Participants:
Series Code: TWH
Program Code: TWH180908A
|
00:31 Message, I would like to start this morning
00:33 by reading the scripture reading for this morning, 00:35 and as you can see in your bulletin, 00:36 it's found in Malachi 3. 00:38 So if you would just turn with me there 00:40 in your Bibles to Malachi 3. 00:43 We're going to start reading there in verses... 00:46 Oops, I picked up a different, that's a different one, 00:49 that was last week's I think. 00:51 Verses 2 and verse 3, 00:53 Malachi 3:2-3, 00:58 and this is what it says. 00:59 And I'm reading actually from... 01:01 Let me read from the New King James version 01:03 since that seems to be the most popular version 01:08 in the Adventist church today. 01:11 Let me find my spot here, here we go. 01:13 Malachi 3:2 says, 01:15 "But who can endure the day of His coming 01:20 and who can stand when He appears, 01:23 for He is like a refiner's fire, 01:25 like launderer soap. 01:28 He will sit as a refiner and a purifier of silver, 01:33 He will purify the sons of Levi 01:35 and purge them as gold and silver 01:38 that they may offer to the Lord 01:41 and offering in righteousness." 01:45 Amen. 01:46 At this moment I would like to go to the Lord in prayer 01:48 one more time as 01:49 we prepare for this morning sermon. 01:54 Father in heaven, 01:58 well, we have gathered here today for You 02:00 not with our hands out, 02:02 Lord, asking what can we get from You, 02:04 but rather what can we give to You. 02:07 Lord, hopefully it's our lives, our self, our time I worship 02:11 because You are worthy. 02:13 Lord, now that we take this time to break the bread, 02:16 the bread of life, I pray that the Holy Spirit will be 02:20 in each and every one of us to open our eyes and our ears 02:23 to give us the spiritual eyesight 02:25 and the spiritual hearing 02:27 that we may be able to completely comprehend 02:29 what it is that you're telling us this morning. 02:32 I praise you, God, for all that You have done for us 02:34 and for who You are 02:36 because You are worthy, oh, Lord. 02:38 Be with us, draw us together, 02:41 but draw our eyes to the uplifted Savior 02:44 this morning we ask in Jesus' name, amen. 02:47 Amen. 02:49 Church quake warning, 02:54 I want to read you something in the opening portion 02:56 of this presentation 03:00 and it goes like this, it's an article I found. 03:04 "At 2:15 am 03:06 on December 16th, 1811, 03:10 residents of the frontier town of New Madrid 03:14 and what is now Missouri 03:16 were jolted from their beds by a violent earthquake. 03:20 The ground heaved and pitched hurling furniture, 03:25 snapping trees, and destroying barns 03:28 and homesteads, 03:29 the shaking ring church bells in Charleston, South Carolina, 03:34 and toppled chimneys as far as Cincinnati, Ohio..." 03:37 And I've even read reports where they said it was felt 03:39 even as far north in the US's Massachusetts, 03:42 and in even some reports unconfirmed but have told us 03:46 that it was even felt in parts of Canada. 03:50 The screams of the affrighted inhabitants running to and fro 03:53 not knowing where to go or what to do, 03:55 the cities, excuse me, 03:57 the cries of the fowls of the beast, 03:59 and of course of every species, 04:02 it says the cracking of the trees 04:04 falling formed a scene truly horrible, 04:06 wrote one resident. 04:08 As people were starting to rebuild that winter 04:10 two more major earthquake struck 04:13 on January 23rd and February 7. 04:16 Each New Madrid earthquake 04:18 had a magnitude of 7.5 or greater, 04:21 making them three of the most powerful 04:23 in the continent of United States, 04:25 and shaking an area 10 times larger 04:27 than that affected by the magnitude 7.8 04:31 San Francisco earthquake of 1906. 04:35 The Midwest was sparsely populated and deaths were few, 04:40 but eight-year-old Godfrey Lesieur 04:42 saw the ground rolling in waves. 04:46 Michael Brown has observed the river suddenly rise up 04:49 like a great loaf of bread to the height of many feet. 04:53 Sections of the riverbed below the Mississippi River 04:56 rose so high that parts of the river 04:58 actually ran backwards. 05:00 Does anybody ever heard this before? 05:01 Okay, familiar with the story. 05:04 Thousands of the sewers ripped open fields 05:07 and geysers burst from the earth spewing sand, 05:10 and water, and mud, and coal high into the air. 05:14 In a report filed in November of 2008, 05:18 the US Federal Emergency Management Agency 05:22 warned that a serious earthquake 05:24 in the New Madrid seismic zone could result 05:28 in the highest economic losses due to a natural disaster 05:33 in the United States further predicting widespread 05:37 and catastrophic damage across Alabama, Arkansas, 05:41 Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, 05:45 and particularly Tennessee where a 7.7 magnitude quake 05:50 or greater would cause damage 05:52 to tens of thousands of structures affecting 05:56 water distribution, transportation systems, 05:59 and other vital infrastructures. 06:03 Does that sound like something 06:05 that we would look forward to enduring? 06:08 I don't think so, in fact I have to just admit to you, 06:10 my wife and I have often talked about this 06:12 over the years, 06:14 but an earthquake just terrifies me, 06:17 that's the one thing, if you want to talk about 06:18 a fear of mine, a major, major earthquake 06:21 in this area would be absolutely catastrophic. 06:24 I've had opportunity over the years to study 06:27 this great earthquake called the New Madrid Earthquake 06:30 of 1811 and 1812. 06:32 And I truly found to be one of the most catastrophic events 06:37 in the history of the United States 06:38 and we're only, really, 06:40 we tell the story from the perspective of a few 06:42 because the United States at that time 06:44 was very, very sparsely populated 06:46 in the central to Midwest area. 06:49 But if something like this were to happen today, 06:51 what do you think would happen? 06:53 In fact I was able to study a few maps here. 06:56 You can see these are the seismic zones 06:58 around the United States. 07:00 As you can see the one to the far west there 07:03 is the one that usually gets the most attention, 07:05 but of course right there, dead center, 07:06 as you can see there in parts of northeastern Arkansas 07:09 and of course South Eastern Missouri, 07:12 and then even in the southern parts there 07:14 of Illinois, the New Madrid fault line 07:17 extends from approximately Cairo, Illinois 07:19 all the way down to Marked Tree, 07:22 Arkansas which is actually just a few miles south 07:25 of where I grew up in Northeast Arkansas. 07:28 It is considered one of the most active fault lines 07:33 in the US and around the world, 07:34 but we relatively don't really feel it, 07:37 because over the years it has produced 07:40 really, really small earthquakes 07:42 some of which we have not even been able to feel, 07:45 but nonetheless if a major earthquake 07:49 at 7.5, 7.7 or higher were to 07:53 strike this particular area, 07:56 it would affect... 07:58 Some scholars and some scientists are saying 08:01 that it would affect probably 08:02 more than half of the United States. 