, 15:35 as though the day of Christ has come 15:38 or had come. 15:39 He's saying, 15:40 look, you don't have to worry about that just yet. 15:42 He says, why? 15:44 I'm gonna tell you why. 15:45 Paul says, I'm going to tell you 15:46 how you will know 15:48 when the day of the Lord is near 15:49 or when the coming of the Son of man is coming. 15:52 He tells us in verse 3. 15:54 Notice what the Bible says. 15:56 It says, 15:57 "Let no one deceive you by any means. 16:02 For that day," 16:03 speaking of the second coming of Jesus, 16:06 "that day will not come unless the falling away comes first." 16:13 Did you catch that? 16:15 That day, 16:16 the second coming of Jesus, the return of Christ, 16:20 will not come upon this world 16:22 until a great falling away occurs. 16:26 Now again, not trying to be over theological here, 16:30 but just a kind of a surface blanket interpretation 16:34 and understanding of this text 16:36 does not provide the fullest understanding 16:38 of what Paul is talking about. 16:40 Sometimes you got to as the Bible says 16:41 study to show yourself approve 16:43 rightly dividing the word of truth, 16:44 sometimes you got to go below the surface 16:46 and dig a little deeper 16:47 and that's why sometimes 16:49 we have to do a little bit of a word search, 16:50 some deeper word study. 16:53 When I looked up this falling away, 16:55 what is the great falling away that he's talking about? 16:58 What does it mean that before Christ come 17:00 there's going to be a great falling away? 17:02 Well, the word that he uses here 17:05 is the Greek word, apostasia. 17:09 The Greek word, apostasia. 17:12 It's where we get, of course, our English word apostasy. 17:17 And, of course, many people have a different understanding 17:19 of what apostasy is 17:21 or some people may have this particular definition 17:23 of what apostasy is 17:24 and someone else may somewhat have 17:27 their own personal perspective of what apostasy is. 17:31 But yet right here in the original Greek 17:33 the word apostasia, 17:35 the meaning of it 17:38 means to defect from truth to divorce. 17:44 Now keep in mind, 17:46 Paul is writing this to the church. 17:49 Why is he writing this warning to the church? 17:51 Because Paul has already reminded us as we just read 17:54 there in 1 Thessalonians 17:55 and we also saw the imagery there in Luke 17, 17:59 similar to the days of Noah, 18:01 similar to the days of Lot, 18:02 so shall it be at the end time before Christ comes back. 18:06 We see this Paul, Jesus, the apostles, 18:09 all of the Bible writers 18:11 they warn us, 18:12 they're telling us, they're shouting, 18:13 they're raising the banner high and saying look, 18:15 there's coming a time and it will affect the church. 18:20 In this case, this great apostasia, 18:24 this great defection from truth, 18:26 this great divorcing. 18:28 That's right, divorcing. 18:31 He's telling and warning the people of the church, 18:33 because, my friends, 18:35 before Christ comes back, 18:37 the state of the church, the condition of the church, 18:40 in many people's understanding and many people's eyes 18:43 will not look so great, 18:45 because it's not called just a falling away, 18:47 it's called the great falling away. 18:50 It's great. 18:51 It's huge, 18:54 and so the great falling away. 18:57 This apostasia, this great apostasy, 19:00 it simply means that people deceived into believing 19:04 that they know Jesus 19:06 will actually fall away from Jesus. 19:09 While they are convinced that they are bound to 19:14 and married to the truth, 19:17 they're actually going to abandon the truth. 19:21 And, of course, the word here that really sticks out to me 19:23 is divorce, to divorce. 19:27 And it's interesting 19:28 that we know that he's writing this to the church 19:29 and not just... 19:31 Of course, this message goes to everyone, 19:32 but specifically the church, 19:34 because you cannot divorce yourself from someone 19:36 whom you weren't married to. 19:39 And so this is somewhat of a prophecy, of course, 19:42 very clearly a prophecy. 19:44 Where Paul is saying that there will be people, 19:46 prior to the second coming of Jesus 19:49 that believe that they are 100 devoted 19:52 and married to Jesus Christ, 19:55 but yet they have divorced themselves from Him. 19:59 What a condition, what a condition. 20:02 In fact, we don't even have to wonder 20:04 as to what kind of condition 20:06 or what this condition looks like, 20:08 because by the time you get over to Revelation 3, 20:11 Jesus Himself spells it out. 20:13 He tells us very clearly in Revelation Chapter 3, 20:16 speaking to the very last church age, 20:18 Laodicea, 20:20 He says these words, 20:22 "I know your works, 20:25 that you neither are hot or cold. 20:28 I wish that you were cold or hot. 20:31 So then, because you are lukewarm, 20:34 and neither cold nor hot, I will, " 20:37 and this is a strong word, 20:38 "I will vomit you, " 20:39 as the New King James Version says. 20:41 King James Version says spew you, 20:43 but again, 20:44 the same word here in the Greek 20:46 could mean spew or vomit or regurgitate. 