Participants: Jay Rosario
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001002
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01:00 Welcome to "Pillars of Prophecy."
01:03 How are you all having at-- what kind of time 01:06 are you having, I should say? 01:08 Everybody having a wonderful and blessed time. 01:12 You know, we have so many people here 01:14 at camp meeting who are here for the first time. 01:17 Let me see your hands again, 01:18 if you're here for the first time. 01:20 I would say probably 50% of this crowd 01:23 is here for the first time and we welcome 01:25 each and every one of you and we welcome 01:27 those of you, who are watching from home. 01:30 Today, we have a wonderful presentation 01:33 that is going to be on preparing your home for the second coming. 01:39 Can you think of anything more important? 01:41 You believe Jesus is coming soon. 01:44 Amen, amen. And our speaker 01:47 is going to be Jay Rosario. 01:49 I remember the first time I met Jay. 01:51 I was up speaking at a frontline youth initiative. 01:55 He was also a speaker 01:56 and he was a young man, this was in 2006. 02:00 And he came out, he was speaking 02:01 on a familiar topic, but God had given him new insight, 02:06 fresh insight on this topic. 02:07 And I was so impressed when I heard him 02:10 that I came back and said, 02:11 "We've got to get this young man on 3ABN." 02:14 So we're very pleased to have Pastor Jay Rosario with us. 02:18 He has a two church district in San Jose, California. 02:23 And you may be familiar with the ministry 02:25 he and his brothers had for so long called "Radiant Living." 02:29 So Jay is a young man of God and we are very please, 02:33 but before Jay does come to speak to us, 02:37 we're going to have our own Pastor John Lomacang, 02:40 who will be singing a song for the Lord, thank you. 03:08 I'd rather have Jesus 03:13 than silver or gold 03:19 I'd rather be His 03:23 than have riches untold 03:29 I'd much rather have Jesus 03:36 than houses or lands 03:41 And I'd rather be led 03:46 by his nail-pierced hands 03:53 Than to be the king 03:58 of a vast domain 04:04 Or be held 04:07 my sin's dread sway 04:13 I'd much rather have Jesus 04:20 Than anything 04:24 This world affords today 04:50 Would you rather have Jesus 04:56 than men's applause 05:01 Would you rather be faithful 05:06 to His dear cause 05:12 Would you rather have Jesus 05:19 than worldwide fame 05:24 Would you rather be true 05:28 to His holy name 05:35 Than to be the king 05:40 of a vast domain 05:45 Or be held 05:48 my sin's dread sway 05:55 I'd much rather have Jesus 06:01 Than anything 06:06 This world affords today 06:16 Than to be the king 06:20 of a vast domain 06:25 Or be held 06:28 my sin's dread sway 06:34 I'd much rather have Jesus 06:40 Than anything 06:45 This world can affords today 06:55 Would you rather have Jesus 07:00 Than anything 07:05 This world affords today 07:20 Than this world can afford today 07:43 Hello, everyone. 07:46 Thank you Pastor Lomacang for the beautiful song. 07:48 Wasn't that lovely? Yes. 07:50 It's good to be here again at 3ABN in Southern Illinois. 07:53 And I bring you greetings from sunny California. 07:55 Any Californians in the midst? 07:58 Wow, we have Californians in the mist. 08:00 Praise the Lord. 08:01 I want to send the greetings to my churches, 08:04 Cambrian Park SDA Church 08:06 and Los Gatos SDA Church in San Jose. 08:07 You're probably not watching 'cause 08:09 you're tired of listening to me speak every Sabbath. 08:11 But those of you that are watching in San Jose, 08:14 I send you greetings. 08:16 I'm very, very excited about the message this morning. 08:18 And I'm excited to hear about 08:20 the other presentations that are here. 08:21 And I always love coming to 3ABN camp meeting, 08:24 because it's kind of like a little bit 08:26 of heaven on earth, amen. Amen. 08:27 You have so many different perspectives 08:29 and so many relevant messages that are shared. 08:31 It's almost like, wow. 08:32 I wish this never finished. 08:34 And I think that's what heaven's gonna be like. 08:35 Except, the guest speaker is gonna be Jesus, amen. Amen. 08:37 So I'm looking forward to that camp meeting. 08:39 That's the camp meeting you do not want to miss? 08:41 Before we begin, I want to invite you 08:43 to bow your heads with me as we invite the real speaker, 08:46 which is the Holy Spirit. 08:47 Pray with me. 08:48 Father, in heaven, we thank You 08:50 for the privilege you've given us 08:52 to be called sons and daughters of God. 08:54 And Lord, we need Your presence, 08:56 we need Your inspiration and we need your insight 09:00 as we dive into Your word. 09:03 Father, we have not come to hear the words of a man. 09:06 Thus, I pray that you hide me behind the cross, 09:10 because we have come to hear Jesus. 09:12 May we see Him? 09:15 May we feel Him? 09:17 May we hear Him? 09:18 This is my Prayer in His name. Amen. 09:21 Amen. Our presentation is entitled, 09:26 "Preparing your Home for the Second Coming of Christ." 09:29 You know, I've-- I live in a home, and you know, 09:34 it's hard enough to prepare your home for relatives, right. 09:39 It's hard enough to prepare your home. 09:41 Somebody said, "Yes." 09:42 Somebody is testifying up here in the front. 09:44 It's hard enough to prepare your home 09:46 for visitors and for guests. 09:48 Prepare your home for the second coming 09:49 seems a bit overwhelming, does it not? 09:52 You know, I remember, my mother always gets, 09:54 I mean, when she comes and visits 09:55 my home periodically. 09:58 And she always says, Jay, you know, 09:59 why is it that you do this? 10:00 Or why don't you get nicer curtains or what? 10:03 Does anybody have any mothers that are like that? 10:05 You know, she is kind of like my fashion, 10:07 like my interior designer police. 10:10 And every time she visits me, she's always giving me counsel. 10:12 Oh, you know, you got to do this, 10:14 you got to do that. 10:15 What I love about my mother is that every time 10:17 she comes visits me, if it's for the week 10:19 or for the weekend? 10:20 In the course of a few days, she turns my house 10:23 into like a bachelor pad, right, into like Pier 1 Imports, okay. 10:30 Anybody went to Pier 1 Imports? 10:32 You walk in and just the fragrance 10:33 just--like your stress level is immediately dropped 10:37 when you go to Pier 1 Imports. 10:39 I just go in there for the fragrance, 10:40 'cause, I don't know what I'm-- I don't know what I'm buying, 10:42 I don't know where to start. 10:43 And that's kind of how my mother does it. 10:45 I don't know how she does it. 10:46 She just has magical hands and she has a touch for, 10:48 I think it's a mother thing. 10:49 And--but I would love to think 10:53 that that's kind of what we're supposed 10:55 to do spiritually speaking in our homes, preparing our homes 11:00 for the second coming of Christ, amen. 11:02 Because the second coming of Christ 11:03 is not so much an event in the future 11:06 as it is a very, very special guest 11:08 approaching the atmosphere, amen. 11:11 And as much as we kind of scramble 11:13 and we hear last minute that's a--there is a guest 11:15 that's gonna be coming in the next few minutes. 