Participants: Jay Rosario
Series Code: OTR
Program Code: OTR001006
|
01:00 Well we bid you good morning. That's a good morning.
01:04 for the first of a number of presentations that will come 01:07 today as we move towards the sacred Sabbath hours 01:11 I like Friday because we get a chance to prepare 01:14 for the Sabbath and the antici- pation that comes with 01:18 with the Sabbath day. So we bid you good morning and welcome 01:22 once again to the 3ABN Worship Center which houses the 01:26 Thompsonville SDA Church and to Camp Meeting 2012. We are having 01:32 a wonderful time, do you not agree? And the Spirit of God 01:36 has been with us in a mighty way through all of the presentations 01:38 Our speaker this morning is Pr. Jay Rosario, he is a pastor 01:42 in the Central California Conf- erence. He pastors the Cambrian 01:47 Park and Los Gatos SDA churches there in California, 01:52 and, you know, as we've been talking you know, you get to 01:55 meet the guys and talk to them, spend sometime with them 01:58 This is a nice young man. I call him young man because 02:02 he is still single, though I'm told dating voraciously 02:07 though the object of his amor is quite a ways away, 02:13 but as a young pastor, we like to see our young pastors 02:18 married so they can round out their ministry. You know 02:23 when I was ordained, I was ordained as a single pastor 02:27 and Pr. George Earl, back in the North East Conference 02:30 _we're giving you a break on this one 02:32 but you need to get married. You know they like to have the 02:34 brethren married. So I was teasing him back stage 02:38 just a little bit but he's going to be talking about preparing 02:41 family for the second coming. This is Part 2 of a presentation 02:44 that he began yesterday morning and I'm sure will be a blessing 02:47 to us also. We like Jay Rosario He's a GYC guy. You know 02:53 God has given that group of young people a very special 02:56 mission and message and they're on fire for the Lord. 03:01 He is, and I want to get this right, the VP for networking 03:03 for GYC Latino. And GYC, Generation of Youth for Christ 03:08 has spread literally around the world. There is Australian GYC. 03:11 There are GYCs in other countries. Latino has a large 03:14 and growing GYC in this country and he was on the ground floor 03:18 of that movement, and God has really used him in a marked 03:22 and mighty way. The song I'm gonna sing is one that 03:26 here at 3ABN they sort of hear ad infinitum ad nauseum 03:30 They say you're singing that song again? 03:32 Yeah I'm singin it because I like it. I don't know if I do it 03:36 particularly well. You know some times the Lord gives you a song 03:39 that ministers to you. It says something to you when you do it 03:42 and when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer some years ago 03:45 there were two songs that the Lord gave me, one says 03:48 When you lift up Jesus, Jesus lifts you up 03:50 And I tend to sing that a lot, and the other one is 03:53 I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian 03:54 And I say if I ever go to sleep early I will go to sleep telling 04:00 the world that I'm a Christian. I just like that message. 04:02 So, yeah you're gonna hear it again because it ministers to me 04:08 early in the morning. Let's have a word of prayer. 04:12 I'll sing and then the next voice you'll hear 04:13 will be that of our friend, Pr. Jay Rosario. 04:16 Father God, we do praise you and thank you for Jesus. 04:22 Truly He is the author and finisher of our faith. 04:26 He's the center and circum- ference of all that we do 04:29 and all that we are. He is the reason that we live and move and 04:33 and have our being. We love you Lord and we ask for strength 04:38 to love you even more. We pray a special blessing upon Jay 04:43 as he preaches to us just now and we ask for open and 04:48 receptive ears and hearts because we wanna know what 04:53 Christ would have us to know, so that we can do 04:56 what Christ would have us to do. 05:04 Dear God bless us just now, in Jesus' name. Amen. 05:22 I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian 05:29 I'm not ashamed His name to bear 05:36 I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian 05:43 I'll take Him with me anywhere 05:51 I'll tell the world how Jesus saved me 05:58 And how He gave me a life brand new 06:05 And I know that if you trust Him 06:12 That all He gave me He'll give to you 06:22 I'll tell the world that He's my Savior 06:30 No other one could love me so 06:38 My life my all is His forever 06:45 And where He leads me I will go 06:55 I'll tell the world Jesus is coming 07:02 And it may be near or far far away 07:10 But we've gotta live as if that coming 07:17 Could be tomorrow or today 07:24 For when He comes and life is over 07:31 For those who love Him there's more to be 07:39 I have never seen the wonder 07:46 That He is preparing for you and me 07:56 Go tell the world that you're a Christian 08:03 Don't be ashamed His name to bear 08:10 Just tell the world that you are a Christian 08:18 And take Him with you everywhere 08:27 I'll tell the world how Jesus saved me 08:36 And how he gave me a life brand new 08:43 And I know that if you trust Him 08:50 That all He gave to me He'll give to you 09:01 I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian 09:08 And I'm not ashamed His name to bear 09:15 I'll tell the world that I'm a Christian 09:22 I'll take Him with me everywhere 09:55 Hello 3ABN. How are you enjoying your time thus far? 09:58 I've been super, super blessed being here and of course I'm 10:04 dreading the time when I have to leave. 10:06 Always looking forward to the next occasion to be part of this 10:09 wonderful group of people. This morning we have an exciting 10:13 presentation, Part 2 of our previous presentation yesterday 10:17 does anybody remember what the title was? 10:21 Preparing your home for the second coming of Christ 10:24 And I'm really really excited. We have lot of materials 10:26 to cover so let us bow our heads and invite the real teacher. 