20:48 "I will vomit you out of my mouth, 20:51 because you say, 20:53 'I am rich, have become wealthy, 20:55 and have need of nothing,' 20:57 and do not know that you are wretched, 20:59 miserable, poor, blind, and naked.'" 21:03 Of course, that passage is found in Revelation 3:14-17. 21:08 You are wretched, miserable, 21:10 poor, blind and naked Jesus says. 21:11 Yes, to that last church age. 21:14 You think that you know me but you don't. 21:17 You think that you have accepted 21:19 and are living according to the truth, 21:20 but you're not. 21:22 Of course, you believe that you're married to me, 21:24 but yet you don't realize because of your deception, 21:27 because of your self-denial 21:29 in the sense of your deceiving denial, 21:34 you have divorced yourself from me. 21:35 That's what Jesus is saying right here. 21:38 You are neither cold nor hot. 21:39 I wish, you were one or the other, 21:41 but you are lukewarm. 21:42 Now I found a rather interesting 21:44 and eye-opening commentary on these verses 21:46 in reference of being cold and, 21:48 you know, cold or hot, lukewarm, 21:50 the condition of the church, lukewarmness, 21:53 this Laodicean state. 21:56 This comes from, 21:59 looking in here, it says July 26, 1874, 22:02 written by Charles Spurgeon. 22:04 Notice how he describes. 22:05 This is quite lengthy but I want you to, 22:07 I wanna you to hear the words, the detailed words 22:09 that he describes which I think is spot on 22:12 as to what Jesus is talking about 22:14 in reference to this lukewarm condition of the church 22:18 prior to the second coming of Jesus. 22:21 And this is what Charles Spurgeon says, 22:23 "The condition described in our text is secondly, 22:27 one of mournful indifference and carelessness. 22:32 They were not cold but they were not hot, 22:36 they were not infidels, 22:37 yet they were not earnest believers 22:39 that they did not oppose." 22:41 Notice, 22:42 "That they did not oppose the gospel 22:44 neither did they defend it. 22:46 They were not working mischief, 22:48 neither were they doing any great good. 22:51 They were not disreputable in moral character, 22:54 but they were not distinguished for holiness." 22:59 He says, 23:01 "They were not irreligious, 23:03 but they were not enthusiastic in piety 23:06 nor imminent for zeal." 23:09 They were what the world calls moderates. 23:14 They were of the broad-church school. 23:17 They were neither bigots nor puritans, 23:19 they were prudent and avoided fanaticism. 23:23 Respectable and adverse to excitement, 23:27 good things were maintained among them, 23:28 but they did not make too much of them. 23:32 They had prayer meetings but there were few and present, 23:37 for they liked quiet evenings at home. 23:41 When more attended the meetings, 23:42 they were still very dull. 23:45 For they did not," 23:47 notice, "for they did, 23:48 they're praying very deliberately 23:50 and were afraid of being too excited. 23:54 They were content to have all things done decently 23:57 and in order, 23:59 but vigor and zeal, they consider to be vulgar." 24:03 Notice, how he continues, 24:06 "Such churches have schools, 24:09 Bible classes, 24:10 preaching rooms and all sorts of agencies. 24:14 But they might as well be without them, 24:16 for no energy is displayed and no good comes of them. 24:20 They have deacons and elders 24:22 who are excellent pillars of the church 24:25 that's if the chief quality of pillars 24:27 is to stand still 24:29 and exhibit no emotion or motion. 24:33 They have their ministers, 24:35 who may be the angels of the churches. 24:38 But if so, 24:40 they have their wings closely clipped 24:44 for they do not fly very far 24:46 in preaching the everlasting gospel, 24:48 and they certainly are not flames of fire. 24:51 They may be shining lights of eloquence, 24:54 but they are certainly not burning lights of grace 24:57 setting men's hearts on fire." 25:01 Last paragraph, listen to these words. 25:04 "In such communities, 25:05 everything is done in a half-hearted, 25:08 listless dead and alive way. 25:11 As if it did not matter much whether it was done or not, 25:16 it makes one's flesh creep 25:18 to see how sluggishly they move." 25:21 And he says these words. 25:22 He says, "I long for a knife to cut their red tape to pieces 25:27 and for a whip to lay about their shoulders 25:29 to make them bester themselves. 25:32 Things are respectably done, 25:34 the rich families are not offended, 25:36 the skeptical party is conciliated, 25:38 and the good people are not quite alienated, 25:41 things are made pleasant all around. 25:45 The right things are done, 25:46 but as to doing them with all your might, 25:48 soul and strength, 25:50 a Laodicean Church 25:51 has no notion of what that means. 25:54 They are not so cold as to abandon their work, 25:57 or to give up their meetings for prayer, 26:00 or to reject the gospel, if they did so," 26:03 he says, 26:04 "then they could be convinced of their error 26:06 and brought to repentance. 