11:17 Oh, put all of the stuff under the bed. 11:18 You guys have done that before. 11:20 Don't raise your hand. 11:23 You know, that's kind of similar, where 11:25 that's gonna comes to the-- the coming of Christ, you know. 11:27 We have to get our houses in order. 11:29 We have to get our homes in order. 11:31 And I think the Bible is kind of like the manual 11:34 that teaches you and I how to get our homes in order 11:38 for the second coming of Christ. 11:40 And the reason why this is such a critical point 11:42 is because you know, ever since 11:43 I've started working as a pastor. 11:45 I've realized that the number one issue 11:48 that I have found. 11:50 Maybe there's another season pastor 11:51 that's been working that has a lot more experience. 11:53 Maybe, I haven't tapped into that person's insight, 11:56 but at least right now where I'm at in my ministry, 11:59 I see that the number one issue, 12:02 99.9% of the issues in my churches, 12:06 I see to be a home issue, amen. 12:12 That somehow is transferred into the board meetings, amen. 12:16 That has transferred into the committee meetings. 12:18 That has transferred into the different, 12:20 you know, things that we do at church. 12:22 And that's what I believe that if we understand 12:24 the science of the home, if we understand 12:26 how to get our homes on fire for the Lord. 12:28 I think the whole-- getting our church on fire 12:30 is just kind of the product, the second product 12:34 of that initial plan. 12:36 So I want to invite you to open your Bibles to Revelation 12. 12:39 Because Revelation 12, of course, 12:41 there's always-- the Bible has good news. 12:43 But the good news is only as good as the bad news is bad. 12:48 In the Revelation 12, what we see is that the Bible 12:50 is kind of unveiling, revealing, exposing an enemy 12:57 that is trying to attack not only the church, 13:01 but fundamentally that is attacking our homes. 13:04 And in Revelation 12, when you're in Revelation 12, 13:07 say a loud amen, please. Amen. 13:08 Revelation 12 beginning in verse 17, very popular text. 13:12 The Bible tells us the dragon was enraged with the women. 13:16 By the way the subtitle of preparing 13:18 your home for the second coming. 13:19 This is part one by the way. 13:21 The subtitle for this would be, 13:22 when the dragon knocks on your door, okay. 13:25 It sounds like a horror flick, but isn't, amen. 13:29 Verse 17, "And the dragon was enraged 13:33 with the woman, and he went to make war 13:36 with the rest of her offspring, 13:38 who keep the commandments of God 13:40 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." 13:43 The Bible tells us in Revelation 12, 13:44 that the dragon who if you read earlier in Revelation 12. 13:48 It is identified as that old serpents 13:51 called the devil and Satan is enraged with the woman. 13:55 Now Bible students, what does the woman 13:56 represent in Bible prophecy? 13:58 The church. So the dragon is angry at the church, 14:03 because he's angry at the church, 14:05 he wants to attack the church. 14:06 Now let me ask you this question. 14:08 When you consider the church, what is the church? 14:10 What is the church made up of? 14:13 They're made of people. You guys are very good. 14:14 You guys are good bunch this morning. 14:17 The church is made up of people, 14:18 but generally speaking, if you notice the people 14:20 that come into your church they--at times not always, 14:23 but at times they come in units. 14:26 Have you noticed that? 14:28 Sometimes they come in units not always, 14:29 'cause sometimes some people get there earlier than others, 14:31 but that's a whole another seminar for another day, 14:34 getting to church on time. 14:38 I'm gonna resist the temptation 14:40 of deviating from my presentation. 14:42 So when you look at church and when you see people 14:44 coming into the Sabbath school program etcetera. 14:46 You see them coming in by units, yeah. 14:49 What do we normally call these units? 14:52 We call them families, right. 14:54 And these families usually spend 14:57 the bulk amount of time together where? 15:02 At home. Yeah, in a house, 15:07 which if you actually study carefully 15:09 what the Bible teaches, it's actually 15:11 a little church, amen. 15:15 That's why the father or the husband 15:18 is referred to as the priest. 15:21 Now where do priest usually hang out at? 15:24 They hang out in sanctuaries, right? 15:25 They hang out in temples. 15:27 They hang out in tabernacles. 15:29 So if the father or the husband 15:31 is called the priest of the home, 15:33 well, then that must mean that the home is really a sanctuary. 15:38 The home really is a tabernacle. 15:40 The home really is a temple. 15:43 But let me ask you a question? 15:45 How many of us treat our homes like a sanctuary? 15:52 How many of us treat our homes like a temple? 15:55 How many of us treat our home like a tabernacle? 15:57 Not really, right. 15:58 We usually-- we rarely consider 16:00 our homes being a place of sacred and holiness, yeah. 16:05 I think this is the fundamental issue 16:07 that we're having in having issues 16:10 and problems in our church. 16:13 We need to rediscover what the home is. 16:16 In fact some secular, interesting, 16:18 secular historians have considered 16:20 that when they have investigated 16:22 some of the--the worst epochs of earth's history. 16:26 When they've seen the disintegration of culture 16:29 and disintegration of civilization, 16:31 they've actually tied that to the disintegration of the home. 16:37 So what they've seen, they've shown these 16:38 made connections to some of the worst times, 16:41 some of the worst eras in earth's history. 16:44 And they've seen that the reason why it's been a negative outflow 16:49 or negative manifestation or negative expression 16:52 is because all of that was rooted into the home. 16:56 The Bible tells us in Revelation 12, 16:58 that the dragon is trying to attack the church. 17:01 But ladies and gentlemen, we have just identified 17:03 that the church is nothing more than people 17:05 who come in by units. 17:07 Yeah, that we call families that spend 17:10 the bulk of their time at home. 17:13 So if the devil is gonna do a successful job 17:15 in attacking the church or the woman 17:17 which unfortunately he's doing a pretty good job. 17:20 He's gonna do so-- not so much bringing 17:23 his weaponry, all of his bullets 17:26 and all of his grenades at church, amen. 17:29 He's gonna focus primarily on bringing 17:31 his grenades in the home, because if he can conquer 17:36 your home ladies and gentlemen, he conquers the church. 17:40 So that's why we need to be more vigilant 17:42 when we come home than when we actually go to church. 17:46 And that's where I believe, we need to rediscover 17:48 and we need to really take into consideration 17:51 where the spirituality and what condition 17:54 our homes are in. 17:56 In Revelation 12, earlier in the chapter, 17:58 the dragon was trying to take out Jesus at His birth, 18:01 if you read carefully. 18:03 But of course, he was unsuccessful. 18:05 And when you look at the earthly ministry of Christ, 18:07 you always see the dragon 18:08 trying to take Jesus out in different scenarios. 