08:04 And that's a powerful earthquake, 08:06 the New Madrid fault line. 08:08 In fact I was reading some articles 08:09 where some of the professionals have said 08:12 that we're actually about 60 years overdue 08:15 for a major earthquake. 08:17 That is usually according to the data, 08:20 a major earthquake every 150 years. 08:23 And as you can see we are over 200 years away 08:26 from the last major earthquake that struck this area. 08:30 It's a scary topic when you think about it, 08:32 but I have, you know, none of us should really... 08:36 This should not surprise us because the Bible does tell us, 08:39 of course in Matthew 24, these are the words of Jesus, 08:42 notice what He says here 08:43 as He was prophesying the end times, 08:45 He said, "For nation will rise against nation, 08:48 and kingdoms against kingdom. 08:50 And there will be..." 08:51 Notice, "Famines, pestilences, 08:53 and earthquakes in various places..." 08:57 And then He says, "All of these are the beginning of sorrows." 09:01 And I believe this is 09:02 the New King James version here, 09:04 but some of the other newer translations 09:07 actually translate it a little more clearly. 09:09 The word for sorrows in the original Greek 09:11 actually should be properly translated, 09:14 birth pains. 09:17 All of these are the beginning of birth pains or labor pains. 09:22 That's a whole another sermon in and of itself. 09:25 My friends, I went through all of that 09:27 because while we are warned that there will be 09:31 literal geographic earthquakes in the last days 09:35 that of course we expect to gradually get 09:38 worse, and worse, and worse 09:39 as we gain closer to the second coming of Jesus. 09:41 We are also told 09:44 that there is another type of quake 09:48 or another kind of shaking 09:51 that the church will endure in the last days. 09:56 I would like to draw your attention to the screen, 09:58 it's a rather lengthy quote, but nonetheless 10:01 I would like to read it together this morning 10:03 as you fix your eyes on the screen. 10:05 Notice what we find here, 10:06 this is from November 20th, 1857. 10:13 She says, "I was shown the people of God, 10:17 and I saw them mightily shaken. 10:20 Some, with strong faith and agonizing cries, 10:24 were pleading with God. 10:26 Their countenances were pale, 10:29 and marked with deep anxiety, 10:32 expressive of their internal struggle. 10:35 Firmness and great earnestness were expressed 10:39 in their countenances, 10:40 while the large drops of perspiration fell 10:43 from their foreheads. 10:45 Now and then their faces would light up 10:48 with the marks of God's approbation, 10:50 and again the same solemn, earnest, 10:52 anxious look would settle upon them..." 10:56 Notice what she says here, 10:58 "Evil angels crowded around them, 11:01 pressing their darkness upon them, 11:04 to shut out Jesus from their view, 11:08 that their eyes might be drawn to the darkness 11:11 that surrounded them, and they distrust God 11:14 and next murmur against Him. 11:17 Their only safety 11:18 was in keeping their eyes directed..." 11:20 Where? 11:22 "Directed upward... 11:23 Angels of God had charge over His people..." 11:27 Amen. 11:29 "And as the poisonous atmosphere from the evil angels 11:32 was pressed around these anxious ones, 11:34 the heavenly angels would continually 11:37 wafting their wings over them, 11:39 to scatter the thickening darkness. 11:42 Some, I saw, did not participate 11:44 in this work of agonizing and pleading. 11:47 They seemed indifferent and careless. 11:52 They were not resisting the darkness around them, 11:54 and it shut them in like a thick cloud. 11:56 The angels of God left these, and I saw them hastening 12:02 to the assistance of those who were struggling 12:04 with all their energies to resist the evil angels, 12:07 and trying to help themselves by calling upon God 12:11 with perseverance. 12:13 But the angels left those who made no effort 12:16 to help themselves, and I lost sight of them. 12:20 As the praying ones continued their earnest cries, 12:23 a ray of light from Jesus would at times come to them, 12:27 to encourage their hearts, 12:29 and light up their countenances." 12:31 Now I went through all of that 12:32 because I was getting to this next quote. 12:33 Notice how she now sums up or brains this home for us. 12:38 Notice what the next quote says. 12:40 She says, "I asked the meaning of the shaking I had seen, 12:45 and was shown that it would be caused 12:48 by the straight testimony called forth by the counsel 12:52 of the True Witness to the Laodiceans. 12:56 This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver 12:59 and will lead him to exalt the standard 13:02 and pour forth the straight truth. 13:06 Some will not bear this straight testimony. 13:09 They will rise up against it, 13:11 and this will cause a shaking among God's people." 13:15 In other words, a church quake. 13:24 I ask the meaning of the shaking she says, 13:27 "And I was seen that it was shown 13:28 that it would be caused by the straight testimony 13:30 called forth by the..." 13:32 Notice the Lord's in yellow here, 13:33 "The Council of the True Witness to..." 13:35 Who? 13:36 Now what message do we find in the Bible 13:41 that is delivered or directed to the Laodiceans? 13:43 Is that some... 13:45 What book of the Bible might we find that message? 13:47 The Book of Revelation, I just want to remind us 13:49 of what that message is very quickly 13:50 and then we're going to zone in 13:52 on our major point this morning. 13:55 Revelation 3:14. 13:57 Notice what the Bible says. 13:59 "And to the angel of the church of the Laodiceans write, 14:02 'These things says the Amen, 14:04 the Faithful and the True Witness, 14:05 the beginning of the creation of God.' " 14:08 So who is this that's addressing Laodicea? 14:11 It's obviously Jesus Christ, right? 14:13 Let's continue on. 14:15 "I know your works, 14:19 that you are neither cold nor hot. 14:22 I could wish you were cold or hot, 14:25 so then because you are lukewarm, 14:28 and neither cold or hot, 14:30 I will vomit you out of my mouth." 14:33 We're very familiar with these words. 14:35 "Because you say, 14:36 'I am rich and have become wealthy, 14:38 and have need of nothing' and do not know 14:40 that you are wretched, miserable, 14:42 poor, blind, and naked. 14:45 I counsel you to buy from Me 14:49 gold refined in the fire, 14:52 that you may be rich 14:55 and white garments that you may be clothed, 14:57 and that the shame of your nakedness 14:59 may not be revealed, 15:01 and anoint your eyes with eye salve, 15:04 that you may see." 15:07 And then he says, "As many as I..." 15:11 "As many as I love, 15:15 I rebuke and chasten. 15:17 Therefore be zealous 15:19 and repent." 15:23 This is a strong message. 15:26 It's a very strong and direct message 15:28 from Christ to the last generation, 15:30 the last church age of this planet, 15:35 giving us a diagnosis of lukewarmness. 15:38 He says, "I wish that you were uncomfortable. 