10:31 Father we thank you for the Spirit that has inspired this 10:34 wonderful book called the Bible and we invite His presence here 10:37 so that He may inspire our minds to be able to understand 10:41 its mysterious content. Father hide me behind the cross 10:45 we would see Jesus and we ask it in His name. Amen 10:48 Our message is entitled, Preparing your home for the 10:52 Second coming of Christ and we did talk about the 10:54 sub-title, when the dragon knocks on your door, and 10:58 previously we talked a little bit about how Satan has been 11:02 trying to invade our homes, yeah trying to take over our 11:05 our living rooms, trying to, little by little, inch by inch 11:08 take over our family circle and we talked a little bit about the 11:12 Trojan horses that he introduces into our home that many,many 11:15 times go unnoticed. And we're dressed different 11:19 spiritual themes and details that Satan uses in order to 11:25 kind of quench spirituality in the home. I want to continue 11:31 take it to the next level because the Bible is full of 11:34 different examples of indivi- duals who prepared their homes 11:38 yeah, for spiritual victories during a time of apostasy 11:45 and during a time of crisis. And ladies and gentlemen, I think we 11:50 live in a time of apostasy today and I think we definitely live 11:54 in a time of crisis and it's only going to get more difficult 11:58 would you say so? I invite you to open your Bibles to 12:01 Revelation 12 which was the first text that we read 12:04 in our first presentation. Revelation chapter 12, 12:07 and we're gonna begin reading in verse 17, when you're there 12:11 please say Amen. Revelation 12:17, the Bible says, 12:15 and the dragon, there it is, was enraged with the woman 12:18 who represents the church and he went to make war with the rest 12:23 of her offspring who keep the commandments of God 12:25 and have the testimony of Jesus Christ. So the Bible tells us 12:28 that the dragon is angry, yeah the dragon's got beef 12:31 with the church, amen. And of course the church, we have 12:36 interpreted to be a collection of people, yeah that come into 12:40 the church by units and we call those units families, and 12:45 and families spend the bulk of their time together 12:47 underneath the same roof called the home. 12:51 So what we've identified is the devil attacks 12:54 primarily in the home when our guard is down, yeah 12:58 after the sun goes down, after the Sabbath hours are over 13:01 after the gentlemen loosen their ties, and after the ladies take 13:04 their heels off, that's usually when the dragon starts 13:09 to growl, amen. We need to be very, very careful and 13:12 very, very vigilant in our homes 13:14 There are two different examples in Scripture that I think are 13:16 so amazing that show exactly how you and I 13:20 can prepare our homes for the coming crisis. 13:23 And particularly for the second coming of Christ. 13:25 I want you to run with me to the old testament book of Joshua 13:29 Joshua, chapter 2. Joshua is one of the recent books 13:32 that I've been very, very fascinated by 13:33 and of course anybody knows what Joshua means? 13:37 It means Jesus. So we're really going to the book of Jesus. 13:41 Amen. It's kinda exciting. So open your Bibles 13:44 to the book of Jesus, Joshua chapter 2 and we're gonna take 13:47 a look at a careful situation that was taking place 13:50 when God's people, yea, were trying to take over an empire. 13:55 A particular nation. Remember there are two sides to this 13:59 battle between good and evil. We talked about how the dragon is 14:02 trying to reign in our homes, but the Bible is also telling us 14:07 that Jesus would also like to reign in our homes, amen. 14:10 And it all depends what choices we make in life that will 14:14 determine which one of those two powers will actually do so. 14:17 Joshua, chapter2 and when you're there please say amen. 14:20 The Bible says, now Joshua the son of Nun sent out two men 14:24 from Acacia Grove to spy secretly saying, 14:27 Go view the land, especially Jericho. So they went 14:30 and came to the house of the harlot named Rahab. 14:33 And they lodged there. And it was told the king of Jericho 14:36 saying, Behold men have come here tonight from the children 14:38 of Israel to search out the country, so the king of Jericho 14:41 sent to Rahab saying, bring out the men who have come to you 14:45 who have entered your house, for they have come to search out 14:48 all the country. Some of you are familiar with the stories 14:50 how the Israelites sent two representatives to spy out 14:54 the land of Jericho, yeah to do a kind of investigative judgment 14:57 amen. And basically what had taken place is that they found 15:02 refuge in the home of Rahab who didn't have the best reputation 15:05 in the town. Somehow the word spread that there was these two 15:09 spies and for some reason Rahab was the one that they suspected 15:13 that was housing these two men. So when you continue reading in 15:17 Joshua, chapter 2 and you come to verse 8, it's interesting 15:22 because the men came, they were interrogating her, they were 15:25 talking, they were trying to find where these men were 15:27 because they wanted to eliminate these men so that they can spare 15:31 the empire of Jericho. In verse 8, the Bible tell us, now before 15:36 they lay down she came up to them on the roof, and 15:39 said to them. Rahab speaking to the spies, I know that the Lord 15:44 has given you the land. Now remember where is Rahab living? 15:48 Jericho. What type of city was Jericho? 15:52 There wasn't any ABCs in Jericho amen. You get the idea. 15:58 Jericho was not the most spiritual nation in the ancient 16:01 world, so how does she know that the Lord had given them the land 16:07 I know, she says, that the Lord has given you the land. 16:10 That the terror of you has fallen on us and that all the 16:13 inhabitants of the land are faint hearted because of you. 16:15 It's in verse 10. For we have heard, she says, how the Lord 16:20 dried up the water of the Red Sea for you when you came up 16:23 out of Egypt and what you did to the two kings of the 16:26 Amorites who were on the other side of the Jordan 16:28 Sihon and Og whom you utterly destroyed. And as soon as 16:32 we heard these things our hearts melted, neither did there remain 16:36 any more courage in anyone because of you for the Lord 16:39 your God, He is God in heaven above and on earth beneath. 16:42 How in the world did Rahab hear about all of these amazing 16:44 things that God had done? I mean they didn't have Facebook back 16:47 in those days, amen. They didn't have status updates. 16:50 Or Twitter, etc. How did she hear about them? Somehow the 16:55 word spread and the news came to the city limits of Jericho 17:00 and they were all very well acquainted with what God had 17:03 done and she knew exactly what was going to take place 17:06 she knew the Lord was going to take over the city of Jericho. 