18:11 At His birth, he tried through Herod, unsuccessful. 18:13 He tried again in the wilderness, unsuccessful. 18:16 And I like to think that the dragon was crouching 18:18 in the Garden of Gethsemane as he was trying 18:20 to discourage Christ to deviate from the plan of salvation. 18:25 And the Bible tells us in Revelation 12 18:26 that the man-child was caught up to heaven. 18:29 And of course, that's referring to the resurrection. 18:30 So the dragon was unsuccessful 18:33 in taking out Jesus in Revelation 12. 18:36 So the dragon now has shifted his target from Christ, 18:42 because now he's no longer capable of attacking Christ 18:45 to attacking the object of God's affection. 18:49 And that of course, is none other than the church. 18:52 We're told that the church is God's appointed agency 18:56 for the salvation of souls. 18:57 We're told that the church is the most important community 19:02 that God regards on planet earth. 19:04 So obviously the devil is going to try to attach 19:07 that which is in Christ's consideration, 19:12 the most important group of individuals. 19:15 The devil is not going to knock on your door and saying, 19:20 "Hello I'm the devil. 19:23 I'm here to take you out." 19:26 That would be kind of little bit obvious, no. 19:29 The Bible tells us that the devil is cunning, 19:32 yeah, he's clever. 19:33 So he's not gonna come to you as an enemy. 19:36 He's going to masquerade himself as a friend. 19:40 And unfortunately, I see that the devil 19:42 has been a very, very effective 19:44 in masquerading himself as a friend. 19:47 You see, when you look at the dragon's tactics 19:49 throughout earth's history. 19:50 During the dark ages 19:52 how was it that the dragon attacked the church? 19:55 Persecution. We read so many 19:58 different accounts of many, many martyrs 19:59 that were burnt at the stake. 20:01 Many, many martyrs that suffered 20:02 through the pains of the wracks, right. 20:05 In a different torture instruments 20:07 that were being used to put away the heretics. 20:11 So the dragon the way that he dealt 20:12 with that is he attacked the church from the outside. 20:16 But he realized that there was a problem. 20:18 Because for every martyr that he would assassinate, 20:20 10 martyrs were being revived. 20:22 In fact, I think it's a story of John Calvin, 20:24 I forget the details where he literally-- 20:26 he was probably 12 or 13 years old. 20:28 I forget my details, don't quote me on that. 20:30 He was probably a little boy. 20:31 When he was witnessing the death of a martyr, 20:34 who was burned at the stake. 20:35 And it was that experience that actually launched 20:40 John Calvin's inspiration to begin the work, 20:42 continues the work of reform. 20:44 So the dragon's like, wait a second, 20:46 this is not working out. 20:47 We're attacking the church from the outside 20:48 and they're only multiplying faster. 20:51 So the dragon had to shift gears from attacking the church 20:56 from the outside, from now attacking 20:58 the church from the inside. 21:01 And I believe that he's even shifted again. 21:03 He says, "No, no, no this is not as effective." 21:05 We shouldn't be attacking the church in the sanctuary. 21:09 We shouldn't be attacking the church there in potluck. 21:12 We shouldn't be attacking the church in the pulpit. 21:15 We need to attack the church when the church is, 21:20 when they have their guard down. 21:23 And when does that usually happen ladies and gentlemen? 21:25 When we're at church? 21:26 No, that usually happens when we're at home. 21:32 How many of you remember the story of the Trojans? 21:34 The Battle of Troy. 21:36 If you remember carefully and of course, 21:38 there's many different versions and variations of the story, 21:40 but traditionally that the Greeks 21:42 were trying to take over the city of Troy for 10 years, 21:45 you know, 10 years plus, unsuccessful. 21:48 So finally, what did they do in order 21:50 to take over the city of Troy? 21:52 They've built a wooden horse, right, the Trojan Horse. 21:55 And of course, this is a common phrase 21:57 used for a different gimmicks 21:59 and different little trickery schemes. 22:01 But the Trojan Horse legend, of course, 22:04 is known for this big giant wooden horse 22:08 that was constructed by the Greeks 22:09 and inside the Trojan Horse 22:13 there was about 30 to 40 soldiers. 22:15 And there was about two or three in the part of the mouth, right. 22:18 And as this--this horse was kind of passing 22:21 the gates to the city of Troy. 22:23 It was supposed to be a gift, right. 22:25 Kind of like a truce, we're at peace, right. 22:28 Let's put all this strife behind this and it is fascinating. 22:32 Because when you read that story, 22:33 it is not until the sun went down that the Trojans 22:41 or the Trojan Horse rather, finally the soldiers, 22:44 the Greek soldiers came out of the Trojan horse 22:47 and they conquered the city of Troy that night. 22:50 They didn't do it during daylight, right. 22:52 'Cause then everybody obviously would be alert, 22:54 they would be vigilant. 22:55 They waited for the sun to go down 22:58 when everybody was asleep and their guard was down, 23:00 because they knew that, that is when the Trojans 23:03 would be the most vulnerable for defeat. 23:07 Ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the dragon 23:10 when he knocks on our door, he subtly 23:12 puts Trojan horses into our homes. 23:16 And unfortunately, those Trojan horses 23:17 that he introduces into our home are not empty. 23:20 They are filled with many different influences. 23:24 Should I say many different soldiers 23:26 that he has that are there dedicated 23:29 for the spiritual ruin of God's people. 23:32 The dragon is knocking on our doors 23:33 and so many Trojan horses are coming in 23:35 and we don't even realize it. 23:36 And just like the Greeks waited until sundown. 23:41 I think one of the biggest times that the Satan 23:43 takes advantage of God's people is after sundown, right. 23:50 He's not gonna attack you on the Sabbath hours, right. 23:53 Because that's when we have-- 23:54 we have our best clothing on, right. 23:57 We're in the Sabbath mode. 23:58 We're talking the right talks. 23:59 We're saying the right things. 24:01 We're doing the right things, some of us, amen. 24:04 Some of you go home and do lay activities, right. 24:06 You lay down and asleep. 24:08 But the devil, the dragon waits 24:12 for you to go home after sundown. 24:16 And if you are gentlemen, 24:17 he waits for you to loosen your tie. 24:21 And if you're a lady, he waits for you to take your heels off. 24:26 And that's when-- I don't know what it is, right. 24:28 You know what's that? 24:29 Suddenly you take your-- you loosen your tie gentlemen. 24:32 All of a sudden, you just become like, oh, right. 24:35 Become just unkind for some reason. 24:38 And ladies, I'm not gonna say 24:39 anything about the ladies, amen. 24:41 I don't want to get into trouble. 24:42 But you take the heels the off and you know, 24:44 you know, that is, all right. 24:45 So the devil is focusing primarily 24:48 when God's people put their guard down. 24:53 And that is when arguments take place in the home, yeah. 24:56 That is when Trojan horses 24:58 come in and it's unsupervised by God's people. 