15:41 I wish that you were so uncomfortable 15:42 that you were just icy cold or on fiery, fiery hot for God 15:47 because I can work with that, but you're so lukewarm, 15:51 you're so relaxed, that I can't reach you 15:54 because you don't see your need of a savior." 15:57 He says, "I'm rebuking you 15:59 My children because I love you." 16:01 And He calls us to repentance. 16:04 Now does anyone know what Laodicea means? 16:10 Laodicea means, a people judged. 16:15 A people judged. 16:19 I want to go back, we're going to look at this quote 16:21 a few more times this morning, but I want you to notice again, 16:24 notice the words in yellow because she says, 16:26 "The shaking that she saw 16:28 that would happen in God's church." 16:30 Among the Christian communities in the last days, 16:33 "Would be caused by the straight testimony 16:35 called forth to the counsel 16:37 of the True Witness to the Laodiceans." 16:40 So notice there the counsel, did Jesus give a counsel 16:43 in the passages we just read? 16:45 Yes, He did. 16:46 Now I want to focus on what those counsels are 16:48 and what it actually means because many times we read 16:51 over these texts and we've read them, 16:53 many of us have even memorized them, 16:54 but have you ever ask yourself, 16:56 "What is it that Jesus is actually counseling me?" 16:59 Jesus, you told me to buy gold. 17:01 You want me to buy from You gold. 17:02 Does Jesus have a big pot of gold coins up there 17:05 that He wants to distribute to His people? 17:07 Obviously there's some figurative 17:09 spiritual language here 17:11 and there's something that He's trying to tell us, 17:13 and I want to just draw your attention to that now. 17:15 Notice again, the counsel to the true witness 17:18 to the Laodiceans, and notice what it says here. 17:21 "I counsel you to buy from Me gold..." 17:24 And then notice not just any kind of gold 17:26 but, "Gold that has been refined in the fire, 17:30 that you may be rich." 17:32 Now it's interesting 17:33 because in one part of Scripture 17:35 Jesus says it's easier for a camel to go through 17:37 the eye of a needle than a rich man 17:39 to making the kingdom of God. 17:40 But yet in this passage it's like, 17:41 "Hey I want to make you rich." 17:43 Is Jesus saying, 17:44 I don't want you in the kingdom of God? 17:46 No, He's not. 17:47 There's figurative language here, 17:48 there's spiritual language here. 17:50 I ask myself many years ago, 17:51 "Lord, what kind of gold 17:54 are You asking us to buy from You? 17:56 When You say gold, what is it, 17:58 what's the symbolism here?" 17:59 And as we always know we should allow the Bible 18:01 to interpret itself. 18:03 I could pass out a piece of paper around the room 18:04 and have everyone write on there 18:06 what they believe this gold to be, 18:07 but at the end of the day I want to know 18:09 what God tells me this gold to be. 18:11 And the Bible tells us, notice, it's found in 1 Peter 1:7, 18:16 notice what the Bible says, it says, 18:17 "That the genuineness of your..." 18:19 Say it with me, "Your faith." 18:21 That was a little weak, let's try it one more time, 18:24 "That the genuineness of your faith, 18:26 being much more precious than..." 18:28 Notice the correlation, faith and gold that perishes, 18:34 notice, "Though it is tested by..." 18:36 What? 18:37 It is tested by fire. 18:39 Is John's gold that He wrote about from Christ, 18:41 did Christ want that gold to be refined or tried in the fire? 18:45 Yes, right here Peter's talking about the same thing, he says, 18:47 "Though it is tested by fire, may it be found to praise, 18:51 honor, and glory at the revelation 18:54 of Jesus Christ." 18:55 So when Christ says, I want you to buy from Me gold, 18:58 what is this gold He wants us to buy? 19:00 There's no doubt we're talking about a faith of gold, 19:06 not just any old kind of faith as we'll find out 19:08 in just a few moments, there's a specific faith 19:10 that God is calling for us to reflect, 19:13 and to replicate here in these last days. 19:15 Let's go on to the second part of this council, 19:17 notice what it says. 19:18 And He wants us to receive from Him 19:21 what kind of garments? 19:23 "White garments that you may be clothed, 19:26 that the shame of your nakedness 19:28 may not be revealed." 19:30 So even though we're walking around in these last days 19:32 fully clothed literally, Christ says, 19:35 "You're spiritually naked. 19:38 You don't see it." 19:40 And we're going to get to that in just a few moments. 19:41 You don't see it, because you're blind. 19:44 He says, "I want to give you some spiritual eyesight too 19:45 while I'm at it." 19:46 We're going to get to that in a few moments, but He says, 19:48 "I want to clothe you, not just with any old kind of garment, 19:51 but I want to clothe you with a white garment." 19:54 What are these white garments? 19:56 As a Seventh-day Adventist 19:57 we hear this language all the time, 19:59 what kind of garments are we talking about? 20:02 Well, let's the Bible tell us in case those of you 20:04 may not be familiar with it. 20:06 Notice this is Isaiah 61:10, 20:09 "I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, 20:12 My soul shall be joyful in my God, 20:15 for He has clothed me with a garments of..." 20:19 What? 20:20 "With the garments of salvation..." 20:21 But then he further describes 20:23 what these garments of salvation are. 20:24 Notice he says, "He has covered me 20:26 with the robe of..." 20:28 What? 20:30 "Robe of righteousness." 20:31 So now we're breaking this council down. 20:33 This is why it says, "Look, I was shown and shaking." 20:36 I was shown that in the last days God's people 20:38 would receive a church quake and that this church quake, 20:43 this shaking would be brought about by the council 20:47 that Jesus gives to the people in the last days, 20:49 the Laodiceans, and notice that council is 20:51 I want you to buy from Me faith of gold, 20:53 the second part here as we have already read, 20:56 now He's asking us to put on garments of righteousness, 21:01 faith of gold, garments of righteousness. 21:03 There's a third point we want to make here, 21:05 notice what the scripture says. 21:06 He says, "And anoint your eyes with eye salve, 21:10 that you may see." 21:12 Many of you may not be aware of this, but, you know, 21:14 there was an actual city over in Asia Minor 21:17 called Laodicea back in the day. 21:20 You know what Laodicea was most famously known for 21:22 back in the time? 21:27 They were known for their medical work. 21:29 They had one of the most advanced medical institutions 21:33 in the known world at the time. 21:35 It would be people come from all around the world 21:37 who would seek medical attention in Laodicea, 21:41 and of course one of the things that they were 21:42 most popularly known for was a special eye salve 21:45 that they had created, 21:46 that the people would come around 21:48 who had you know sinus issues and eye issues, 21:50 and they would apply this salve, 21:51 and it would help bring healing to their complications 21:54 and their ailments. 21:55 It's interesting because Jesus says, 21:57 "Hey, Laodicea, you're blind. 21:59 You need to put on some of your own eye salve. 22:01 You need to wake up 22:03 cause you're not seeing correctly. 