17:09 Now it's fascinating because in this impending, this creeping 17:16 judgment upon Jericho notice what in verse 12 Rahab continues 17:21 to say. She's basically saying, I know the ultimate fate of 17:25 Jericho. Therefore, verse 12, Now therefore I beg you she says 17:31 swear to me by the Lord since I have shown you kindness 17:35 that you also will show kindness to my father's house 17:39 and give me a true token, she says. And, what? spare my father 17:46 spare my mother, spare my brother, spare my sister 17:51 and all that they have and deliver our lives from death. 17:54 Wbat is she doing? What is Rahab doing in this situation? 17:58 Rahab is interceding for her family. A pagan woman 18:06 is interceding for the physical, the literal and the spiritual 18:12 salvation of her family members. Why? because there was an 18:16 approaching crisis, there was an approaching judgment that was 18:19 gonna take place and she knew that the only thing she had left 18:23 in Jericho was her home. Ladies and Gentlemen, is it possible 18:30 that we need to adopt the same attitude that Rahab adopted 18:34 during the time of crisis? I think what's fascinating is that 18:38 during the time of crisis, a lot of the things that currently 18:40 are in your priority all of a sudden disintegrate into nothing 18:44 Promotions at work, who's gonna win the playoffs? 18:50 Right? A lot of these things kinda disintegrate into 18:54 nothingness when you know there is a serious crisis approaching. 18:58 And usually what comes to your mind is the people you value. 19:03 Amen. And that's exactly what was happening to Rahab. 19:07 She understands that judgment is basically coming upon the city 19:10 of Jericho and the only thing that comes to her mind 19:15 is her family. She says, please I beg of you, she's pleading 19:19 she's interceding for her family Now it's fascinating because 19:23 those of you who have studied the book of Joshua know 19:25 exactly what happened to the city of Jericho. 19:27 You remember what happened to the city of Jericho? 19:29 How was the city of Jericho destroyed? 19:33 There was a lot of shouting right? They had the priests, 19:36 what did they do? They went around how many times? 19:39 Seven times. You do a careful study of this, it's actually 19:43 a symbol of the second coming of Christ. 19:48 When Christ will come and the nations and the empires 19:51 will be destroyed. And it's fascinating because if you run 19:53 with me to chapter 6, you're in Joshua 2, go ahead 19:57 just 4 chapters, come with me to chapter 6. Joshua chapter 6 20:01 and notice what verse 16 and 17 say. Particularly 20:05 during the time of destruction. Joshua 6:16, the Bible says 20:09 and the seventh time it happened 20:10 when the priests blew the trumpets, where else do we know 20:14 about a trumpet being blown 20:17 1 Thessalonians 4 and 1 Corinth- ians 15 when Christ comes 20:21 the trumpet shall be blown, that Joshua said to the people 20:24 Shout for the Lord has given you the city. 20:27 Judgment. Verse 17. Listen to what it says, now the city shall 20:31 doomed by the Lord to destruct- ion, it and all who are in it 20:38 we're talkin about total destruction, yeah? 20:40 We're talkin about total victory on the part of God's people. 20:45 But notice what it says, only Rahab the who? the harlot 20:56 Remember we talked about her reputation being on the ground? 21:00 Only Rahab the harlot shall live but not only her, she and all 21:08 who are, where? with her in the house 21:12 So the Bible tells us that every body in Jericho was destroyed 21:18 every citizen in Jericho, the only survivors 21:24 were those who were underneath Rahab's rooftop 21:31 Ladies and Gentlemen, Rahab was the only survivor 21:34 in the destruction of Jericho. This text tells us why. 21:38 It tells us she was the only survivor, yeah. Rahab the harlot 21:42 shall live, she and all who are with her in the house 21:44 why? because she did what? hid the messengers that we sent. 21:53 Ladies and Gentlemen, what do messengers carry? 21:57 A message. So essentially what Rahab did is she allowed the 22:01 messengers of God's people. She allowed the messengers of heaven 22:07 to enter into her home with a particular message of salvation. 22:11 And it is interesting because there was a red cord involved. 22:14 You guys remember the red, the scarlet cord? 22:16 What does scarlet represent? The blood of Jesus, right? 22:19 There's a lot of symbolism there But essentially what you have is 22:22 that Rahab opened her doors, she opened her house to heavenly 22:27 influences and she was never the same and because of that 22:32 she was saved. But it wasn't just her, it was those 22:36 who were part of her family. 22:40 She was the only survivor. There is a TV show called Survivor 22:44 You guys have heard of that one? 22:46 And I have a song called Survivor and they're singing 22:47 I'm a survivor. Ladies and Gentlemen, no they're not, amen. 22:52 Because the Bible tells us that the only people that survive 22:54 are those who hide the messeng- ers of God in their home 22:59 The million dollar questions is do you have spies 23:03 in your house today? Are they hiding in your rooftop? 23:06 Do you have spies in your closet Because if you don't, 23:12 ladies and gentlemen, we need to ask God to send those 23:15 spies to our homes, amen. We need to ask God, send these two 23:18 spies into our homes because this is what is going to make us 23:23 safe in the time of crisis. So many people invest in 23:31 alarm systems, right? Do you have heaven's alarm system 23:37 in your home? amen. so when people are investing in security 23:41 in physical security, I'm not saying this is a bad thing, 23:43 I'm just saying that is it possible that we have neglected 23:46 the spiritual alarm system that we need? 23:49 The only survivors in Jericho was the woman who allowed 23:52 heavenly messengers to hide in her home during a great 23:56 controversy between good and evil. 23:59 And the only survivors in the last days are those who allow 24:01 the messengers of God to enter into their homes. 24:04 And it's fascinating because there's two of them, right? 24:07 Two spies. Not a hundred percent sure what the theological 24:11 significance of it but the Bible does talk in the book of 24:14 Revelation about two witnesses And what are those two witnesses 24:19 The Old and New Testaments. Not a hundred percent sure 24:22 that is a healthy application, but wow, that would be 24:25 amazing if there is a healthy application to this story of 24:29 Joshua saying that in our homes we need to have the 24:32 Old Testament spy and the New Testament spy. amen! 24:36 And how in the world is it that we can experience the spies? 24:39 We talked a little bit about that in our first presentation 24:43 Family worship, family prayer. What is it that we spend our 24:48 time talking about in our homes? 