25:00 And ladies and gentlemen, I believe that the reason 25:02 why our church and this is, 25:05 of course, it's corporately speaking. 25:07 We're talking about, you know, every church 25:08 is kind of struggling, spiritually speaking. 25:10 It is because the devil has foothold in our homes. 25:14 He has foothold in our 25:15 living rooms, in the conversations. 25:18 The former Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev 25:21 reportedly told the following story 25:22 to teach the need for vigilance. 25:25 At a time when there was a wave 25:27 of petty theft in the USSR, the story goes. 25:30 The Soviet authorities put guards 25:31 at many of the state-owned factories. 25:34 At one of the timber works in Leningrad 25:36 the guard knew the workers very, very well. 25:38 The first evening, I can't pronounce 25:40 his name very well, Pyotr Petrovich came out 25:43 with a wheelbarrow and, on the wheelbarrow, 25:46 a great bulky sack with a suspicious- 25:48 looking object inside. 25:50 And the guard approach Petrovich and he says, 25:52 "Come on, Petrovich. 25:54 What have you got there?" 25:56 Petrovich says, "Just sawdust and shavings." 25:59 The guard said, "Come on, I wasn't born yesterday. 26:01 Tip it out." 26:03 Petrovich did, and out came nothing 26:04 but sawdust and shavings. 26:06 So he was allowed to put it all back again and go home. 26:09 The same thing happened every night all week, 26:12 and the guard was getting extremely frustrated. 26:14 Finally his curiosity overcame his frustration. 26:17 The guard said, "Petrovich, I know you. 26:19 Tell me what you're smuggling out of here, 26:21 and I'll let you go." 26:22 Petrovich responded, "Wheelbarrows." 26:27 Clever, amen. I believe that the devil 26:31 is smuggling into our homes wheelbarrows, amen. 26:35 And in the process of being vigilance for some reason, 26:38 he's caught us off guard 26:40 and that is why he's made his way into our homes. 26:44 Is it possible that the dragon is smuggling things 26:46 into your home without you even knowing it? 26:50 Is it possible that right now you're experiencing 26:53 a particular spiritual obstacle in your life 26:57 that is keeping you, is inhibiting you 26:59 from going to the next level? 27:01 Ladies and gentlemen, don't attack the pastor, amen. 27:05 Don't attack the elders. Amen. 27:08 Go to your living room 27:10 and attack your living room, amen. 27:13 We have to assess ourselves and ask ourselves a question, 27:17 "Where are we in our spiritual walk?" 27:19 I want to invite you to open 27:21 your Bibles to the Book of Deuteronomy. 27:22 Deuteronomy is in the Old Testament, 27:24 of course, and in Deuteronomy 6. 27:27 We read a fascinating text 27:29 that teaches us kind of an interesting principle 27:31 of being vigilant, yeah, particularly 27:34 in our homes and in our family circles. 27:37 Deuteronomy 6 and when you're there, please say amen. 27:42 Amen. And in verse 4, 27:43 we have the popular text that what they call the Shema, right. 27:47 Shema Yisrael, Yehowah, Elohainoo, Yehowah aichod. 27:52 "Hear, O Israel, 27:53 the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 27:56 You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, 27:58 with all your soul and with all your strength. 28:00 And these words which I command you today 28:01 shall be in your heart. 28:03 You shall teach them diligently to your children, 28:05 and shall talk of them when you sit in your," where? 28:08 "House. When you walk by the way, 28:10 when you lie down, and when you rise. 28:12 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, 28:15 and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes." 28:17 Notice verse 9, "You shall write them on," where? 28:21 "The doorposts of your house and on your gates." 28:26 Now ladies and gentlemen, I'm not suggesting 28:28 that immediately after this presentation 28:30 that you run over to a Christian book store 28:32 and you get one of those little placards 28:35 in front of your doorpost and then all of your problems 28:37 are gonna disintegrate, amen. Amen. 28:39 If that's what you think, 28:40 you've misunderstood the point, amen. 28:42 This is talking about a spiritual principle 28:44 that the teachings of God's word, 28:45 amen--needs to be at the front of our doorpost, yeah. 28:51 The Jews were particularly instructed 28:53 that this is exactly what they need to do. 28:54 In fact, you run over to chapter 11, 28:56 you're there in chapter 6, 28:57 run over to chapter 11 and it takes us 28:59 to the next level in verse 18. 29:01 Deuteronomy 11:18, "Therefore, you shall 29:03 lay up lay up these words of mine 29:04 in your heart and in your soul, and you bind them as a sign 29:06 on your hand, they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 29:09 You shall teach them to your children, 29:11 speaking of them when you are sitting in your house, 29:13 when you walk by the way, 29:15 and when you lie down, and when you rise. 29:16 And you shall write them on the--" Where? 29:18 "Doorpost of your house and on your gates," why? 29:22 "That your days and the days of your children may be," what? 29:25 "Multiplied in the land which the Lord 29:27 swore to your fathers to give them, 29:29 like the days of the heavens above the earth. 29:32 For if you carefully keep all these commandments 29:34 which I command you to do, to love the Lord your God, 29:36 to walk in all His ways and to hold fast to him. 29:39 Then the Lord will drive out 29:40 all of these nations from before you. 29:42 And you will dispossess greater 29:44 and mightier nations than yourselves. 29:46 Every place on which the sole of your foot treads 29:48 shall be yours from the wilderness. 29:50 And Lebanon from the River and the river Euphrates, 29:53 even to the western sea shall be your territory. 29:55 No man shall be able to stand against you, 29:56 the Lord your God will put the dread of you 29:58 and the fear of you upon all land 30:00 where you tread just as he has set to you." 30:02 Isn't that fascinating? 30:04 Deuteronomy 11, God is counseling His people. 30:06 He says listen, "Do you want to have victory? 30:08 Do you want to take over nations? 30:10 Do you want to dispossess those enemies of God 30:13 and take over the lands that God has promised you? 30:16 Notice He doesn't tell them to go and get artillery, amen. 30:20 He doesn't tell them to go get guns. 30:21 He doesn't go and tell them, 30:23 okay, now develop a good art of war. 30:25 No. He simply says start, where? 30:29 Start in your house. 30:31 He says, "Go home teach the very things 30:34 that you believe to your children." 30:36 And He says "put it in your doorpost 30:38 in the front of your gates. 30:40 If you do this, He says, "I will dispossess the nations." 30:43 I believe that there're forces, there're spiritual nations 30:46 that are dominating our homes, amen. 30:48 There are Canaanites in our homes. 30:50 There are Jebusites in our living rooms 30:53 that need to be dispossess 30:54 and the only way we can do this, my friends, 30:57 is if we resurrect the spirit of spirituality in our homes. 