22:04 You can't see your own condition. 22:07 You lost and I want to save you. 22:09 I love you as many as I love I rebuke and chasten." 22:13 Therefore, repent and it brings me 22:17 to this portion of scripture, 22:18 "Anoint your eyes with eye salve if you may see. 22:20 I remember that story in the Bible, 22:22 notice Jesus is healing the blind man, 22:24 remember the blind man that He heals? 22:26 Notice what he says here, "When he had said these things, 22:28 He spat on the ground to make clay with his saliva 22:32 and He anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay. 22:37 And then He said to him, 22:38 'Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.' 22:39 which is translated, Sent. 22:41 So he..." Notice, "He went and washed, and came back..." 22:44 What? 22:45 You see when Jesus touches your eyes, you see. 22:48 When you have an encounter with Jesus, He opens your eyes. 22:51 And I love that famous line because He's found later on 22:54 in the sanctuary, and Pharisees 22:57 are actually interrogating Him because they remember, 22:59 "Man, this guy was blind and now He sees." 23:02 And they're interrogating him, 23:03 "How in the world did this happen? 23:05 How in the world did this happen?" 23:06 And I love his response, very simple but very profound, 23:08 notice what it says, He says, "One thing I know 23:11 that though I was blind, 23:14 now I see." 23:17 You know, I pray that that will be the reality 23:19 for many of us in the last days. 23:21 At one day we've become so close 23:23 and so wrapped up in Jesus 23:25 that one day we can wake up and say, 23:27 "You know, I once was blind, now I see." 23:31 Isn't that awesome? 23:33 How many desire that this morning? 23:34 Okay, half of you, that's okay. 23:36 We'll get the rest of you. 23:38 We'll get the rest of you, stick with me now. 23:45 So when we put these together we have faith of gold, 23:48 garments of righteousness, 23:52 spiritual eyesight. 23:55 If you take a glance at this 23:58 translation or the interpretation 24:01 of this counsel, you see something there? 24:09 She says that there is going to be a shaking 24:11 in the last days caused by the counsel 24:14 to the Laodiceans. 24:16 The counsel was, 24:18 "Hey, I want you to have faith of gold. 24:19 I want you to have garments of righteousness. 24:21 I want you to have spiritual eyesight." 24:23 Now what's interesting is a very similar message 24:26 went to a large group of church fold back in 1888. 24:30 Did it cause a shaking? 24:31 You better believe it did. 24:33 What was that message? 24:39 What's the message to Laodicea? 24:43 Righteousness comes by, and we got into this 24:46 a little bit last night, was it the previous night, 24:49 we did the Thursday Night Live, we were talking about 24:52 spiritual warfare, 24:54 and got into a little bit of this, 24:55 but, you know, when we're talking about 24:57 righteousness by faith, 24:59 I want you to consider that for a moment 25:01 'cause we hear that language a lot, we hear a lot of people, 25:03 you know, talk about righteous by faith 25:04 or you although use those terms that we are saved, you know, 25:07 of course by the righteousness, and that comes by faith. 25:10 But what does that mean? 25:11 What type of righteousness are we talking about 25:13 when we're talking about righteousness? 25:17 My righteousness? 25:19 Your righteousness? 25:20 Absolutely not. 25:22 What does the Bible say about mining your righteousness. 25:25 It's like filthy rags, nasty, dirty. 25:28 But, of course, 25:30 when we're talking about righteousness by faith, 25:31 we're talking about Christ's righteousness, right? 25:34 Are we together so far? 25:36 Okay. 25:37 Christ righteousness only comes by what? 25:40 By faith and this is where we talked 25:43 a little bit about this on Thursday Night Live. 25:46 What kind of faith? 25:48 If it's the righteousness of Christ, 25:51 many people would say, "Well, yes. 25:53 I need to obtain the righteousness of Christ 25:55 by my faith." 25:59 You know that very thing is kind of an open rebuke 26:03 when you start to read the third angel's message 26:05 because the third angel's message 26:07 in the last days, 26:08 the very end part, for Revelation 14:12 says, 26:12 "Here is the patience of the saints, 26:14 here are they that keep the commandments of God, 26:16 and have..." 26:17 Notice, "Not necessarily faith in Jesus, 26:20 but the faith of Jesus..." 26:23 Faith in Jesus, faith of Jesus, two separate things, okay. 26:28 Now I can actually prove that scripturally 26:30 if you would like to talk with me about that, 26:32 I would be glad to share that with you, 26:34 that's a whole another sermon though. 26:36 The faith of Jesus, righteousness by faith, 26:39 I need and desire to obtain the righteousness of Christ 26:43 not by my faith, 26:44 but also by the faith of Christ, 26:46 does that make sense? 26:48 Righteousness by faith, in other words, 26:49 the great shaking that will occur in the last days, 26:52 we have been told that it would be brought to us 26:54 because of the message that Jesus delivers 26:57 to the Laodiceans and it is the great council 26:59 in which Jesus says, 27:01 "You need to experience righteousness by faith." 27:04 You need to obtain the righteousness 27:06 of the Son of God. 27:07 You need to replicate that and exercise that 27:09 of the faith of Jesus Christ. 27:11 That's the only way that we will be tested 27:14 and tried in that fire to be made perfect 27:17 to stand at His coming. 27:21 You guys are quite. 27:26 I want to go into this next part. 27:28 Notice what the next part of this says. 27:32 So she was asked the meaning of the shaking, 27:33 it would be brought notice forth by the counsel 27:36 of the True Witness to the Laodiceans, 27:37 and notice what she says here, 27:38 "This will have its effect upon the heart of the receiver 27:43 and will lead him to exalt..." 27:45 What is that? 27:47 "The standard and pour forth the..." 27:51 It's hard to be a true spirit filled and spirit led minister 27:55 in these last days. 27:56 And I'll tell you why? 27:58 Because there's a constant pull, 28:00 a constant drawling of the minister to dilute, 28:05 and sugarcoat, and dumb down the truth of God's Word. 28:10 Because the closer we get to the last days, 28:12 the closer we get to the appearing 28:14 of Jesus Christ, 28:15 there are more and more people falling away from Jesus 28:18 than there are coming to Jesus. 28:19 And that's not because Jesus planned for it to be that, 28:22 that's not because Jesus has made it so unfair 28:24 that people simply cannot come to Him, 28:26 salvation is a free gift, amen. 28:29 But we have become so distracted with the world, 28:32 we have become so infiltrated with the ways of the world 28:34 that even church folk 28:36 now walking through the doors of the sanctuary 28:39 when a brother stands up to preach, 28:40 the straight shoot either you like it 28:43 and it comes to you, 28:45 you realize you need to receive it 28:46 or you'll see people sitting in the crowd going... 28:55 And I always tell on people's face, 28:58 is it's when I'm studying the Word of God, 29:01 I'm always in prayer, Lord, 29:03 I don't just want to preach a message. 