24:52 Now maybe you feel discouraged about your home. 24:54 About the spiritual condition of your home. Remember Rahab 24:57 ladies and gentlemen. I don't think anybody here is as worse 24:59 as Rahab. Why? Because she was a harlot. Amen. If there is hope 25:04 for a harlot I believe there is hope for you, amen. 25:07 She had a horrendous reputation and she could've made all the 25:11 excuses in the world not to let these men inside. 25:16 But she didn't allow her reput- ation to get in the way of 25:18 her salvation and even though you may be frustrated at the 25:22 condition of your home because it's been perpetually, kind of 25:25 unspiritual, there is still hope for you. Parents if you want 25:30 your children to live forever, you need to allow these spies 25:33 to enter into your home. You need to allow the messengers 25:36 of God to have an active role in your house. You need to hide 25:41 them in your refrigerator, amen. Put those spies in there 25:44 You need to include them in your DVD selections. 25:47 You need to hide them in your living room so that when 25:51 necessary they can pop out. We need those spies to pop out 25:56 occasionally in our homes, amen. I know I do in my home 25:58 I need spies all over the place right. 26:00 we need spies, we need these heavenly messengers to come in 26:03 There's only two types of people in the last days 26:05 according to Joshua. Those who have the spies of God 26:09 and those who have the king of Jericho's men. 26:13 Because immediately after Rahab allowed these men to come into 26:16 her home, the next individuals who knocked on her door 26:21 were the king of Jericho's men who were controlled by who? 26:24 The dragon. We talked about the dragon knocking on our homes 26:29 and that is exactly what happened to Rahab. 26:31 Who do you have in your home right now? 26:34 Now some of you are getting nervous coz you're here. 26:38 And if you're here it means nobody's there. 26:41 So you're like nobody! Obviously I'm referring to the spiritual 26:45 Who do you have in your home right now. Is it possible 26:49 Is it possible to have a home full of heavenly influences 26:54 in the midst of a wicked and evil neighborhood? 26:58 Some people are like, well the reason we're like this is 27:00 because of our influences outside. Well, look at Rahab. 27:03 Amen. Rahab proves that it is possible to have heavenly 27:08 influences in your home in spite of the idolatrous culture around 27:13 Jericho was the capital of idolatry and that's part of the 27:15 reason why it was destroyed. Is it possible to live in the hood 27:20 yet have a holy home in the hood amen. And not allow bad 27:24 influences to creep through your door or your windows 27:27 Not only do we need to be vigilant about what comes thro 27:30 our doors, we need to be vigilant about what comes thro 27:33 our windows. Joshua chapter 2 3,4,5,6, this whole story of the 27:38 the destruction of Jericho is simply a microcosm, it is 27:42 an example of that which will be repeated in the last days. 27:46 You and I live in a planet called Jericho and the heavenly 27:51 trumpet is gonna come and is gonna approach our atmosphere 27:55 and is gonna blow and when it blows, the walls of this evil 27:59 empire will be destroyed and the only survivors 28:02 in that particular time are those who have the spies of 28:06 heaven in their homes. It's not about job security, amen 28:09 because I don't know how much money you got in stocks 28:12 it's all about how have you invested in the spiritual 28:17 welfare of your family. That's the only thing that's gonna 28:19 matter in the last days, amen. And if that's the case 28:23 then the million dollar question is what have I done today in the 28:26 here and now to make sure that in the end I will be 28:28 indeed a survivor. The final showdown between good and evil 28:32 will take place right in your home and if we wanna win 28:35 we have to have the right visitors, the right guests 28:39 in our homes. Joshua chapter 2 is the first example where 28:42 we see a clear evidence of somebody that prepared their 28:45 home, yeah, for a great catastrophe that took everybody 28:49 else, every other home in the block and they were the only 28:53 ones that survived. But the Bible is full of many different 28:56 examples. Run with me to the book of Genesis, chapter 19 29:01 In Genesis 19, we just talked about Jericho which was an 29:05 idolatrous sinful empire, nation city, in Genesis 19 there's 29:09 another evil city called Sodom. Many of you are familiar with 29:13 the story in Genesis 19, the destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah 29:17 Genesis 19, when you're there say amen. Beginning in verse 1 29:21 the Bible says, now the two angels came to Sodom 29:24 in the evening and Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom 29:28 When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them and he bowed himself 29:32 with his face toward the ground and he said, hear now my lords 29:35 please turn into your servant's house and spend the night 29:40 wash your feet then you may rise early and go on your way. 29:42 And they said, no we will spend the night in the open square 29:45 in verse 3, he insisted strongly he pleaded with them 29:51 so they turned in to him and entered his house 29:54 Then he made them a feast and baked unleavened bread 29:58 and they ate. Genesis 19 tells us about an evil city called 30:01 Sodom and it tells us about two angels, isn't that interesting? 30:05 Joshua, chapter 2 there were two spies, Genesis 19 we have 30:08 two angels and they're basically visiting the city of Sodom 30:10 Lot encounters them, pleads with them to come into his home 30:15 they said no we're going to hang out in the open square, he says 30:17 no, no, no, no you have to come into my home because 30:19 Lot understood the spiritual darkness that existed in this 30:23 particular area. When you read the subsequent verses you find 30:27 that when they went into Lot's home there was a mob outside 30:33 yeah, and they wanted to rush into the home, yeah? 30:36 You guys remember that story? Who were these people controlled 30:39 by? The dragon. Remember we talked about the king of Jericho 30:43 representatives knocking on the door immediately after the spies 30:46 knocked on Rahab's door controlled by the dragon? 