31:01 One of those things that we need to do 31:03 is resurrect the spirit of family worship, amen. 31:06 By the way there's an art 31:07 that's almost extinct these days. 31:09 And we wonder why are young people, 31:11 when they come to church they're, right? 31:14 Or they're texting away. 31:15 Well, the reason why, it's very simple, 31:17 is because we're not training them in the home. 31:20 So they come to church, this is weird. 31:22 What is this preachy preacher talking about? 31:25 What is all of these holy people doing? You follow? 31:28 Where as if we train them during the week, they come like, 31:30 "Oh, I remember reading this on Tuesday. 31:32 Mom was reading about this. 31:33 Oh, yeah, we were just praying for just so and so." 31:36 You follow? It's a part of life now. 31:38 But what happens is our young people come to church, 31:40 they're not trained and then they act the way they act, 31:43 because they're products of their environment, 31:44 i.e. their home. 31:46 And then we attack them, yeah, for not living up 31:49 to an unrealistic expectation 31:50 that we have imposed upon them. Amen. 31:53 And that's why our young people 31:54 are living the church left and right, why, 31:56 because the home is not what it supposed to be. 32:00 And we're told that the home used to be 32:01 a training center. Amen. 32:04 To be learn how to live in the home above. 32:09 And that's why God, and that's where the devil is, 32:12 there's a war between these two things. 32:14 And when you read about Exodus 12, 32:15 won't go there for the sake of time. 32:17 But when you read Exodus 12, during the plagues, 32:19 you remember the last plague? 32:20 What was the last plague about? 32:23 It was death of the firstborn, yeah. 32:25 How are God's people going to be spare from this plague? 32:29 They have to get a lamb. They have to get the blood. 32:32 And where did they have to apply the blood, 32:34 ladies and gentlemen? 32:36 Doorpost of where? Of their homes. 32:39 Deuteronomy, we see that the word of God 32:40 needs to be at the doorpost of our homes. 32:42 Number two, we see that the Book of Exodus tells us 32:44 that the blood of the lamb needs to be 32:46 dripping from our homes, amen. 32:49 And the Bible tells us that the destroyer 32:51 would pass over that home. 32:54 I think you're making the applications already. 32:55 I don't even need to do it. 32:57 In other words, when our homes are founded 32:59 upon the word of God, amen. 33:01 And when our homes are washed in the blood? 33:04 God is going to pass over the plagues upon our homes. 33:08 Remember the question is preparation. 33:11 How do we prepare our homes for the second coming of Christ? 33:14 Deuteronomy and Exodus teach us 33:16 some of the foundational principles. 33:18 Our homes need to be the place 33:21 where the word of God is meditated upon, amen. 33:24 Is read out loud amongst the presence of family members. 33:28 And the blood of Jesus needs to be 33:30 magnified and exalted in our homes. 33:32 When the devil comes, when the dragon comes 33:34 knocking on the door and he sees blood 33:37 and he sees the word of God, what do you think, 33:39 he's gonna do, ladies and gentlemen? Run. 33:40 It's like you know what? 33:42 I think I got the wrong address, let me. 33:47 If the home is full of the Spirit of God, 33:50 if the home is full of reverence, 33:53 the church will be full of all these things. 33:55 There's a lot talk about reverence in the church, right? 33:58 It's very simple. 33:59 The reason why there is irreverence in the church 34:01 is because there is irreverence in the home, right? 34:06 The reason why is because we have not trained ourselves 34:08 to be in the company of angels. 34:11 We don't know how to behave in the midst of holiness, 34:14 hence when we come to church we bring the vulgarity, yeah, 34:18 and we bring the earthliness into the church setting 34:20 and that's why it's irreverent. 34:22 So many times we attack 34:23 and we try to create reverence in the church when really-- 34:25 Obviously we need to do the best that we can to do that. 34:27 But the point is that, it doesn't start in the church, 34:30 it starts in the home and that's what we need to do. 34:32 We need to reconsider our approaches 34:34 when we deal with these things. 34:36 How many of you remember the encounter 34:37 that Moses had with the God of Israel, 34:39 out in the desert? 34:40 The burning bush, remember that? 34:43 What did the burning bush say? 34:46 Take the sandals off of your feet, why? 34:50 Because where you're standing is holy ground. 34:53 Now let me ask you a question. Where was Moses? 34:57 Was Moses at the burning bush, Christian fellowship? 35:02 You follow? Was that a church? 35:05 Was he at camp meeting? No. 35:09 He was literally out in the middle of nowhere, 35:11 but the reason why God told him to take his sandals off 35:14 is because the presence of God made that ground holy. 35:20 Ladies and gentlemen, what I'm submitting to you 35:22 this day is that I believe 35:23 that we need to take our sandals off of our feet 35:27 when we enter into our homes. 35:28 Now we had to do that literally speaking 35:30 when I grew up, so it's not that difficult, 35:32 because we always used to play in the mud. 35:34 And my Mom said, "No, no, you are not walking 35:36 in this house with that stuff in here, right? 35:39 You guys, how many of you, am I the only one? 35:41 'Cause we used to play a lot of football, 35:42 we used to play a lot of sports. 35:44 My Mom's like, "No, no, no, no, take your shoes off," right. 35:46 Spiritually speaking, we need to do the same things. 35:48 Because life unfortunately in the process of life 35:51 while we're wearing our spiritual shoes, 35:53 we tend to pick up some of the earthliness 35:55 in the soles of our feet, right. 35:58 And when we come into our homes, 35:59 we bring the earthliness into the home 36:01 rather than taking our shoes obviously. 36:03 Woo, woo, this is the sanctuary of the home. 36:05 This is holy ground. 36:08 And we need to treat this place with reverence. 36:10 And ladies and gentlemen, that's where I believe 36:12 the devil is being so successful. 36:16 The presence of royalty changes the atmosphere. 36:20 Is it possible we have lost this presence in our home? 36:23 The same one who said, take your shoes off to Moses 36:25 is asking us today to do the same. Amen. 36:28 And I believe that if we take our shoes off 36:30 spiritually speaking, we would be more respectful in the home. 36:33 There will be more love in the home. 36:35 There will be more grace in the home. 36:37 It would be a little heaven on earth. 36:38 And when we have visitors, wow, they wouldn't want to leave. 36:42 I became acquainted with the teachings of the Bible, 36:46 I became a Christian, 36:47 I became a Seventh day Adventist Christian, 36:49 because of somebody's home. 36:52 It wasn't in evangelistic campaign, 36:54 it wasn't a fancy evangelist, it wasn't a great preacher, 36:56 it wasn't a wonderful camp meeting such as this. 36:59 It was simply a father who took his experience 37:04 with God very seriously 37:06 and who dedicated a lot of time out of his very busy schedule, 37:10 father of five children to teach me, my two brothers, 37:13 my brother's two roommates and another friend. 