29:07 You know, and I've recognized ministers, 29:10 true ministers of God, you know, 29:11 they have to preach what God lays on their heart. 29:15 But I've always prayed, Lord, 29:16 I just don't want to preach them. 29:17 I'm going to preach you a message. 29:20 Lord, if there's something that I need to say 29:21 that's not something that's very popular to say, 29:25 Lord, I want to say that. 29:27 Lord, I don't know what the repercussions are going to be 29:29 from why You want me to say this 29:31 or what it's going to be like after I say this, 29:33 but Lord, whatever, if I have to walk in there 29:35 and say it and be hated, then may it be so. 29:38 But nonetheless there is a temptation 29:40 on the heart of a minister in the last days 29:43 to sugarcoat and water down God's message to the point 29:46 because we're worried about 29:48 what people are going to say about us, 29:49 we're worried about how people are going to respond. 29:52 You know, I have to... 29:53 I'll be the first one to stand on the highest mountain top 29:55 in the world and say, "I love when people love me." 29:59 I love to be received by people. 30:03 I like to be liked by the church folk, 30:06 but I want Him to like me more. 30:09 I want Him to like me more. 30:13 "This will lead him to exalt the standard 30:17 and pour forth the straight truth..." 30:20 And then notice what it says here, 30:21 "Some will not bear this straight testimony." 30:26 Now why is that? 30:27 If it's the truth of God coming straight from the Word of God, 30:31 why would someone not want to receive 30:34 the straight truth of God, 30:36 the straight testimony coming from the Lord? 30:39 Because that person needs conversion, 30:43 that person needs Jesus more than ever. 30:47 "They will rise up against it, 30:48 and this will cause a..." Notice, 30:51 "When they rise up against the..." What? 30:53 The truth, what is it going to cause? 30:56 "A shaking among God's people." 30:57 There's going to be a church quake. 31:01 You know, I have to say 31:03 we are experiencing some of that right now 31:06 what I like to refer to as I guess some pre trimmers. 31:12 Where more and more 31:14 of the undiluted three angels' messages, 31:16 the straight testimony, 31:17 the straight truth of God's Word is being presented, 31:21 more and more people are becoming 31:22 more unfunded of God's Word. 31:25 My heart goes out to those people 31:27 'cause there's not a day in my life 31:29 that I open up the Word of God and I read God's Word, 31:31 it rebukes me from one side of the room to the next. 31:35 It's not always easy to receive, but my, friends, 31:37 God never said that it would be always easy to receive, 31:40 that's why it's referred to as a two edged sword. 31:42 It sometimes cuts. 31:44 It sometimes pierces, 31:45 but God does not cut us to kill us, 31:48 or cut us to hurt us, or cut us to embarrass us, 31:52 God cuts us to heal us. 31:55 He wants His people to be healed. 31:56 He wants His people to rise up in revival 31:59 and be united together 32:01 under the banner of the truth of God's Word 32:03 so that we may finish the work and go home, amen. 32:05 Does that sound good? 32:06 Amen. 32:08 I just went from teaching to preaching. 32:13 What did Paul say? 32:16 Preach what you want. 32:19 What did he say? 32:20 Every time I read this text, all I can hear is Brother C.D. 32:23 Brooks' voice. 32:24 There was a sermon he preached years ago, 32:26 he said, "Preach the word, 32:29 be instant in season, and out of season, 32:33 reprove, rebuke, exhort 32:35 with all longsuffering and doctrine." 32:37 But what does that start with the preaching of the... 32:39 Preach the word he says, for the time will come. 32:43 Notice, this is a prophecy about the end times. 32:45 If there was ever a time that this is happening, 32:47 it's happening right now, my friends, 32:49 right here in the Christian world. 32:50 "For the time will come 32:52 when they will not endure sound doctrine..." 32:54 But notice this, 32:55 why are the people rejecting the sound doctrine? 32:57 Because after their own lust, 33:00 that is their own desires, what they want, 33:02 you know, the Bible says and what is it, 33:04 Proverbs 14:12, 33:06 "There is a way which seem with right unto a man, 33:09 but the end thereof are the ways of death..." 33:11 You know what? 33:13 There may be something that seems right unto us, 33:14 but at the end of the day 33:16 we have to go back to the Word of God and say, 33:17 "Lord, it may seem right to me now, 33:19 but is it right to You?" 33:21 If I have an idea or perception, 33:23 or speculative theory about something, 33:25 Lord, does my opinion, does my lifestyle, 33:28 does my ideas and theories line up to Your Word, God? 33:33 "After their own lusts shall they heap to themselves..." 33:35 See, they want to heap to themselves teachers 33:37 because when you put the pressure on the minister, 33:40 you know, there are two kinds of ministers, 33:42 there are those ministers 33:43 that's going to preach the word no matter what, 33:45 and those ministers that's going to bend 33:46 to the pressure of the folk. 33:50 Rising up... 33:53 "After their own lusts they shall heap to themselves 33:55 teachers having itching ears." 33:58 Then notice what it says, 34:00 "And they shall turn away their ears from the truth 34:04 and shall be turned unto fables." 34:12 There are people in times past. 34:15 In fact there are people in our time 34:18 that have given their life for this truth. 34:22 There are people that have been tortured, 34:27 they've been burned alive at the stake 34:29 because of this word, because of this truth. 34:33 Persecution still and still reigns around the world 34:39 for many people who stand to preach and declare 34:42 and live according to the Word of God. 34:45 I found this quote and it was quite interesting quote. 34:49 It says, "Why is it, then, 34:52 that persecution seems in a great degree to slumber? 34:57 The only reason..." 34:58 Now don't miss this, 35:00 this was powerful when I read this. 35:02 "The only reason is that 35:03 the church has conformed to the world's standards 35:06 and therefore awakens no opposition. 35:09 The religion which is current in our day 35:11 is not the pure and holy character 35:14 that marks the Christian faith 35:15 in the days of Christ and His apostles." 35:20 He goes on to say, 35:22 "It is only because of the spirit of compromise with sin, 35:26 because the great truths of the Word of God 35:27 are so indifferently regarded..." 35:29 Notice that, "So indifferently regarded, 35:32 because there was so little vital godliness in the church, 35:35 that Christianity is apparently so popular with the world." 35:41 There's interesting last point here, notice, 35:43 "Let there be a revival of..." What kind of faith? 35:47 "The faith..." 35:49 Not just faith, but, "The faith..." 35:50 Remember? 35:52 Here is the patience of the saints, 35:53 they keep the commandments of God 35:54 and have the faith of Jesus, 35:56 it says, "And power of the early church, 35:58 and the spirit of persecution will be revived, 36:01 and the fires of persecution will be rekindled." 