26:09 But on the other hand, 26:10 they are neither hot for the truth 26:13 nor hot for conversions, nor hot for holiness. 26:16 They are not fiery enough to burn the stubble of sin 26:19 nor zealous enough to make Satan angry 26:22 nor fervent enough 26:23 to make a living sacrifice of themselves 26:25 upon the altar of their God." 26:26 He says, 26:28 "They are neither cold nor hot." 26:33 Probably the best description 26:35 of what it means to be Laodicean 26:38 coming from Charles Spurgeon. 26:40 You know, 26:43 Mrs. Ellen White actually echoes this very same concept 26:49 in the first volume of the Testimonies, 26:50 page 179 to 181. 26:53 So you can go there, 26:54 first volume of the Testimonies, 26:55 page 179 to 181. 26:57 And I'm going to read a couple of quotes here, 26:59 just to kind of provide some backup, 27:03 some foundation, again, 27:05 for what it is we're talking about here. 27:06 But notice, on the same thing that Spurgeon was speaking, 27:09 same theme as what Jesus was speaking in Laodicea, 27:12 this is what she says about the condition of the church 27:15 in the last days 27:16 prior to the second coming of Jesus. 27:21 "Some I saw did not participate 27:24 in this work of agonizing and pleading." 27:27 Of course, she's referring to a great shaking 27:29 that she saw that would occur among God's people, 27:32 the church in the last days. 27:34 She says, and she saw that 27:35 some of them were not participating 27:36 in the prayerful agonizing 27:38 and, of course, 27:40 seeking after Jesus on a daily basis. 27:42 So she goes on to say, 27:43 they, speaking of those who are in the church, 27:45 but again, 27:47 are not seeking after 27:48 and pleading for the Holy Spirit to work in them. 27:50 She says, 27:51 "They seemed indifferent and careless. 27:54 They were not resisting the darkness around them 27:56 and it shut them in like a thick cloud. 27:59 The angels of God left these." 28:01 And, of course, this is a vision she saw. 28:03 So she says, 28:05 "And I saw them..." 28:06 Oh, she said, 28:07 "The angel of God left these and I saw them hastening 28:09 to the assistance of those 28:10 who were struggling with all their energies 28:12 to resist the evil angels, 28:14 and trying to help themselves 28:16 by calling upon God with perseverance, 28:18 but the angels left those 28:20 who made no effort to help themselves 28:22 and I lost sight of them." 28:24 In this vision, she received 28:25 which she recorded 28:26 in the first volume of the Testimonies, 28:28 she makes it very clear 28:29 that she saw them 28:30 they were indifferent and careless. 28:32 That's Laodicea. 28:34 That's exactly what Paul was talking about, 28:36 the great falling away, 28:37 people who believe they're married to Jesus 28:39 but they're not, 28:40 they believe they've accepted the truth 28:41 and living by the truth but they're not. 28:43 This is the condition. 28:45 And, of course, it sets us up for a great coming famine 28:48 and we're going to see about 28:50 what this famine is in just a moment. 28:51 I want to read another quote here. 28:52 This is from Early Writings, page 54 and 56. 28:58 Of course, this is in reference to another vision 29:01 that she had received 29:02 about the heavenly throne room of God, 29:04 Jesus and the Father sitting on the throne 29:06 and then they get up, 29:07 they leave the Holy Place 29:09 and go into the Most Holy Place, 29:10 but notice what she says she saw here. 29:12 She says, 29:14 "Before the throne I saw the advent people, 29:16 the church and the world, I saw two companies. 29:20 One bowed down before the throne, 29:23 deeply interested, 29:24 while the other stood," 29:25 notice the words, 29:27 "uninterested and careless. 29:29 Then I saw an exceeding bright light 29:31 come from the Father to the Son, 29:34 and from the Son it waved over the people 29:36 before the throne. 29:38 But few would receive this great light. 29:41 Many came out from under it and immediately resisted it. 29:46 Others were careless and did not cherish the light 29:48 and it moved off from them. 29:51 Then Jesus rose up from the throne 29:54 and the most of those, 29:56 who were bowed down arose with Him. 29:59 I did not see one ray of light 30:01 pass from Jesus to the careless multitude 30:04 after He rose, 30:06 and they were left in perfect darkness." 30:13 And I have to ask a question, 30:17 "How does the church get to that condition?" 30:21 Now I want to clarify something. 30:23 When I say the church, of course, 30:24 we're not talking about everyone in the church, right? 30:28 The church is a body 30:29 and there just happens to be wheat and tares 30:32 in that body. 30:34 But, of course, 30:35 how do people in the church come to this condition? 30:40 How do they arrive at this condition? 30:43 Of course, there's multiple texts 30:45 and multiple passages 30:46 that I could reference about this, 30:49 but there's one particular text 30:51 that comes to mind when answering that question. 