37:18 And because of the home circle, 37:20 because as I walked into that home, 37:21 I felt like I was walking into another planet. 37:24 I said, "Where did these people come from?" 37:28 You know, like, "Who are these people?" 37:30 I remember the first time we visited them. 37:31 We had our first vegetarian meal in my life. 37:34 And it was amazing. 37:35 I always thought vegetarian basically was just, 37:36 you know, grass and water, you know. 37:40 And I was like, "Wow, this food is amazing. 37:43 Vegetarian have it all right. It's not that difficult." 37:45 You know, I grew up very carnivorous, you know. 37:47 In my home anything that moved you, it was lunch. 37:51 You know, throw out in the microwave. 37:52 What is it? Don't ask just eat it, right. 37:55 So when I went to this home, it was just so--it was just-- 37:58 there was an aura, 37:59 there was an atmosphere of peace in this home 38:02 and it was a very committed family of God. 38:06 And they were literally modeling, 38:08 how to be a Christian without them even realizing it. 38:13 And out of that home. 38:15 By the way, I went to-- 38:16 I call it the institute of evangelism, 38:21 The Johnson Institute of Evangelism. 38:23 It's the family that taught me the Bible, 38:25 their names is Johnsons, Mike and Sherrylynn Johnson, 38:28 they live in Washington state now. 38:30 And as they taught me the scriptures 38:32 that was my introduction to the word of God, 38:34 that was my seminary, amen. 38:36 It was at dinner table and there we were, 38:38 there were only six students though, 38:39 so the tuition was pretty low, but that's all right. 38:42 So there were six of us, and we had Bible studies. 38:46 And I observe them the way they talked to each other, 38:49 I observe their recreation, 38:53 I observe their humor, 38:57 I observe at the things that they laughed at, 38:59 I observe at the things that they said. 39:01 All of this was education to me 39:03 as what it means to be a Christian. 39:06 And on top of that they taught me 39:07 about the most incredible book on the planet 39:08 which is the Bible. 39:10 And we would have Bible studies 4, 5 times a week. 39:14 Not for 30, 40 minutes, for like 3, 4 hours. 39:17 Our Bibles says-- you know, they teach us, 39:18 you know, I went 39:20 to the Mission College of Evangelism 39:21 directed by Louis Torres. 39:23 And we're taught, you know, when you go to somebody's home, 39:24 you know, prepare something around 10, 15 verses, 39:26 don't over do it, 'cause, you know, the time you spend. 39:27 No, we didn't do none of that. 39:29 Okay, we--my teacher went 35, 40 Bible text 39:33 and we literally just emerged immersed ourselves in the word. 39:38 After 4, 5 months, 6 young people, 39:43 who had very, very little connections with God 39:46 were baptize into the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 39:48 Why? Because there was a home that was living up 39:53 to the expectation and the standard. 39:56 This presentation has a very, very personal-- 39:59 I have very, very emotional connections 40:00 and appreciation to it, 40:02 because I am a product 40:03 of what I'd like to call home evangelism. 40:06 Where somebody open their home, 40:08 not only did they teaches the theory of truth, 40:10 they exemplified the truth, 40:13 but they also loved us, accepted us, 40:15 and they basically treated us as one of their own. 40:19 And when you look at some of the fastest growing-- 40:22 some countries where the-- 40:24 where the church is growing the fastest 40:25 Africa, South America and some third world countries. 40:28 It is fascinating that the fundamental method 40:31 of evangelism is not necessarily a 30 day prophecy seminar, 40:36 did you know that? 40:37 It's actually a living room. 40:42 There was about 5 or 6 people, a guitar, the Bible, 40:47 and of course, a lot of food, amen. 40:49 That always melts the eyes. 40:52 When you look at the fact where the church 40:54 is growing the fastest, ladies and gentlemen, 40:56 it is because Christians are using their homes 41:00 as a vehicle to shed the light. 41:03 And I believe we need to develop or resurrect 41:06 this concept of the home circle in our day and age. 41:11 What is it that God wants you to do in your home? 41:15 Are you the priest of your home? 41:18 What are the Trojan horses 41:19 that the devil is introducing into your house? 41:23 There are many, many different ways 41:25 that the dragon can get into our homes. 41:26 I remember, listen to a story. 41:27 I was at a ministerial retreat 41:29 and one of the ministers was actually sharing 41:31 about a case with his son. 41:33 His son, of course, born and raise in the church, 41:35 went through Sabbath school, pathfinders, you name it. 41:37 And all of the sudden, out of the blue 41:39 the son started having insane nightmares. 41:43 And the father, the pastor says, 41:44 you know, we don't watch any horror movies. 41:48 We're not involved in none of these things, 41:50 why are you having nightmares? 41:52 But then after dialoging with his son, 41:55 he finally discovered, he finally realized 41:56 that his son had a friend in school that lends him a book. 42:03 And this book was kind of like, book about magic, 42:06 you know, book about different things, right. 42:10 And his son started reading it, 42:13 didn't think much of it 42:15 and just kind of throw it in his closet. 42:18 And the title of the book was "Harry Potter." 42:23 And the father says, you mean to tell me, 42:25 you've read Harry--you've been reading "Harry Potter?" 42:26 He says, "Well, yeah, just a little bit." 42:28 See the son didn't really know about it, 42:29 but the father knew. 42:31 He says, "Where is that book?" It's in the closet. 42:32 That mean you have the book in this house right now? Yes. 42:35 So the father went into the closet, 42:38 found the book and immediately destroyed it. 42:42 That was the end of the nightmares, 42:44 ladies and gentlemen. 42:45 Father realized there was a Trojan horse in the house, 42:48 he did something about it, amen. Amen. 42:51 And because of that there was a restoration in the house. 42:54 I remember when I went to South America, 42:56 the first time I went to do an evangelistic campaign. 42:58 We went to visit a family with a pastor. 43:00 And the pastor is down there visiting machines, amen. 43:04 They start like 5 in the morning and finish up midnight. 43:06 Wow, it's incredible. Every time I go down there, I'm amazed. 43:09 We're visiting a family and the pastor, 43:11 after the visit he tells me that this family is related 43:13 to another family that underwent a very tragic experience. 43:18 This family, father, elder in the church, 43:20 mother, deaconess, heavily involved in the church. 43:22 This--they had one child. 43:24 And the child at one particular point in his life 43:28 probably 7, 8, 9 years old got a hold of a game, 43:34 got a hold of a board game. 43:37 You may have heard of it. 43:39 It's called the VG board. 43:42 Parents totally oblivious with. 43:44 The son started messing around with it, 43:45 started playing with it. 43:48 And all of the sudden, 43:49 the board started giving the son messages, 43:53 telling him to do certain things. 