30:48 Here are a group of individuals controlled by the dragon 30:52 and they're trying to tear thro those walls. In verse 4, before 30:56 they laid down the men of the city, the men of Sodom both 30:58 old and young all surrounded the people from every quarter 31:01 surrounding the house and when you keep reading down you find 31:04 that they insisted they wanted to go inside the house, 31:08 they wanted to go inside the house and finally in verse 9 31:11 the Bible says, stand back this one came into stay here and 31:16 he keeps acting as a judge now we will deal worse with you than 31:19 with them. So they pressed hard against the man Lot and came 31:21 near to break down the door. Ladies and gentlemen, the dragon 31:25 wants to break down your door amen. In other words it will be 31:30 a challenge to resist influences of evil in your home. 31:35 Don't expect it to be a breeze because it will be a challenge. 31:38 The forces of evil are trying to break down your door, the men 31:41 reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house 31:43 with them and shut the door. Amen. The angels, verse 11 31:47 And the angels struck the men outside at the doorway of the 31:51 house with blindness both small and great so that they became 31:54 weary trying to find the door. Amen. Lot had heaven's alarm 31:59 system installed in his home. Amen. When the evil influence 32:03 came in, boom they were blinded. And that's exactly what we 32:08 also need to invest in. so when you read carefully and read all 32:10 the way down from verse 12 on- wards, then the men said to Lot 32:14 have you anyone else here, son- in-law, sons, your daughters and 32:18 and whoever you have in the city, take them, where? 32:23 out of this place. Ladies and gentlemen even though its true 32:26 to have a spiritual home in the hood, even if it's possible 32:32 to have a spiritual house in an evil neighborhood, sometimes 32:35 you just, it's time to move out. Amen. and this is exactly what 32:39 we see here in this story in Genesis 19, the angel says 32:41 is there anybody else that lives here, ok you need to send them 32:44 a text message to come over here pack their bags, coz we need to 32:47 leave this house today, yeah? Sometimes we just have to move 32:52 out of a particular area that is jeopardizing the spirituality 32:56 of our family. why? verse 13 because we will destroy this 33:01 place because the outcry against them has grown great before the 33:04 face of the Lord and the Lord has sent us to destroy 33:07 So Lot went out and spoke to his son-in-law who had married 33:10 his daughters, and said get up, get out of this place 33:12 for the Lord will destroy this city. So Lot was doing his thing 33:15 he was trying to spread the word but to his sons-in-law 33:17 he seemed to be what? he seemed to be jokin if you have the NKJV 33:22 isn't that interesting? Oh Lot stop it, relax. You're so 33:26 sensational, right? Relax. So they didn't listen to him 33:31 When the morning dawned, v.15 the angels urged Lot to hurry 33:34 saying, Arise, take your wife, your two daughters who are here 33:37 lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city 33:40 And while he lingered, v.16, that is critical, while he 33:46 hesitated, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand 33:49 the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful 33:51 to him and they brought him out and set him outside of the city 33:54 So, it came to pass when they had brought him outside 33:57 they said escape for your life, do not look behind nor stay 34:02 anywhere in the plains, escape to the mountains lest you be 34:04 destroyed. Genesis 19 we see the story of a crisis, yeah 34:09 we see the story of judgment upon a particular city 34:12 and we see one particular home that professed to be followers 34:14 of Christ, yeah and the heavenly messengers were saying 34:17 listen, it's time to go, it's to leave, it's time to save 34:20 your family. The Bible says, while Lot lingered 34:24 you do a careful study of 'while Lot lingered' you will discover 34:27 that the reason why his wife turned into a pillar of salt 34:30 and was basically lost, it was because Lot hesitated 34:34 during a time when he needed to move into action. 34:40 So really the responsibility rested upon Lot, why? because 34:43 he was the spiritual priest of the home and when he hesitated 34:47 it brought the spiritual morale down and that is one of the 34:51 things that led his wife to be lost. Husbands, are you listenin 34:54 are you listening carefully to this? Fathers are you listening 34:57 carefully to this? There is a huge responsibility resting 35:02 on your shoulders. To maintain a spiritual health of your home 35:07 How many homes, unfortunately, are lacking this leadership 35:12 role in the home, in the family circle. I remember when I was in 35:15 in Canada, I lived in Canada for five years prior to moving to 35:18 California and I was visiting a particular academy that I 35:21 absolutely love, Fountain View Academy, beautiful, 35:24 some of you know, somebody said Praise the Lord 35:26 I guess they've been there before. Beautiful school 35:29 I remember I was there with our team, the regular team 35:32 we were doing a Week of Prayer and I was kinda running around 35:34 the boys dorm, ironing and getting a few things ready 35:37 before the Sabbath and as I was walking out I overheard a 35:41 conversation of a young man on the phone talking to his father 35:43 This young man, his name is Rick he's a good friend of mine 35:46 he was talking to his father and then he said to his father 35:49 Dad you know I've been reading in my morning devotions 35:52 about Matthew 25 about the 10 virgins. You know its interestin 35:56 because he was talking about the things he was reading 35:58 and he said, Dad what do you think about that? 36:01 And the conversation was going back and forth and 36:04 I literally was eavesdropping, I feel terrible, even 36:06 kind of confessing this openly, and I thought to myself 36:12 That is incredible. Now obviously, unfortunately I've 36:18 not been blessed by a father that was spiritual 36:21 not that he was even around in my childhood 36:23 although He has blessed me with spiritual fathers, in the church 36:26 I thought to myself, when was the last time you have ever 36:30 heard a high school student having a conversation with 36:33 his father about understanding the Bible? amen. 36:38 and about the things he's been reading in his morning devotions 36:40 That was such a huge blessing to me, that little conversation 36:44 that I was eavesdropping in, and I thought to myself 36:46 we need more of this in our homes. We need more fathers 36:50 to be asking their children questions about the Bible. amen. 36:54 And they need to be leading by example. One of my spiritual 36:57 fathers, his name is Michael Johnson, he's the one that led 36:59 me and my brothers to the Lord. On one particular occasion 37:02 his daughter was assigned to draw, I think it was in school, 37:06 she loves to draw, a phenomenal artist, and she had to draw 37:10 somebody in her family that she appreciated, doing something 37:13 that they loved. So the person that she drew was her father 37:18 and she drew her father, she thought what does my father 37:23 love to do? She drew her father in front of a table 37:28 with a big book in his hand, and he was reading it. 37:33 It was the Bible. Ladies and gentlemen, we need a revival 37:38 in our homes, amen. If our fathers, if our parents 37:42 were in the word, leading by ex- ample your children will follow. 