30:53 How in the world 30:55 do people reach this state of apostasy, 30:58 the state of defecting from truth, 31:01 divorcing themselves from Jesus 31:03 and which they will be caught up 31:05 in this great famine that is coming? 31:08 Luke 9:23, Jesus gives us the solution, 31:14 but notice what the solution includes. 31:16 It says, 31:17 "Then He said to them all, 31:19 'If anyone desires to come after Me, 31:23 let him deny himself, 31:25 and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.'" 31:30 So how does a person 31:32 anyone in the church 31:34 arrive to this careless, indifferent, 31:36 complacent condition of Laodicea? 31:40 Lukewarmness. 31:42 How does it happen? 31:44 Well, it happens 31:46 because people abandon 31:49 their daily genuine Christian walk with Christ. 31:55 They abandoned their daily looking unto Christ 32:00 and having a genuine 32:01 spirit-filled experience with Him. 32:04 Notice, how I keep saying daily, 32:06 because what did Christ say? 32:07 Let him deny himself 32:09 and take up his cross, how often? 32:11 Daily. 32:13 You see, you got a lot of people, my friends, 32:14 a lot of Christians, 32:16 professed Christians, in the church, 32:18 who are not having that 32:20 daily communion experience with Christ. 32:24 They profess them as Jesus says, 32:25 they honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 32:30 Many of us find ourselves in that condition, 32:32 some of us can't see it because we're deceived. 32:36 Deceived into believing that we know Jesus when we do not, 32:40 deceived into believing that we're gonna go to heaven, 32:42 when in reality, if we don't shape up, 32:44 examine ourselves 32:46 and allow Jesus to cleanse us from the inside out, 32:48 we won't be seeing the kingdom of God, 32:49 as Jesus said. 32:51 Paul wrote of this daily experience, 32:54 this great righteousness by faith experience. 32:59 He referred to it using the words 33:02 from faith to faith, 33:04 day by day, glory to glory. 33:09 You see, 33:11 the righteousness by faith experience 33:13 is a daily ongoing experience with Jesus. 33:19 And the condition of Laodicea exists, 33:23 this falling away apostasy experience exists for many, 33:30 because they are not having a genuine step by step, 33:36 day by day, faith to faith, 33:40 glory to glory moment with Jesus. 33:41 You see, 33:43 what Paul is describing in his letters 33:44 when he writes about 33:46 this righteousness by faith experience 33:47 and coming to know Christ 33:50 and Him washing you 33:51 and cleansing you daily from your sins, 33:53 you see that is a process. 33:56 We know it's a lifelong process of sanctification, 33:58 but it's a never-ending ongoing process. 34:00 And some people, 34:02 well, truth is they have hit the pause button 34:04 on their righteousness by faith journey. 34:07 We've reached a point that for whatever reason 34:08 we become distracted, we become complacent, 34:12 we become comfortable 34:14 in our peace and safety environment, 34:17 and we stop seeking and looking and searching 34:21 for the righteousness of Jesus Christ. 34:24 You see, many of us hear this language, 34:27 righteousness by faith, 34:28 righteousness by faith experience, 34:31 and sometimes we really can't fully grasp 34:32 what is that, what does that mean? 34:35 And, Ryan, what do you mean 34:36 by people have pressed the pause button 34:38 on their righteousness by faith experience? 34:40 Well, I'm going to take you to Matthew Chapter 5 here. 34:42 I want to spell this out for you very clearly. 34:44 Probably, in no other passage of scripture 34:47 is it more clear, 34:49 clearly mapped out, I guess you could say, 34:50 as it did Christ make it more clear 34:54 other than Matthew Chapter 5 34:55 here in the, what we call the Beatitudes. 35:00 Now many people read the Beatitudes 35:01 and they see them 35:02 as these kinds of individual bullet point, 35:04 you know, just kind of like, 35:06 you know, blessed is this kind of person, 35:07 and blessed is this kind of person, 35:09 and oh, these kind of people will be blessed. 35:10 But really, 35:12 what Christ is doing in the Beatitudes 35:14 is He's mapping out, 35:15 He's showing you a step by step, 35:18 you know, 35:19 one level of Christian character development 35:21 to the next kind of experience 35:24 that we call righteousness by faith. 35:27 So why don't we go there, Matthew Chapter 5? 35:29 I want to show you this very clearly in the Bible. 35:31 We're gonna read through these Beatitudes 35:33 and I'm gonna show you how they're all interconnected. 35:35 Jesus is spelling out. 35:37 He's illustrating out. 35:39 He's clearly putting it on display 35:41 as to what this righteousness by faith experience must be 35:45 if you're going to make sure 35:47 that you're not caught up in the great falling away 35:49 and find yourself in trouble during the coming famine. 35:54 Matthew Chapter 5, 35:56 we're going to start reading in verse 3. 