36:05 That's powerful, my friends. 36:07 Have any of you, just by show of hands, 36:09 have any of you experienced recently or in recent times 36:14 and the times that we're living, 36:16 in our world rapidly changing? 36:20 It seems like that, 36:22 you know, like I grew up in the 90s, okay, 36:25 some of you thought that 36:27 we were going to hell in the 90s, 36:28 but seriously I think back to the '90s, 36:31 and then I think of today, and I think, 36:33 "Lord, I wish it was the '90s again." 36:36 Now some of you, 36:38 more experienced folk, wiser... 36:47 some of you grew up in the, I don't know, 36:48 '50s, '60s, '70s, '80s, 36:53 you look at today's world, 36:56 what do you think to yourself? 36:58 What in the world is going on? 37:02 What in the world is going on? 37:04 In fact you can look at the day and, you know, what? 37:06 Whether you want to be a believer or not? 37:07 Whether you believe in the Bible, 37:09 whether you believe in Jesus or not? 37:11 It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that 37:13 if our world continues the way that it is, 37:15 we're not going to be here much longer. 37:18 Jesus is coming soon, my friends. 37:23 What is the Bible saying? 37:25 2 Timothy 3:1-2, "But know this, 37:28 that in the last days perilous times will come. 37:33 For men will be lovers of themselves." 37:35 Is that a reality today? 37:37 Does it seem like, you know, 37:38 people are loving more of themselves 37:40 than they are loving each other as Christ said 37:41 love your brother as you love yourself, right? 37:45 It goes on to tell us, "Lovers of money..." 37:47 Is that true? 37:49 "Boasters..." Is that true? 37:51 "Proud, blasphemers, 37:56 disobedient to parents, 38:01 unthankful, unholy, unloving..." 38:05 Is this is reality in today's world? 38:06 Unloving, unforgiving? 38:09 "You know, I just can't forgive her 38:10 for what she done." 38:12 And it breaks my heart when I hear someone say that 38:14 because we're told in the Bible, 38:16 the Jesus says that, 38:17 "You know, if we can't learn to forgive others, 38:19 we cannot forgive us." 38:21 That's salvation, my friends. 38:24 "Slanderous without self-control, 38:26 brutal, despisers of good, 38:28 traitors, headstrong..." 38:31 It goes on to say, 38:33 "Lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. 38:38 Having a form of godliness but denying its power." 38:42 God wants to bestow upon His people 38:45 His power to overcome, His power to be victorious. 38:49 The question is, are we denying its power? 38:52 My friends, it is this very issue, 38:54 denying the transforming power of God in our lives 38:57 that is going to bring about 38:58 such a shaking of division in the last days 39:02 that none of us are really prepared for. 39:05 Earthquakes, 39:07 you know, how an earthquake works? 39:09 You know how an earthquake happens? 39:14 So all around this entire globe, 39:16 this entire planet, 39:18 each segment of the planet 39:20 is sitting on either a relatively small 39:22 or relatively large area known as a tectonic plate. 39:27 In other words, burning big huge mass chunk of the earth 39:30 what is called a tectonic plate and which is separated 39:32 or divided by great fosse that go miles and miles and miles 39:36 through to the center of the earth, 39:38 and an earthquake occurs 39:40 when these two areas or two tectonic plates 39:44 or fault lines begin to rub or friction, 39:48 it causes friction and which eventually, it's caught, 39:51 and then it just can't hold it anymore and then it slips. 39:55 And when that breaks and it slips, 39:59 it will keep sliding and slipping 40:02 until it finally catches itself again on each other. 40:08 How many of you have ever endured 40:10 a pretty good earthquake? 40:11 Has anyone ever felt a pretty good side of, 40:13 you know, I've even heard of people talk about 40:14 how the earthquake was so strong 40:15 they couldn't even stand 40:17 because literally it even make you almost, 40:19 it make you sick. 40:20 I've heard reports of people getting nauseous 40:22 because it's like their whole world, their equilibrium 40:24 and everything is just kind of upside down 40:26 because the ground is literally moving under you 40:30 because those tectonic plates, that fault line is moving, 40:34 and frictioning against each other. 40:39 And sometimes in some cases, maybe not all cases, 40:43 but in some rare occasions there are areas of this globe 40:47 which have more than one tectonic plate 40:49 that are actually frictioning or rubbing against each other. 40:51 And that's when you have real big problems. 40:53 Let me give an example, the country of Japan, 40:56 there seems like you hear a lot of earthquakes happening 40:58 in the country of Japan, you want to know why that is? 41:00 Because there's not one, there's not two, 41:02 there's not three, but four tectonic plates right there 41:05 on that one general region that are rubbing 41:07 and frictioning against each other 41:08 and they cause some of the most catastrophic earthquakes 41:11 on the planet, 41:13 four different fault lines, four different tectonic plates 41:19 rubbing, frictioning together 41:22 causing this great shaking. 41:29 Does that happen in God's church? 41:32 Is there a little bit of friction 41:35 going on among God's people? 41:39 Would you say there might be a few different tectonic plates 41:45 that exist among the Christian world today 41:48 that are constantly rubbing each other the wrong way? 41:56 Now let me bring to you the reality of the situation. 41:59 Now this next part either you can understand, 42:02 I never ever say anything to offend anyone, 42:04 but there's a sign hanging up in ETs office, Danny, 42:08 that says, let me see if I can remember, 42:09 you might can help me, Tim. 42:11 It says, "I need a speed bump between my brain and my mouth." 42:14 I wish there was a speed bump between my brain or my mouth, 42:16 I probably need one of those. 42:18 I never say anything to offend anyone, 42:19 although I have been told that I've done that a few times, 42:22 but there's something I've got to say here. 42:24 When I was thinking about, 42:25 there is this one thing that came to my mind, 42:27 you know, in our church, 42:28 never in the history of the Christian church, 42:30 and I'm not just talking about Adventism, understand this. 42:33 I'm not just talking about Seventh-day Adventism, 42:34 we're talking about all Christianity. 42:36 Never in the history of Christianity has 42:38 the Christian community been more divided than it is today, 42:43 never before. 42:47 Now I'm going to show you that there I can prove at least 42:50 that there's four different tectonic plates 42:53 within the Christian world, within the Christian church, 42:57 that can't function together 42:58 or has not proven to function together, 43:00 and until it does to become one, 43:02 we are going to continue 43:03 to have shaking after shaking after shaking 43:07 until the saints have been shaken out. 43:10 The first group I like to call the Adventist. 43:17 Now understand, usually when you say the word Adventist 43:20 most people think of Seventh-day Adventists, 43:22 now understand I'm taking this beyond Seventh-day Adventism. 