37:47 And I believe that is what we see here in this particular 37:49 situations. We see a lot of hesitating, bringing them 37:52 _ down, unfortunately his wife is lost in the process, 37:57 while he lingered. Fathers it is very important not to hesitate 38:02 when God says go, amen. It is very important when God is 38:06 wooing you into action, to not hesitate because in the process 38:09 of hesitating somebody's spirit- ual experience maybe jeopardized 38:13 Today we live in a situation where darkness is hovering 38:17 around our homes and is trying to break into our houses. 38:20 And the question is are there angelic beings inside our homes? 38:24 That are influencing the minds, influencing the decisions 38:29 And yeah, Lot he did a lot of bad things, right? 38:32 We gotta give Lot some credit. He pleaded with the angels to 38:35 come into his home, amen. That was the first good thing. 38:38 And even though Lot did things that were bad, we tend to kinda 38:43 pick on Lot and we point fingers at Lot, Lot what are you doing? 38:46 But a lot of us have lots of Lot in us. Pretty profound, right? 38:54 We have lots of Lot in us. When you read the story of Lot 38:58 it's kinda like looking in a mirror, the inconsistencies 39:01 of God's people, amen. Because Lot allowed these messengers 39:06 into his home he saved himself, his children and almost his wife 39:12 Fathers you have a significant responsibility on your shoulders 39:15 and it is very important for the men in the homes 39:21 to fulfill the responsibilities as spiritual leaders 39:24 And I see it all the time when you go into the church. When 39:28 you see a family that has spiri- tual leadership you can tell. 39:31 Amen. You can tell. And I believe that God is calling the 39:36 men to take positions of spirit- uality because, unfortunately 39:41 when in our churches that is one of the biggest lack that we have 39:44 Because the reality is that in some churches there are families 39:49 where there is no father, right? And I was fortunate enough to 39:54 be baptized into a particular church where I had many fathers 39:58 One particular father that I had never let me off 40:02 of prayer meetings. Every Wed- nesday, his name is Campbell 40:06 he called me, Hey Jay I'm comin over. No no no I'm a little busy 40:09 I have an exam tomorrow in Math No no I'm comin over get ready. 40:13 I, uh ok. Right and I'd get and he'd honk the horn and he'd be 40:18 downstairs and I'd kinda shuffle go inside, we drive to church 40:22 he'd drop me off and everytime he interrupted my plans 40:26 I was thankful. I said I want to thank you for interrupting my 40:30 plans because tonight this is exactly what I needed. 40:33 And Ladies and Gentlemen, it's because of men of this calibre 40:36 that's the reason why I believe I'm still a Christian. 40:40 It's because I've had spiritual men, took the role of spiritual 40:44 fatherhood, yeah and they were leaders in the church and they 40:48 looked out for those who were fatherless, amen and they 40:51 decided to be a blessing to them and that's why it's so 40:54 significant for the fathers to take it so seriously. 40:57 It is very very critical for us to remember this. 41:00 Now the million dollar question is yeah, sure, wonderful 41:03 we need to prepare our homes but how do we do that? 41:06 Right? Very easy to show Biblically speaking 41:10 the need to do that but how do we do that? Well obviously 41:13 there's probably 117 points that we could go through. 41:17 But I think one of the main points, if there was one point 41:20 that I would have to choose is the point from Revelation 12 41:25 Go back with me to Revelation 12 I know we read it earlier 41:27 We're not gonna read 12:17, we're gonna read right before 41:31 12:17 and we're gonna read what is Satan's motivation, yeah 41:35 for attacking the people of God Rev 12:17 says that the dragon 41:38 was wroth with the woman, went to make war with her 41:41 wanted to destroy her, why was he so motivated to do this? 41:44 and, unfortunately, why is he doing such a great job? 41:47 Well if you read a few verses before verse 17, you will come 41:51 to verse 12. It says therefore rejoice O heavens and you who 41:58 dwell in them, woe to the inhabitants of the earth 42:00 and the sea, why? because the devil has come down to you 42:03 having great wrath. Well why does he have great wrath? 42:06 Where does his motivation come from, are you ready? 42:08 Because he knows he has what? A short time. And this is the 42:14 irony of it all. Because he knows he has a short time 42:17 he invests a lot of time, you follow that? Because he knows 42:23 that he has a short time he invests a lot of time in what? 42:26 in destroying homes, in destroying families. 42:32 I have no time. Because you have no time you should be 42:37 investing what? more time in the very thing you have no time for. 42:43 Amen and by the way when people say I have not time, essentially 42:46 what they're confessing is not that they don't have enough time 42:48 it's that they don't know how to manage their time. 42:52 Because how many of you have more than 24 hours a day 42:57 Right? All of us have the same time. Granted we all have 42:59 different levels of responsib- ilities, sure especially mothers 43:02 who have like 3-4 kids, wait a second, I don't have as much 43:05 time as everybody else I gotta take care of these kids, true 43:07 we all have different levels of responsibilities, but the point 43:10 is we need to learn to manage our time. Why? Because Satan is 43:15 so motivated to destroy families to destroy people and to destroy 43:20 homes because he recognizes that his time is very limited 43:23 Because he knows his time is limited he invests more time 43:27 yeah, because he doesn't have a lot of time. Almost sounds 43:30 like a contradiction. And I think we're unfortunately 43:34 not doing the same. If we were to do the same, if we were to 43:37 have the same motivation that Satan has for evil, yeah 43:40 if we had for good, ladies and gentlemen we would live in a 43:44 different world. We would live in a very, very different world. 