35:57 Notice, what the Bible says. 35:59 Of course, Jesus is speaking 36:01 and He gives us that first great Beatitude. 36:04 "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs 36:07 is the kingdom of heaven." 36:10 And you can go through and read these. 36:11 Blessed are those who mourn, blessed are the meek, 36:13 blessed are... 36:15 And so again, 36:16 we almost look at it almost in a poetic sense, 36:18 like Jesus is just like, ah, 36:19 blessed are this kind of people, 36:21 blessed are those kind of people over there, 36:23 oh, these kinds of people would be blessed. 36:24 But, my friends, notice, 36:26 Jesus is actually taking us 36:27 through the righteousness by faith experience, 36:30 so somebody has pressed the pause button 36:32 along this journey. 36:34 You don't want to press that pause button. 36:36 You want to make sure that you continue on this journey 36:38 because Jesus wants you 36:40 to have a genuine experience with Him. 36:43 So what does Jesus say right off the cuff? 36:45 Blessed are the poor in spirit, 36:49 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 36:53 Interesting. 36:55 What does Jesus mean by this? 36:58 What does He mean blessed are the poor in spirit? 37:02 Again, when the Pharisees heard this, 37:03 you could just imagine their mouths flew open, 37:06 you know, whoop, whoop, what did He just say? 37:08 Whoa, you know, 37:09 because all they probably heard was blessed are the poor. 37:13 Because back in their day if you were poor 37:15 and you weren't rich, you were cursed, right? 37:17 You were cursed by God. 37:19 If you were rich 37:20 and you were an abundance of worldly goods, 37:22 well, then you must be blessed by God 37:23 because He has given you all these wonderful things 37:26 and He's prospered you. 37:27 And so I'm sure probably the Pharisees off to the side, 37:30 they're hearing Jesus, you know, say these words 37:32 and they're just oh, what He just said, 37:33 blessed are the poor, but that's not what He said. 37:35 He didn't said blessed are the poor. 37:36 He said blessed are the poor in spirit. 37:38 What in the world does that mean? 37:42 You see, Jesus is giving us the very first step 37:48 that we must experience 37:52 in order to have a genuine experience with Him. 37:56 When He says, blessed are the poor in spirit, 37:58 what He's saying is 38:00 blessed are you 38:02 when you realize your spiritual poverty. 38:07 Blessed are you 38:08 when you come to the point in your life 38:09 where you realize 38:11 you have hit rock bottom 38:12 and there's nothing else for you to give. 38:15 Blessed are you 38:16 when you come to the realization 38:18 that you see your condition 38:20 and you recognize 38:21 that you are spiritually bankrupt 38:25 and that only Jesus Christ, the Savior 38:30 can get you out. 38:33 Blessed are the poor in spirit, 38:36 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 38:39 But then notice the next Beatitude, 38:41 He says in verse 4, 38:44 "Blessed are those 38:46 who mourn, for they shall be comforted." 38:49 Interesting. 38:52 So blessed are the poor in spirit, 38:55 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 38:56 Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. 38:59 So people who are mourning, 39:01 you know, they're blessed, right? 39:03 Well, some people would probably disagree with that. 39:05 Well, when they're mourning, 39:06 they probably don't feel very blessed. 39:07 But it's in connection to the previous Beatitude, 39:10 you see the natural response when you realize. 39:15 Once you realize your spiritual depravity, 39:19 you will mourn but yet you'll be comforted. 39:24 You see, when you realize that your sins nailed Jesus Christ, 39:29 the Son of God, to a cross 39:31 that because of your sins He had to die. 39:34 When that, when you really comprehend that 39:36 and that settles into your mind, 39:38 it brings about a natural response. 39:40 In fact, it's talked about in Zachariah Chapter 12, 39:43 I believe it is, 39:44 where he makes it very, very clear 39:46 that they will look upon me, 39:47 whom they have pierced and they will mourn. 39:50 That's the natural response. 39:52 Jesus, You died for me, I deserved that death. 39:55 I deserve to die on a cross, not You. 39:58 You're perfect, You're wonderful, 39:59 You've never sinned, 40:01 You don't deserve my punishment, 40:02 but Jesus did it out of love. 40:04 And when you comprehend that, you will mourn, 40:10 but yet you'll be comforted. 40:15 Notice, the next Beatitude, verse 5, 40:19 "Blessed are the meek, 40:22 for they shall inherit the earth." 40:28 Blessed are the meek, 40:30 for they shall inherit the earth. 40:33 You see, this is in connection to the previous two. 40:37 You see, after you're broken by the love of Jesus, 40:43 you adopt an attitude of meekness. 40:47 That's right. 40:49 Which brings us to our next Beatitude, 40:52 "Blessed are those who do hunger and thirst 40:55 for righteousness, for they shall be filled." 