43:25 Now I want you to think about Seventh-day Adventism, 43:27 don't get me wrong. 43:29 But an Adventists says, 43:31 we know is simply a person who is looking forward 43:32 to the soon return of Jesus, 43:35 doesn't matter if you're Seventh-day Adventist, 43:36 doesn't matter if you're Baptist, Catholic, whatever, 43:38 doesn't that matter where you are, 43:39 somewhere if you've read your Bible 43:41 and then you're looking forward to the soon coming of Jesus, 43:43 you are an Adventist. 43:46 Now what I found out is there's many different type of ventists 43:48 in our church. 43:53 You have your Adventist, 43:56 you have your Sadventist, your Badventist, 43:59 and you have your Madventist. 44:04 Now some people might be a little bit offended by this 44:07 and thinking that I'm trying to joke. 44:09 Now there might be a little bit of a humorous element to this. 44:12 There's a lot of truth to this, stay with me here. 44:15 You see in almost every church 44:17 these four groups of people exist. 44:21 And the church remains divided in the state that it is 44:23 because of these, because mainly 44:25 because of three of them, okay. 44:29 But nonetheless, there are still those Adventist who rub 44:33 the Madventist, Badventist, and Sadventist the wrong way. 44:37 They can't coexist. 44:38 What did Jesus say? 44:39 Light and darkness cannot coexist. 44:44 You know, what a Sadventist is? 44:49 Let me explain to you what a Sadventist is. 44:53 We might have a few in here today, we don't know. 44:56 You see a Sadventist is someone who struggles 44:59 to be joyous in their relationship with God. 45:03 They struggle to experience the joy 45:06 of living for Christ. 45:09 You might see a Sadventist singing a hymn, 45:13 and they're not singing it as if Jesus is there with them, 45:15 they're singing it as if they're at a funeral? 45:18 Have you ever seen these type of people, Sadventist? 45:21 Great is Thy faithfulness 45:26 Great is Thy faithfulness 45:30 Morning by morning 45:40 Saints, when did we stop believing 45:43 that Jesus is with us in a service? 45:49 Jesus walked in the flesh right through those doors 45:51 and came up here today and we started singing, 45:54 Great is Thy faithfulness, 45:55 I don't believe there's a single person in this room 45:57 that would stand in front of Jesus 45:58 and sing, Great is Thy faithfulness... 46:05 Do we find joy in living for Jesus? 46:09 Do we find joy in worshipping our Lord? 46:12 Great is Thy faithfulness 46:16 Great is Thy faithfulness 46:20 Why? 46:21 Morning by morning new mercies I see 46:26 Oh, does that make you happy? 46:28 All right, I'm not talking about being Pentecostal. 46:30 I'm just talking about being joyful. 46:32 You can be joyful and not have to be Pentecostal. 46:37 Then you got those Badventists, 46:39 those Badventists are indifferent about anything. 46:42 They might be at church, they may not be at church. 46:44 They might return tithe, they may not return tithe. 46:46 They might keep the Sabbath, 46:48 they might not keep the Sabbath. 46:50 But those Badventists are indifferent, 46:52 there's some of the worst examples of them all 46:54 because they know the truth, they've heard the truth, 46:57 but they don't live the truth, Badventist. 47:02 We need to pray for them. 47:04 You know, I've been guilty of being a Badventist. 47:05 I've experienced every single one of these before 47:07 in my life. 47:09 I've been a Sadvenist, I've been a Badventist, 47:10 and you know I've been a few times in my life, 47:12 I've been a Madventist. 47:13 And many of us know, have known one or two Madventists. 47:17 And these Madventists are the ones that, you know, 47:18 they're involved, in fact there's not a meeting 47:21 that they're not going to be it, 47:22 and they're going to show up 47:24 and they're going to let you know 47:26 how the church needs to be reformed. 47:32 Those Madventists, they're mad at the conferences, 47:35 they're mad at the General Conference, 47:37 the devil's infiltrated everything, 47:38 now there's no doubt, my friends, 47:40 I'll be the first to stand and admit that devil is at work 47:42 in the Adventist church, but I'll tell you right now 47:45 God is at work as well and even more than the devil. 47:48 You better believe that God still has His people. 47:51 There might be a remnant within the remnant, 47:52 but God still has a remnant. 47:54 And you know what? 47:55 We still want to love our Sadventist friends, 47:57 and we still want to love our Adventists friends, 47:58 and I still want to pray every day 48:00 for those Madventists because, well, you know what? 48:02 They're children of God and God loves them 48:03 and so should we. 48:05 It's hard to coexist with people like this, 48:07 but nonetheless, my friends, 48:09 when we are all drawn together as Christ prayed in John 17, 48:13 "And we are one as Christ and His Father are one." 48:16 All of that is erased, and do you know what we become? 48:19 We become true Adventist, 48:24 true Adventist. 48:28 What do you do when there's an earthquake? 48:33 If an earthquake were to strike right now, what would you do? 48:37 What did I tell you to do? 48:39 Take cover. 48:42 Where would you take cover right now 48:43 if an earthquake would hit this building? 48:49 Some of you ain't even got a clue. 48:50 Some of you're like, 48:52 well, I didn't thought of that before. 48:57 You know, I'll never forget my first experience 49:00 to being introduced to what to do 49:02 during an earthquake was at school. 49:05 And, of course, it was just protocol 49:07 that if there was an earthquake or there was a great shaking 49:08 what we need to do? 49:10 Get under our desk. 49:11 That's what they would tell us, get under our desk. 49:12 Now sometimes I was a little, you know, 49:14 I would think about that in school 49:15 and I don't know about that, 49:16 because what if this one of the big beams comes falling 49:18 through this drop ceiling right on my desk, 49:19 that willy-nilly little things not going to hold up 49:22 a high steel beam. 49:24 You know, it bothered me a little bit, but nonetheless, 49:26 you know, when a true shaking occurs, 49:30 you don't have time to sit down and go, "What do I want to do? 49:36 What to do? What to do in this situation?" 49:38 No, you don't have much time. 49:41 You have to be prepared. 49:45 I'll never forget one day I was sitting in class 49:46 and an earthquake happened, 49:48 I didn't know it was an earthquake at first, 49:49 but it scared me to death. 49:52 We're sitting in class, I never forget geometry 2005, 49:57 and my, you know, left here on the side of the wall 49:58 in every class they would have the little protocols 50:00 of what to do if a, you know, a tornado came, 50:03 on earthquake happen, or fire happen, 50:04 all that stuff's on the side of the wall on the classroom. 50:06 And we were all there, we were having class, 50:08 the teachers are lecturing, 50:10 and all of a sudden we heard a big boom! 50:14 The first thing that come to my mind is, you know, 50:16 a couple of times throughout the class 50:18 the lady who was mowing the grass 50:19 using one of those zero turn lawn mowers, 50:21 she was outside, and I thought 50:22 this lady then hit the side of the building. 