43:49 Time. I believe one of the biggest things that is keeping 43:54 our homes from being prepared for the second coming of Christ 43:57 is not investing enough time in the home. And ladies and 44:02 gentlemen, this goes beyond the lay people. This even involves 44:05 clergy. Amen. I remember when I was in high school, my first 44:09 year in a Christian High School when my best friend, his father 44:13 was a pastor and I said to him you know, you're so blessed 44:19 to have a father who is a minister, and he says 'Jay 44:22 no I'm not. I said what do you mean? He said, Jay how I wish 44:26 I was like you. I'm like, why? My father was never around 44:29 my parents are not Christian. He said exactly, my father saves 44:33 the whole world but I can never have a conversation with him. 44:36 Because he's too busy saving the whole world I can't even enjoy 44:40 his presence. I don't even know who he is really. 44:42 And ladies and gentlemen, unfor- tunately my good friend 44:45 is experiencing a certain spiri- tual aftermath of a neglected 44:50 time with his father and with the home. 44:52 Lack of time is going to breed a lot of unhealthy experiences 44:57 in the home. Now why is time so significant? 44:59 Well, because everything in life takes time. amen. Somethings 45:06 take more time than others. For example, how many of you like 45:09 architecture? Raise your hand. How many of you have been to 45:13 different places in the world and were able to see some of 45:15 the amazing monuments that you've seen like the Taj Mahal 45:18 the Machu Pichu, the Eiffel Tower. Well as beautiful as 45:23 these things are, a lot of these things take a lot of time and 45:27 anybody been to Barcelona? There is a famous church in Barcelona 45:31 called La Sagrada Familia and they've never been able to 45:34 finish it. It's literally still under construction. I don't know 45:38 if any of you have had a chance to see it but there's like a 45:40 little hole in the top and it's been there like for decades 45:43 Things take time. And even beautiful, wonderful monuments 45:48 and great accomplishments require time. Yeah? 45:52 First it starts as an idea in the brain, this is what we would 45:56 like to see, this is the monu- ment we'd like to see, but 45:58 then it requires an execution of action, not overnight 46:02 you can't build the Empire State Building overnight, yeah? 46:04 It has to be in small dosages of time consistently invested 46:10 over a long period of time, amen and that's how you accomplish 46:13 these beautiful monuments. Learning an instrument. 46:16 Any musicians in the house? I remember when I started taking 46:19 piano, I took two lessons and then I quit 46:27 Few years later I got a little inspiration to start all over 46:30 again, I took two lessons and then I quit. 46:35 I don't know what it is with the third lesson I can't 46:37 get this third lesson in. Any piano teacher we'll talk after 46:40 the program. It takes a lot of time. When you have these great 46:46 piano virtuosos like lang lang and Beethoven and Chopin 46:50 and Johan Sebastien Bach, when did these people start training 46:55 in the piano. A few weeks ago? When they were this tall. 47:00 Right? Invested a lot of, what's the T word, TIME 47:04 But they didn't become virtuosos overnight, it was in small doses 47:09 there were frustrations, yeah, there were mistakes. The point 47:12 is they consistently invested little dosages of time and then 47:16 in the long run, lo and behold they were piano virtuosos. 47:20 The point is that everything good, even musically speaking 47:23 requires time. We've been blessed right at 3ABN with 47:26 wonderful musicians. Amen. I can guarantee you some of them 47:30 granted some of them have naturally been given a gift 47:32 towards music but some of them have to invest time, yeah? 47:35 in perfecting the gift that they have. Learning a new language 47:39 Anybody has attempted to learn a new language? 47:41 I'm actually taking Mandarin Chinese, right now. 47:43 Ni hau, that's about it. I'm just kidding. 47:50 It takes a lot of time. Okay Lot of time. Lot of memorization 47:57 I know a few more words than Ni Hau but it's very difficult 48:00 to try to perfect it, yeah. Everything in life takes time 48:03 Learning how to ride a bike. You guys remember that? 48:07 Some of you had it naturally some of you didn't. 48:09 I won't ask who you were that didn't have it naturally 48:13 I remember when my mother taught me how to ride a bike. She would 48:16 grab me like this, she'd run and alright Jay i'm gonna let you go 48:19 Crash! And I won't let you know what happened after that. 48:23 Coz it wasn't a pretty scene. Point is it took a lot of time 48:28 To learn how to ride a bike it took me a long time. 48:31 Learning how to drive. Oh we're on dangerous ground. 48:35 Some of us need to invest more time. Some of us drive and we 48:39 don't even know how to drive. Young people that are here 48:42 studying and getting to the point of graduating. 48:46 Takes a lot of time, right? You don't graduate overnight. 48:50 You have to invest time in your studies you have to turn off 48:54 your phone, you have to put Facebook off, yeah 48:56 you have to remove the distrac- tions and invest time, 48:59 that's just the way life works. What is my point in all of this? 49:02 Simple. Everything in life takes time. Yeah, you wanna do well 49:08 academically, it takes time. You wanna do well professionally 49:11 it takes time. Is there anything wrong with getting a good 49:13 education? No. Is there anything wrong with developing a good 49:17 status in your Corporation? No Does God want us to be 49:20 successful people financially? Yes! All of these things take 49:24 time, but this is my point. If everything in life takes time 49:28 Are we taking our diplomas to heaven, yes or no? 49:32 Ok. Are we taking our promotions to heaven, yes or no? 49:38 So, if we're not taking these things that are earthly 49:41 to heaven, why is it that we invest so much time in it? 49:44 Let me ask you this follow up question. Is it possible for us 49:49 to take our homes to heaven? Is it possible for us to take our 49:53 families to heaven? Yes! So if it's possible that the only 49:59 thing that will endure eternity in our life is our family 50:02 why is it that we spend so much time in investing in things that 50:06 are simply gonna become nothing rather than spending time 50:10 with our families? Don't mis- understand me, I'm not saying 50:13 we shouldn't invest time in our education and in our profession 50:16 Absolutely, but let us not do it to the neglect of our families. 