41:00 Notice, how this is Jesus taking you 41:02 from one level of Christian character development 41:04 to the next. 41:06 So before you became meek, 41:09 because you were broken by the love of Jesus 41:12 and you adopted an attitude of meekness. 41:14 So when you adopt an attitude of meekness, 41:18 true genuine Christ-like meekness, 41:21 you begin to hunger and thirst for His righteousness. 41:27 That's powerful. 41:29 Jesus is taking it. He's mapping it out. 41:34 And then, of course, verse 7, 41:36 "Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy." 41:41 You see, 41:42 there's a difference between human mercy and godly mercy. 41:49 You see, once you accept 41:51 the righteousness of Christ in your life, 41:56 you become merciful. 41:57 That's just the natural response. 41:59 Jesus is shaping and molding you into the person 42:02 that He wants you to be, 42:04 that vessel of honor for His kingdom. 42:06 So when you hunger and thirst for righteousness, 42:08 you begin to receive His righteousness 42:10 on your behalf, 42:12 and when you accept the righteousness of Christ 42:14 in your life, 42:15 you become merciful. 42:17 But it's not just any old kind of mercy. 42:19 We're gonna see what that is in just a moment. 42:20 Let's go to the next Beatitude because it's in connection. 42:23 "Blessed are the pure in heart, 42:26 for they shall see God." 42:31 Pure in heart, 42:33 so how does that connect to the previous one? 42:35 Very simple. 42:36 Once you are merciful, true godly mercy, 42:41 once you are merciful, 42:42 and here it is, true godly mercy, 42:44 and begin to treat others the way God treats us, 42:52 then and only then 42:54 you become pure in heart. 42:58 Now will you ever feel that way? 42:59 I don't think any of us are gonna, 43:00 you know, wake up one day and be like, 43:02 "Oh, man, I just feel so pure in heart today. 43:04 I just feel so perfect." 43:06 None of us are gonna feel that way, 43:09 because when you look at Christ's righteousness 43:11 and you see your own, 43:13 you kind of have that Isaiah experience. 43:15 Woe is me, right? 43:16 For I am undone, I am a sinful man, 43:19 oh, woe is me, right? 43:21 I'm the chief of sinners. 43:22 That's how Paul made it out. 43:24 He said, I feel like the chief of sinners, 43:26 but yet God sees you. 43:29 He sees that when you begin to show true godly mercy, 43:33 you begin to treat others the way He treats us, 43:37 then through His eyes you are pure in heart. 43:44 But it doesn't stop there. 43:46 Notice, verse 9, 43:48 "Blessed are the peacemakers, 43:52 for they shall be called sons of God." 43:56 And what in the world does that have to do 43:58 with the previous Beatitudes? 43:59 Again, we're on a journey. 44:00 Christ is changing us, so here it is. 44:04 Once you are pure in heart, 44:08 you begin to live 44:10 and share the message of the Prince of Peace. 44:17 Christ has taken you on a journey 44:20 from one level of Christian character development 44:22 to the next. 44:24 You're pure in heart. 44:27 You've received the peace of God in your life. 44:31 You have accepted 44:32 the Prince of Peace's righteousness 44:36 and so now 44:37 you begin to live out 44:39 and share that message of peace, 44:42 the message of Jesus with others. 44:49 You don't do it because you're prompted to. 44:52 You don't do it because you tell yourself 44:54 well, I'm a Christian 44:56 and that's what I'm supposed to do. 44:58 You see, it's a natural response. 45:02 It's kind of like 45:05 when someone burns their finger 45:07 or burns their hand in a hot fire, 45:10 they don't leave it there 45:12 and go oh, that burns, that's hot. 45:16 There's a natural response to pull back into, 45:19 because you've been hurt. 45:22 I know that's probably not the greatest illustration, 45:26 but nonetheless in a positive sense. 45:30 When you have a relationship with Jesus Christ, 45:32 a true genuine daily experience with Christ, 45:37 the natural response of living out 45:41 and declaring the message of the Prince of Peace is that 45:44 you just got to do it. 45:46 It's a part of your life. 45:48 It's a lifestyle now, 45:51 because God has bestowed His love upon you, 45:53 you can't help to tell people about it and about Him, 46:00 which leads us 46:02 to the last Beatitude of this section. 46:06 Verse 10, 46:09 "Blessed are those 46:11 who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, 46:15 for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." 46:19 Wait, wait, a second. 46:20 Jesus, hey, you're supposed to end on a good note. 46:23 You're supposed to end with something positive, Jesus. 46:26 See we're kind of in that mind frame 46:28 where everything kind of lead to this big happy ending. 46:32 And in reality, this is a happy ending, 46:34 but the words don't necessarily resonate well with us. 46:39 Blessed are those who are persecuted. 46:42 Jesus, you're telling me that I'm gonna be persecuted, what? 46:46 That's what You're leading me to. 46:48 Well, it's not in God's plan for you to be persecuted, 46:51 but nonetheless, there's an enemy. 