50:25 That's how loud it was, it was... 50:27 And then a few seconds right after that big boom, 50:30 the ground started going... 50:33 And there was this loud roar in the room... 50:38 My instinct, because the class was located 50:40 like right near the exit of the building, 50:42 my instinct was to immediately jump up 50:44 and start running out that door and outside. 50:47 But then I caught myself before it happened 50:49 and by the time I had stopped from running out the door, 50:52 the shaking had stopped, 50:53 but nonetheless I had always remembered 50:54 because I'd read about the stuff, well, 50:56 if there's one tremor there could be 50:57 an even greater one coming, 50:58 and my heart's pumping, boom, boom, boom, boom. 51:00 And what was more interesting than anything is that 51:03 the one person in the room that we were to look to 51:06 as a leader to help us in a situation like this, 51:08 she was the one freaking out the most. 51:11 As soon as the shaking happened, 51:13 my teacher went, "Oh, my goodness. 51:14 Oh, my goodness, what do we do? 51:15 What do we do?" 51:17 Looking to the students, "What do we do? 51:18 What do we do?" 51:19 You know, it's kind of an object lesson in 51:21 and of itself because many times 51:22 when there's a shaking among God's people, 51:24 we look to the ministers. 51:26 We look to men to solve our problems. 51:30 We look to men to say, "Hey what do we do, 51:31 tell me what to do?" 51:35 That's not what my Bible tells me. 51:38 When there is a shaking among God's people, 51:41 we are to take cover. 51:44 Not the cover that man tells us, 51:47 but the cover that the Word of God tells us. 51:49 What does it say? 51:51 You know they tell you to hide in a doorway, hide in a closet, 51:54 hide somewhere in something where the structure, 51:56 what does the Bible say? 51:58 "There is therefore now no condemnation 52:00 in those who are..." Where? 52:02 When a shaking happens you go hide, 52:04 "In Jesus Christ..." 52:05 Notice, "Who do not walk according to the flesh, 52:08 but according to the Spirit." 52:10 Let me give you another one, it says, "So we, being many, 52:13 are one body..." Where? 52:14 Where are we found? 52:16 "In Christ and individual members of one another..." 52:19 Here's another one, "But of Him you are..." 52:22 Where are you found? 52:23 "In Christ Jesus..." 52:24 Notice, "Who became for us wisdom from God 52:27 and righteousness 52:29 and sanctification and redemption." 52:30 Amen. 52:31 And then I love this last one here, it's beautiful, 52:33 "Therefore, if anyone is..." Where? 52:35 "In Christ, he is new, he is a new creature of..." 52:39 Notice, "Old things have passed away, behold, 52:41 all things have become new." 52:46 We hide in Christ. 52:49 Because I promise you, my friends, 52:50 if there's ever a place you want to be 52:52 when an earthquake comes, it's on a strong foundation. 52:55 You want to be on a strong foundation. 52:57 Christ is that rock and we've been told 53:01 a little bit of something about a rock that will come. 53:06 You see while the world is broken up 53:08 into these tectonic plates that are constantly shifting 53:11 and causing catastrophic events all over this world, 53:14 the Bible tells us that there is a rock coming 53:18 that will destroy this whole world. 53:20 It will create a new world. 53:21 It will fill this new world and He, Jesus Christ, 53:25 the rock will fill that entire planet 53:27 and become a great mighty mountain 53:30 and guess what in that we can foundation our faith. 53:37 What did Jesus say? 53:39 Have you never read in the Scriptures? 53:41 "The stone which the builders rejected 53:43 has become the chief cornerstone. 53:45 This was the Lord's doing and it is marvelous 53:48 in our eyes'?" 53:49 And I love this next part, 53:50 "And whoever falls on this stone..." 53:54 Which stone? 53:56 Who's the stone? Christ. 53:58 "Whoever falls on the stone will be broken." 54:00 Guess what? That's a good thing. 54:01 Would you like Christ to break you? 54:03 I want Christ to break me. 54:05 He's the potter, I'm the clay, 54:07 I want Him to shape and mold me, 54:08 break me however way He needs me to be. 54:11 I want Him to make me that vessel of honor prepared 54:13 for the Kingdom of God, how about you? 54:16 And whoever falls on a stone will be broken, 54:18 but notice the second part, it says, 54:20 "But on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder." 54:25 I would rather be broken by Jesus in advance 54:29 than to have Jesus come break me in another way 54:31 that I don't want to be broken. 54:33 When I read this text, it reminds me that song... 54:36 Lean on me, when you're not strong 54:42 I'll be your friend... 54:43 Jesus is our friend. 54:45 I'll help you carry on Lean on me... 54:48 We want to lean on Jesus, fall on Jesus 54:51 because He is our rock. 54:57 We come to the end, aren't you happy? 55:01 Some of you're saying... 55:04 My dinner's going to burn if I don't get home. 55:09 You know, I talked about all this today 55:11 because Christ is preparing the people. 55:16 You know, the shaking that is coming, 55:17 it will affect everyone, but those who are grounded 55:23 on the rock of ages, 55:27 those people will be able to stand 55:29 when the shaking occurs. 55:32 Those people who have put inside unimportant things, 55:35 not allowed the ways of the world 55:37 to succumb their life, 55:39 those people will be able to stand on the rock of ages 55:43 when He appears. 55:46 Jesus is coming soon, my friends, 55:48 and I pray that each and every one of us 55:50 can stand for Him in Jesus Christ. 55:55 So that when those clouds split open, 55:59 we can stand confident at His appearing, amen. 56:03 Let's pray. 56:06 Father in heaven, the rock of ages, 56:11 thank You, Lord. 56:15 Thank You so much for Your goodness, 56:19 Your blessings, Your love, Your mercy. 56:25 Father, I don't think there's a single person 56:27 in this room that can deny Your goodness, 56:31 for You have blessed us abundantly more 56:33 beyond what we're worthy, Lord. 56:41 We thank You for the sacrifice of Jesus. 56:44 We thank You for the road that He has paved, 56:48 and we can simply walk in His footsteps. 56:51 And, Lord, as you know there's an enemy 56:52 that does not want us walking in those footsteps. 56:57 I pray God that You will bestow and pour out Your Spirit 57:00 upon every single person here, 57:02 all of those that will ever watch the sermon, 57:05 those who could not be with us today, God, 57:08 we pray for our revival 57:11 and our reformation among Your people. 57:14 And we will set aside unimportant things 57:16 and all of the divisional things in the church 57:20 that are dividing us. 57:22 Now we will simply stake our faith 57:24 on the foundation of the truth of God's Word. 57:27 We will be drawn closer to each other 57:30 and closer to our Savior. 57:32 Praise you God, thank You for this Sabbath, 57:35 keep us safe as we go home today, 57:37 and bring us back again safely once again we ask 57:40 in Jesus' holy precious name, amen. 57:44 Amen. |
Revised 2018-09-27