Why is God’s church still here?
Why are we still pressing on?
Why are we still turning on the lights and preaching from the same book they were preaching from years ago?
Why are we still preaching the message of truth?
Why are we still living and believing and holding on to the same truths that was preached so many years ago.
Could it be, that what we got a-hold of is bigger than us?
Could it be that there is an eternal purpose and an eternal plan for this church?
Let me say to you as your pastor, and also as someone who believes in you.
God’s has purpose for each and every on of us here today.
Nothing happens by mere coincidence, were all here for a greater purpose.
Let’s turn our bibles to the book of Daniel and let’s see what the prophet Daniel said concerning our church.
Dan 12:8-10
8 And I heard, but I understood not: then said I, O my Lord, what shall be the end of these things?9 And he said, Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. 10 Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.
Notice Daniel said the things that he was seeing was not to be seen until the end of time and that the wicked would not understand the things, but those things that he saw would be understood by the wise.
I want to share with you what I believe is God’s vision for this church.
It is a vision that is based on the revealed Word of God,
And I say that, because God’s word does tell us what the church will be like in the last days.
But not until my vision and your vision becomes His vision, will we ever be successful in the kingdom concept that God wanted for His church.
Even though most churches in America today are far from what God intended them to be.
That does not take away the fact that God had a vision for the end-time church.
I believe I am right when I say, that what goes on today in most “So Called” church’s;
is far from what God intended the church to be.
I believe God intended His church in the last days to be full of power and full of glory.
I don’t believe He intended his church to be the tail, but I believe He intended us to be the head.
I don’t believe He intended for church to be dead and dry, but I believe He intended for His church to be in revival and on fire.
I don’t believe He intended for His church to be living in the past, but for His end-time church to have vision.
I believe He intends for His end-time church to be full of Mercy and Grace and Forgiveness.
I don’t believe He intended His church to be allowing all kinds of sin going on.
I don’t believe He intended His church to look like the world, act like the world, or be in the world.
I believe He intended His church to come out from among them and be separate.
I believe God intended His church to be leading this dark and wicked world toward Him.
I believe God intended His church to have the gifts of the spirit in operation.
Why is it that today’s church for the most part is satisfied to have church;
Without the Holy Ghost and power
Without demonstration of the spirit?
Too many churches are satisfied without the presence of God,
Too many are satisfied without the spiritual gifts,
Too many are content not to have heartfelt prayer,
Too many are satisfied with dead, dry worship.
Let me say in the political climate were in;
Churches are not suppose to be more political than spiritual.
We are not suppose to condone sin,
We are not to be afraid of the supernatural,
We are not suppose to coddle homosexuality,
We are not supposed to wink at divorce, forget about hell and let people live any way that want to.
The end-time church is not supposed to be cold and weak, and dry, timid, afraid, backward.
But the New Testament church that we are a part of made devils tremble!
It drove legions of demons into the sea,
prayed prison doors open,
made rulers change their minds,
healed the sick and cast out devils,
Turned their cities up-side down.
I fact the bible says, “No weapon that ever came against the church could ever prosper against it!” “The gates of hell itself, cannot prevail against the church.”
The book of Acts church had such faith and power that the lame walked,
Blinded eyes were open,
And the deaf ears were unstopped.
They believed in the supernatural –
they turned cities up-side down,
opened up the prison doors,
cast out devils,
Prayed for the sick and the sick were recovered.
They even raised the dead!
I am not saying God’s last-day church will be a repeat or copy of the book of Acts church.
I don’t believe that’s possible.
But what I am saying is that this end-time church that we are a-part of (Will be even greater than that!) The bible says “Greater works than these shall ye do”
I believe it can be mightier,
stronger, more powerful and more efficient,
more resourceful,
better organized,
better equipped,
And better prepared, than what our for-fathers were.
Why?.......... because our time is short.
Hag 2:9
The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, saith the LORD of hosts:
Can I say, “God always saves His best wine for last!”
We’ve been called for such a time as this.
The prophet Daniel confirms this.
He said certain prophetic truths were locked up, only to be revealed in the last days:
"...for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end...and none of the wicked shall understand;but the wise shall understand"
Church I don’t know how you feel, but I believe,
God’s people in the last-days are going to better understand what this book says and what this book means concerning the days in which we live.
We truly are living in the last days.
Daniel said he saw these things; but couldn’t understand them, even with all his divine wisdom:
But can I say on this side of his prophecy, I understand now why something’s had to happen like they happened
To bring us to where we are today.
In Daniel’s day he did not understand the progression of the church,
but today we live in a modern society,
it’s a fast pace world,
hectic at times,
And a church that is going to reach this generation is going to have to realize that we can’t do it by our own abilities.
We need some spiritual insight; we need some revelation, and spiritual discernment.
Every kind of problem that you find in the world is making its way into the church.
Drugs, alcohol, teenage sex, fornication and adultery, pornography.