46:54 And as long as that enemy exists, 46:57 the kingdom agenda of God 47:01 flies in the face 47:03 of the dark agenda of the enemy. 47:07 You see, once you are living, genuinely living, 47:11 and sharing the message of the Prince of Peace, 47:15 Jesus Christ, 47:17 you will receive persecution, 47:23 not you might, you know, not that you could, you will. 47:28 That's why Jesus says, you shall. 47:31 Those who receive Him 47:32 shall be persecuted for His name sake. 47:36 Now some of us, 47:38 we don't really know what it means to be persecuted 47:43 and many of us of all of that that we just read through. 47:46 Again, let me read through these 47:47 really quickly here so you get it. 47:49 You see, blessed are you 47:50 when you realize your spiritual poverty. 47:52 It starts there. 47:53 And then once you realize your spiritual depravity 47:56 that you're bankrupt, 47:57 you see, you're gonna mourn 47:58 because you recognize that 48:00 Jesus has bestowed His love upon you. 48:02 He wants to change you. 48:04 He has taken your penalty, and therefore you'll mourn, 48:07 but He's gonna come, sweep you up, 48:09 and He's gonna comfort you. 48:12 After being broken by the love of God, 48:14 you adopt an attitude of meekness. 48:18 And, of course, when you adopt an attitude of meekness, 48:21 you hunger and thirst for righteousness. 48:25 The next one, 48:27 once you accept the righteousness of Christ 48:29 in your life, 48:31 you become merciful, true godly mercy. 48:35 And, of course, once you are merciful 48:37 and begin to treat others the way God treats us, 48:41 then you become pure in heart. 48:45 And then once you are pure in heart, 48:48 you begin to live and share 48:49 the message of the Prince of Peace. 48:52 And then, of course, once you are living and sharing 48:55 the message of the Prince and Peace, 48:58 you will receive persecution. 49:05 Why doesn't it seem like 49:07 there's more persecution in the church today? 49:11 That's an interesting thought. 49:13 Now you may be watching and saying, 49:15 well, Ryan I'm persecuted all the time. 49:17 Only you and God truly know if that's the case. 49:21 But it just doesn't seem like there's much persecution today. 49:24 I want to read you a quote 49:25 from Great Controversy, page 48. 49:27 Listen to this quote. 49:30 So she asks a question, she says, 49:32 "Why is it, then, 49:34 that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber?" 49:38 She says, 49:39 "The only reason is that the church has conformed 49:41 to the world's standard 49:43 and therefore awakens no opposition. 49:46 The religion which is current in our day 49:48 is not of the pure and holy character 49:51 that marked the Christian faith 49:53 in the days of Christ and His apostles. 49:55 It is only because of the spirit of compromise 49:58 with sin, 50:00 because the great truths of the word of God 50:03 are so indifferently regarded, 50:05 because there is so little vital godliness in the church 50:08 that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world. 50:13 Let there be, she says, notice, 50:15 "Let there be a revival of the faith 50:19 and power of the early church 50:21 and the spirit of persecution will be revived 50:25 and the fires of persecution will be rekindled." 50:34 Why is there no persecution? 50:39 Because we have people that are not living out 50:42 and declaring the message of the Prince of Peace. 50:47 We have people that have pressed the pause button 50:48 somewhere along that journey, 50:51 perhaps maybe they've accepted Jesus, 50:54 maybe they've had that mournful experience, 50:57 but somewhere along the way, they failed to become meek, 50:59 they failed to become humble, they failed to become merciful, 51:02 perhaps they're not hungering 51:04 and thirsting for righteousness. 51:05 Again, that daily righteousness by faith experience, 51:09 my friends. 51:12 You see, Acts 1:8 gives us some insight 51:15 of what the natural response is of a person 51:19 who is genuinely led by the Holy Spirit of God. 51:23 If you are genuinely led by the Holy Spirit of God, 51:26 there's a natural response, there's an automatic response. 51:29 Notice what it says, Acts 1:8 51:31 and I'm gonna read a portion of it. 51:33 And here's what it says, and then, of course, 51:34 this message comes from Jesus. 51:36 He says, "But you shall receive power 51:38 when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, 51:40 and you shall be witnesses to Me." 51:44 You see, when the Holy Spirit has come upon us, my friends, 51:46 we want, we desire, 51:47 we need to become a witness for Christ, 51:51 because you're being led 51:53 by the true genuine Spirit of God. 51:54 But many of us, my friends, have mercy. 51:59 We're quenching the Holy Spirit. 52:07 We're no longer listening 52:09 to the work of the Holy Spirit in our life. 52:12 We're going our own way. 52:15 All we like sheep have gone astray. 52:21 The work cannot be finished 52:24 and we cannot go home 52:27 until the church wakes up, 52:33 but there's a famine coming. 