43:55 One of the things that the board told him 43:56 to do was to hang himself. 43:59 And one particular evening 44:02 the mother was finishing supper preparations 44:06 and she called out the name of the son. No answer. 44:09 She called out the name of the son. No answer. 44:12 So she finally worked her way into the room. 44:15 She walked into the room and she didn't see anything. 44:18 She said, "Well, where is he?" 44:19 She went to the bathroom. Nothing. 44:20 She went back into the room just to make sure 44:22 that she wasn't confused. 44:24 And she looked around and she noticed that 44:25 the closet door was a little bit open 44:27 but not completely. 44:29 She finally opens the closet 44:30 and what she sees is she sees her 7, 8, 9 year old son 44:36 hanging on a belt in the closet. 44:41 The mother like any normal person of course, 44:44 would literally loose their mind, panic, 44:46 she panic, she yelled. 44:48 She immediately went to the legs of the son 44:50 and she pulled him up to undo the pressure, undid the belt. 44:55 Finally she called her husband, 44:56 she called the pastors, she called everybody 44:58 and they finally were able to get him breathing. 45:02 They took him to the hospital. They waited. 45:05 The doctors came out and they said, 45:07 "We have good news and very bad news. 45:09 The good news is that your son is gonna survive, 45:12 he's gonna be all right. 45:13 The bad news is that your son spends so much time 45:16 hanging that it kept oxygen from going into his brain. 45:21 Your son will never be the same. 45:23 Your son is going to be basically handicapped. 45:27 And the son, he's probably in his 20s right now 45:30 has never been the same. 45:32 Tied to a wheelchair. 45:34 Father elder, mother deaconess, why? 45:37 Because the devil introduced a Trojan horse into the home, 45:40 yeah, it was unobserved by the parents. 45:45 It got somehow access 45:46 into a very integral part of the child's life 45:51 and it has impacted the child forever. 45:55 What are the Trojan horses that God is telling you 45:58 to located and to destroy? 46:02 What are the Trojan horses that you have in your home today? 46:06 I remember before I became a Christian, 46:07 me and my brother Jeffery would listen, 46:09 oh, at night, we couldn't sleep at night. 46:11 We would toss and turn, so what did we do. 46:13 Instead of putting John Lomacang, amen. 46:18 We will put other stuff and I won't even name the content. 46:23 All throughout the night, we put the music on repeat, yeah, 46:25 and then we would wakeup angry at each other. 46:28 Is there a reason why? 46:29 Well, of course, 'cause you're feeding junk into your brain 46:32 all throughout the night 46:33 and you're awaking up basically a monster, 46:36 a Trojan horse in my experience. 46:39 You know, even in our recreation, 46:41 even in our entertainments, 46:43 if we would do a careful analysis of our DVD collections, 46:47 what would be the content, 46:49 what would be the philosophies 46:51 that our DVDs are portraying or communicating? 46:53 Did you know that DVDs are philosophies? 46:54 Did you know that? Every film is a philosophy. 46:57 And I'm not here to say every film is bad, 46:59 I'm not here to, you know, be a TV police officer, 47:03 that's not my purpose. 47:04 I'm simply here to address a very, very important factor 47:08 that we have maybe lot sight of 47:11 and that is an assessments of what contents 47:15 do we posses in our homes that maybe 47:17 or completely out of line with the message of Christ. Amen. 47:24 And our young people video games. 47:25 Now they don't watch movies, they play video games, 47:27 'cause you could be part of the movie. 47:29 When you play video games, you're in the movie, right. 47:32 Have you notice that in our generation, 47:33 our young people can't even really have 47:35 a decent conversation with each other. 47:37 The reason why is because they're so immerse 47:40 into fantasies, so immerse into video games 47:43 that they're basically, the video game continues 47:45 even when they turned the video game off. 47:48 They're still living in a fantasy world 47:49 and it's so difficult to have 47:51 a meaningful intelligent conversation 47:53 with our young people today. Simply why? 47:55 Because they have overindulged themselves 48:00 in unrealistic things, yeah, 48:03 and it has literally swamped and it has taken out 48:07 all the spirituality that should be in there instead. 48:10 Games like Resident Evil, which is a bestseller. 48:13 Games like Doom, where it's basically 48:15 you're literally carrying weapons 48:17 and you're shooting people. 48:18 And then we wonder why our high school kids 48:21 go to school with real guns. 48:23 And actually play out that which they're playing at home. 48:27 Again, a Trojan horse that we actually buy, 48:31 we don't even--it's not something that it comes to us, 48:35 it's actually something that we go to it 48:37 and at times we're willing to pay. 48:38 All I'm saying is that we need 48:40 to really be careful at the things. 48:41 And it's not-- sometimes it's not even things, 48:43 sometimes its attitudes. 48:45 What Trojan horse attitudes are you brining into your home? 48:47 Maybe it's just a bad attitude. Maybe it's gossip. 48:50 Maybe after church, you're coming to your homes 48:52 and you're talking about everybody else's problems 48:54 at home in the presence of your children. 48:58 And you're basically training your children 49:00 to basically gossip and perpetuate 49:03 everybody else's bad laundry. 49:05 All of these things, my friends, 49:07 just perpetuates the fundamental problems 49:10 that we have at church, 49:11 not only at church, but even in our society. 49:13 I believe that if we have a revival in the home, 49:15 not only will it revive our churches, 49:17 it will literally revive our entire communities. Amen. 49:21 The home is the epicenter of culture. 49:24 And if we can save our homes, 49:26 I believe we can save our neighborhoods as well. 49:30 Is the dragon knocking on your door? 49:34 Is he ringing your doorbell? 49:35 We'll have good news, 'cause in Revelation 3, 49:37 there's somebody else that's also knocking on your door. 49:41 There's two people that are trying 49:42 to get into your home, amen. 49:44 And they're playing for keeps. Revelation 3. 49:50 And as you go in Revelation 3, another story has reminded. 49:55 I remember when I was working as a Bible worker 49:56 in Brooklyn in New York City. 49:58 Anybody from New York City here? 50:01 We have one person from New York City, 50:02 well, actually few. 50:04 I remember I was in Brooklyn 50:05 and there is a particular area in Brooklyn 50:07 where it feels like you're not in the United States. 50:10 You know what I'm talking about? 50:12 Because you smell pasta and you see people 50:16 on the corner of the street talking like this. 50:18 You know what I'm talking about? 50:20 Is the Italian area that's where I actually was working, 50:22 you know, I was working in that area, 50:23 along with the Russian Orthodox Jewish neighbor. 50:26 New York City is a fascinating place 50:27 if you've ever been there. 