50:22 Amen. Because in the end the only thing that is gonna matter 50:27 is not the fancy diploma in your office, it's not the paycheck 50:30 that you get every 15 days it's when you look at the people 50:34 the family members that live underneath your roof. 50:36 Time Magazine wrote a fascina- ting article that I don't have 50:39 time to get into. It's called the Magic of Family Dinners 50:45 June 4, 2006 issue. Very, very simple. Actually I'll read one 50:50 one line of it in the few minutes we have left. 50:53 The Magic of Family Dinners. Social sciences say 50:56 such communion, family dinners acts as a kind of vaccine 51:01 protecting kids from all manner of harm. Studies show that the 51:05 more often families eat together the less likely kids are to 51:09 smoke, drink, do drugs, get depressed, develop eating 51:14 disorders, consider suicide and the more likely they will 51:18 do well in school, eat their vegetables, learn big words 51:21 and know which fork to use. Amen, 51:25 When you carefully read this this article it is literally 51:28 mind blowing. They're literally saying the reason why a lot of 51:32 the things in our culture have been disintegrating is simply 51:35 because we don't eat together as a family anymore. 51:39 The Magic of Family Dinners. Ladies and Gentlemen 51:42 if you wanna be practical, alright preacher I want 51:45 something tangible that I can do You know what you can do 51:48 Start spending time eating together as a family. 51:52 Now it's gonna be awkward at first, right? Your young people 51:55 are gonna be playing with their food, this is weird. 51:57 Right? But remember it's not gonna be fixed overnight. 52:01 Right? Remember what we talked everything in life requires time 52:06 but it is in small dosages, it is in small increments of time. 52:13 It turns out that when kids help prepare a meal 52:17 they're much more likely to eat it, the article says. 52:22 And it's a useful skill that helps to build self esteem 52:24 Research on family meals does not explore whether it makes a 52:27 difference if dinner is with two parents or one or even 52:30 whether the meal needs to be dinner 52:32 for families whose schedules make evenings together 52:35 a challenge, breakfast or lunch may have the same value. 52:38 So pull up the chairs, lose the TV, let the phone go unanswered 52:45 and see where the moment takes you. And that's the end of the 52:48 article. The Magic of Family Dinners. We need to resurrect 52:51 spending quality time in our homes. Many people in the home 52:55 you live together but you're total strangers. 53:00 Everybody is too zoned out and tuned into their own different 53:04 worlds, we don't even say hello anymore, right? Good morning 53:07 how's your day? Good evening how was your day? 53:10 We simply just forget about all of these things, right? 53:13 And God is asking us to take our experience to the next level 53:17 In Genesis 6, in closing, Genesis 6, our final text 53:24 We have another father, amen who takes his responsibility 53:29 seriously as being priest in the home. The world is corrupt 53:33 the culture has disintegrated to evil, every thought and 53:37 imagination of man is wicked but Noah found grace 53:41 in the sight of the Lord. In Genesis 6, the Bible tells us 53:45 My spirit, in verse 3, shall not always strive with man 53:49 forever for he is indeed flesh. Yet his days shall be 120 years 53:56 And when you read later, you will discover that Noah 54:00 in the New Testament is referred to as preacher of righteousness 54:04 He was instructed by God, yeah, to build a massive ark 54:10 remember that story, in specific detail as to what he needed 54:13 to do in order to get this ark into existence. 54:16 Now, did God say I want you to do this overnight? 54:22 No. How much time did God give him? 120 years. Every day 54:28 Noah contributed a little, a little, a little, a little 54:38 and in the course of 120 years the final product was this 54:42 massive ark, amen. And Noah was instructed to take his family 54:48 inside the ark. Why? Because there was going to come a 54:52 destruction that was gonna wipe out all of the evil civilization 54:57 Amen, And Noah did exactly that he spent 120 years, yeah 55:02 and every day there was a nail that went in, every day there 55:06 was another piece of wood that was added and in the end 55:09 it was this glorious monument called Noah's Ark 55:11 and because of Noah's ark, Noah was able to save his family. 55:16 Ladies and Gentlemen, God does not expect you to face all 55:19 of your home issues overnight. Amen. Some of us have a lot 55:24 of issues that go back generat- ions, amen and it's gonna take 55:28 sometimes a lifetime to fix it. The point is that Noah invested 55:32 a small portion of his day to assist in the preparation 55:37 of the ark. Why? So that in the end his family could be saved. 55:42 All the Bible is telling us is simple, take some time everyday 55:48 to spend time together as a family, to pray together 55:52 as a family, to read the word of God together as a family 55:55 10-15 minutes. You're thinking 15 minutes, what's that gonna do 55:59 Well if you multiply 15 minutes with 15 years, amen. That's the 56:07 greatest educational institu- tion on the planet. 56:10 And people will come out of your homes and they will be 56:13 spiritual champions, yeah. They will understand how to resist 56:17 temptations, they will know how to make intelligent decisions 56:20 in life, and we will essentially be contributing, to the world 56:24 And in the end, people will say Wow! Christian homes are amazing 56:29 What is your secret? Ladies and Gentlemen we should be at the 56:33 forefront of healthy homes. We should be at the forefront 56:36 of healthy marriages. God is calling us like Noah 56:40 God is calling us to be like Rahab. God is calling us 56:43 to be like Lot, to allow these two angels to come into our home 56:45 To allow the two spies to come into our home 56:48 God is asking us to build that ark, I don't expect you to do it 56:50 overnight. I don't expect you to finish this monument overnight 56:53 But what I expect you to do is to invest a little bit of time 56:57 every single day, and in the long run, in the course of life 57:01 at the end when you look back you will say Praise God 57:05 I'm so happy that I allowed the spies in, the messengers 57:09 of God in, I'm so happy I allowed Jesus in. How many of 57:12 you want to raise your hand to make that decision? |
Revised 2015-07-13