52:35 And because of the current condition 52:38 many of us are not ready for the famine. 52:41 Have you heard the story about the four people named 52:44 everybody, somebody, 52:48 anybody, and nobody? 52:51 Let me tell you that story. 52:53 There was an important job to be done 52:55 and everybody was sure that somebody would do it. 52:59 Anybody could have done it, but nobody did it. 53:01 Somebody got angry about this because it was everybody's job. 53:06 Everybody thought anybody could do it, 53:08 but nobody realized that everybody wouldn't do it. 53:11 It ended up that everybody blamed somebody, 53:13 when nobody did what anybody could have done. 53:17 That right there 53:18 sums up the condition for most Christians today. 53:23 We need the fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives 53:27 to not only just wake us up, 53:29 but to give us the power 53:30 to declare the truth of God's Word 53:32 to live it out among the world, 53:34 so that we can prepare for the coming famine. 53:37 I've talked about a famine. 53:39 You see, what we need in our time, 53:42 what we need today is more Josephs. 53:44 Joseph experienced a famine in his day. 53:48 Now I told you there's a famine coming 53:51 and I believe that there is. 53:52 And I'm gonna tell you about that famine right now 53:53 in our closing minutes. 53:55 Everything we've been talking about leads up to this 53:57 and is connected to this. 54:00 If you think 2020 was bad, my friends, 54:05 if we're not rooted and grounded in Jesus Christ, 54:06 I don't know that we're prepared 54:08 for what is coming. 54:09 You see, we need some Josephs. 54:11 You see, there's a little something 54:12 we can learn from Joseph. 54:14 Joseph experienced some things. 54:17 You see, he had some brothers, 54:19 and, of course, 54:20 Joseph and his brothers had the same father 54:22 but different mothers. 54:25 Did you catch that? 54:26 Joseph and his brothers had the same father, 54:30 but different mothers, 54:32 just like us, right? 54:34 We all worship the same God, but some of us, 54:36 well, we're kind of... 54:38 We're on our own spiritual journey 54:40 that may not necessarily be in connection with the Father. 54:44 You see, the 11. Joseph had 11 brothers. 54:47 The 11 did not like Joseph, why? 54:51 Because he kept the commandments of his father 54:54 and had the gift of prophecy. 54:58 And, of course, 55:00 he was persecuted for his faith, 55:01 just like many of us will be persecuted 55:03 for our faith. 55:05 So he ends up in Egypt, right? 55:07 Persecuted, sent to Egypt, 55:09 the Mecca of false worship of his day. 55:12 And while he's there, he's tempted. 55:15 Get this, he's tempted by a harlot. 55:20 And he's thrown into prison. 55:24 But because he had the spirit of prophecy, 55:28 he was able to interpret a dream by pharaoh. 55:30 What was pharaoh's dream? 55:32 Listen to this, my friends. 55:34 Remember the seven fat cattle and the seven scrawny, 55:38 you know, sickly cattle and it ate up the fat cattle. 55:41 Same thing with the ears of corn. 55:43 Seven healthy ears of corn, 55:45 that represented seven years of famine. 55:47 What did Joseph tell? 55:49 He foretold there was a famine coming, 55:51 but how did he tell the people to prepare for that famine? 55:54 See, many of us, 55:56 we need to receive this counsel. 55:59 We are told that there's a famine coming. 56:02 You see, Joseph told his people to prepare for the famine 56:07 during that seven years of plenty to gather grain. 56:12 Now what did they do with the grain? 56:14 They made bread. 56:16 You see, we need to be gathering bread. 56:18 If we're gonna make it through this coming famine. 56:19 In fact, Amos 8:11 reminds us of this famine. 56:23 "Behold, the days are coming." 56:25 Here it is, 56:26 "Says the Lord God, 56:27 'That I will send a famine upon the land, 56:29 not a famine of bread nor a thirst for water, 56:32 but a hearing of the Word of the Lord.'" 56:36 My friends, a famine is coming 56:38 and Laodicea ain't ready for it. 56:41 We've got to get our hearts right today, my friends. 56:44 Jesus is coming soon, 56:47 and so I echo the words found in the first volume of the... 56:50 1 Manuscript from 1890 when Ellen White screamed, 56:53 I could just hear her screaming in loving agony, God of heaven, 56:57 wake us up. 56:58 That should be our prayer today. 57:00 And my final appeal to you today, my friends, 57:02 is pray that prayer. 57:04 God of heaven, wake me up, 57:06 wake me from my Laodicean slumber. 57:08 Help me to receive this time 57:10 in which I'm living to prepare bread 57:12 and to seek the Lord in His Word 57:14 to prepare my heart for what is coming. 57:17 That should be our prayer. 57:18 In fact, let's pray that in closing. 57:20 Father in heaven, 57:23 wake us up, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit, 57:27 prepare us for the famine that is coming. 57:30 That is what we ask in Jesus' holy name. 57:33 Amen. |
Revised 2021-01-08