50:30 So I was working in the Brooklyn area 50:31 and going knocking on doors and I met a particular lady 50:34 who was Italian like fresh from Italy. 50:38 And she invited me in and she showed me about 50:41 and she talked to me about her religion, 50:42 you know, she's Roman Catholic etcetera. 50:44 Very, very wonderful lady, very, very Christian lady. 50:47 And she told me about a particular issue 50:48 that she had in her home where she would hear voices. 50:53 And when she told me this I kind of just 50:56 took a little quick glance at where the door was 50:58 and I continued talking to her. 51:01 Okay, it's about 3 feet away, okay, this is good. 51:05 And she was telling me that, 51:07 you know, it was coming from particular area in her home. 51:09 And she's like, "Do you want to see this place 51:11 where it's coming from?" 51:13 And in my heart, I was thinking, "No." 51:17 But what I said was, "Yes." 51:19 And I just don't know, why am I saying, yes? 51:21 So she grabs me by the hand. She says, "Come." 51:24 And she takes me downstairs to the basement. 51:27 And I'm thinking, "Lord save me. Save me Lord." 51:31 Little lady, this tall. 51:33 And we go down there there's a lot of things 51:34 that are still in boxes etcetera. 51:37 And she says, "It's coming from over here." 51:40 So I went over there and there was like statue. 51:43 I said, "This is yours?" 51:44 "No, it was here when I moved in." 51:46 And it look pretty weird, it look like a cross between, 51:49 how can I describe it. 51:51 It's kind of like a cross 51:52 between a porcupine and like a samurai. 51:56 Yeah, I know, it's like how do you fit 51:58 those two pictures together? 51:59 It's like a little statue, porcupine with spikes 52:01 and like a samurai. 52:03 And she says, "It was here when I got here." 52:05 And I said, "Well, you probably should get rid of this thing, 52:08 'cause first of all, it doesn't look very friendly." 52:12 Spikes, you know. So she gets rid of it. 52:17 And I come back three days later. 52:20 And I said, "So how the voice is?" 52:24 And she says, "I don't hear anymore voices, they're gone." 52:28 And I said, "Praise the God." 52:30 Because again the devil has a Trojan horse in her home, amen. 52:34 What is the Trojan horse in your home? Revelation 3:20. 52:38 The Bible tells us, if there is somebody else 52:39 knocking on your door. 52:42 Revelation 3:20 "Behold, I stand at the door and knock. 52:44 If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, 52:46 I will" do what? 52:48 "Come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me." 52:52 Ladies and gentlemen, in the Book of Revelation, 52:53 we're told that there's two door knocks. 52:56 The dragon is trying to knock on your door 52:57 and as soon as you open the door, 52:59 he's gonna throw a few Trojan horses inside your home. 53:01 So that when the sun goes down, 53:03 his soldiers are gonna come out of the Trojan horses 53:05 and basically attack you spiritually. 53:08 There is somebody else knocking on your door. 53:11 His name is Jesus. 53:13 And Jesus wants to become, not a weekend visitor. 53:17 He wants to become an integral part of your family. 53:20 He wants to participate in all of your family time. 53:25 He wants to participate in your family recreation. 53:28 He wants to be the part of the conversation 53:30 at the dinner table. 53:31 If Jesus is inside your home, 53:34 when the dragon knocks on your door, 53:37 you politely ask Jesus to answer the door. 53:40 When the dragon sees Jesus, he'll say, 53:42 "Ooh, sorry. I think I got the wrong house number." 53:47 Ladies and gentlemen, the reason why our homes 53:49 are the way they are is because the devil has easy access 53:52 into our homes, why? 53:53 Because Christ is not a part of our lives in our homes, 53:57 He simply a part of our lives on the weekends at church. 54:00 And that's where we don't have power. 54:02 That's where we don't have humph. 54:04 That's where we don't have revival. 54:06 The final showdown and the great controversy 54:08 between good and evil will not take place in the pews. 54:12 It will not take place in the pulpit. 54:15 And believe it or not, it's not going to place in the potluck, 54:17 even though sometimes you wonder, right. 54:21 But it's gonna to take place inside your home. 54:24 The test of discipleship is not, how well you look at church. 54:28 If that was the case, a lot of us will be in trouble, amen. 54:33 Or the test of discipleship is not, 54:36 how you conduct yourself on Sabbath in the foyer. 54:41 The test of discipleship will be how you talk to people 54:46 when you're in your pajamas. Amen. 54:50 When you're in your house slippers, 54:52 when your guard is down, when nobody else is looking, 54:55 when you're in the company of your family, 54:57 how do you conduct yourself? 55:01 I believe that's the fundamental issue in the last days. 55:05 And the reason why Pentecost was such a powerful thing 55:08 in Acts 2 is because the Bible says 55:11 that the church would spend time every single day 55:15 going from house to house, visiting each other, 55:17 breaking of bread and fellowship and in prayer. 55:21 But that isn't--that's something that is no longer seen anymore. 55:24 And the reason why we see our churches suffering 55:26 is simply because there's a lack of home spirituality. 55:30 And then when you go through a panorama of scripture 55:33 in our Part 2 message, we're gonna uncover even more. 55:36 We're gonna go through the Old Testament 55:37 and see practical examples of people, 55:40 who've actually prepared their homes, 55:42 literally speaking in the midst of crisis, 55:46 in the midst of calamity, in the midst of catastrophe, 55:49 in the midst of destruction. 55:51 And you know that the Bible's history will repeat itself. 55:55 And the million dollar question, ladies and gentlemen 55:57 is how is your home going to answer 56:02 to the attacks that it receives from the outside? 56:05 Today as you take a careful consideration of your home, 56:07 of your family, where are you in your spiritual walk? 56:13 Where is Jesus in your home? 56:14 Is Jesus just somebody that is on a portrait 56:17 in the wall of your kitchen that you look and tell, 56:21 "Oh, that's such a beautiful picture 56:22 and that's pretty much it?" 56:23 Or is Jesus an active member of you family. 56:28 One of the things that I encourage 56:30 anyone who is serious about reviving 56:32 the spirituality in the home 56:34 and spending family time together in prayer. 56:38 Spend 10 to 15 minutes in prayer-- 56:40 my worship leader Vergil Bellow. 56:43 He's our worship leader at church. 56:45 And he put together a manual 56:46 and he said, "Pastor, I feel very convicted. 56:49 I don't spend enough time in the Bible 56:50 at my home, as I should." 56:53 He is a youth sabbatical teacher. 56:55 He put a manual together and he says, 56:57 "I want to give this to all the fathers 56:59 so that they could take initiative." 57:01 The manual has scripture, 57:03 has songs and has prayer requests. 57:05 How many of you today recognize this need to prepare 57:08 your home for the final crisis. 57:09 And we'd like to say, 57:11 "Jesus, I want to open my door to you." Amen. 57:15 Let's pray together. |
Revised 2014-12-17