It’s not uncommon today to have people come to alters who have been married 2, 3, 4 times.
Teenagers who have already tried sex, alcohol, and drugs.
People who have addictions and mental problems.
What are we going to do church?
Run from our responsibilities,
Dry up and let them go somewhere else.
I say not this church, “Bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. The hurting, the drug abuser, wife abuser, the divorced, the broken family, bring them to Jesus.
Dan 12:8 says; And I heard, but I understood not.
Today, the Holy Ghost stands ready to reveal these things to those that are hungry and thirsty for them.
(I Corinthians 2:9-10).
"...as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God"
Right now the Lord is preparing a powerful army of shepherds after His own heart.
He is preparing a remnant congregation of hungry sheep who have turned away from the deadness and sin of the modern church establishment, and now are saying
“I don’t care about anything else but Jesus,
take this whole world but give me Jesus,
give me Jesus in the morning,
give me Jesus in the noon day,
give me Jesus in the evening”.
The scene is being set for (that church) against which the gates of hell shall not prevail.
It will be hot, not lukewarm - and it will rock the very foundations of hell.
No power on earth will be able to ignore or despise that church!
Why?......... Because its God’s church, it’s God’s end-time church.
This end-time church understands that the word of God has to be fully preached.
And when I say (fully preached) I mean it has to be preached with power and demonstration.
Paul said; My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power:
He said that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God.
James said; “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only”.
Somewhere along the way in this,
We need to start living what we are preaching.
We need to start living what were worshipping,
We need to start living this Holy Ghost that God has made available to every true believer.
It’s not by power and it’s not by might, but its but my spirit saith the Lord.
God’s got a VISION for our church.
I come today with such anticipation, and excitement and hope for our future.
I believe God is about to give us a taste of what He has for this church in the future.
It does not need to stop, or slow down one bit.
But what we need to do as the saints of the most high,
Is to dedicate our lives like we have never done before and say;
God I know this is what I’ve been called for,
I’ve been called to be part of you’re glorious church.
When church is going on I’ll be there, reporting for duty.
When prayer meeting is going on, I’ll be there reporting for duty.
When outreach is going on, I’ll be there reporting for duty.
When the alter call is given, I’ll be there reporting for duty.
When the call for worship goes forth, I’ll be there reporting for duty.
I want this church to know that we are part of his church;
We are not a vagabond church that is just wandering around not knowing what our purpose is.
But we have a clear destiny, and we have purpose.
The bible lets us know in 1 Peter 2:9-10;
That we are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called us out of darkness into his marvellous light:
Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God:
We are the people of God,
We’ve been called,
We’ve been chosen,
we’ve been given a job to do,
Not by man or by mistake, but by God.
We have been called to go into the highways and byways and compel them.
Our job is to let this lost and dying world know, that this is the place, the “church” where you can find purpose and reason for your life.
Right here, in The Living Word of God Church
God’s miraculous church!
This miraculous church I’m talking about today has been given a "Destiny"?
In simple terms, Destiny is God’s purpose for you.
It is your appointed and ordained future.
Destiny is what God has predetermined for you to become, and it is his divine will for your existence.
If you’re searching for the will of God in you’re life, God’s telling you what you’ve been saved for;
To win the lost at any cost.
That’s God’s vision for His end-time church.
It is so sad at times, to see those that have been in the church for so long, that don’t know what the will of God is in there life.
They are missing out on their destiny.
They have aborted the plan and the will of God for their lives;
They started out right,
They had a great desire,
But somewhere along the way they got sidetracked and missed out on their destiny.
I don’t want us to ever forget where we’ve come from;
You’re ancestors and my ancestors, were part of that early church we read about in the book of Acts.
The apostles lived and ministered in the realm of the miraculous.
Common and ordinary men like Stephen and Philip, men who served tables, were mighty men in the Holy Ghost.
Through the Holy Ghost they were able to perform miracles and stir entire cities.
Did you here what I said?
common ordinary men,
bread delivers,
tomb stone carvers,
maintenance men,
painters, bankers,
UPS drivers,
police,
brink messengers,
electricians,
Chicken plant workers
Computer analyst
Homemakers.
Angels appeared to them; unlocked there chains, and they were able by the Holy Ghost to walk out of jails and prisons.
They had mighty visions, they had power they had authority, these common ordinary men.
Peter was so full of the Holy Ghost that the sick were brought into the streets on beds and couches so that when he walked by, his shadow would fall on them for healing.
Cripples were healed, the bible says; "And God wrought special miracles by the hands of Paul: so that from his body were brought unto the sick handkerchiefs or aprons, and the diseases departed from them, and the evil spirits went out of them"
You may say; why aren’t we living in this miraculous realm today?
Where is the apostolic power we read about in the book of Acts?
Why is it that we can’t live our lives in Victorious living?
I can tell you this much;
God hasn’t changed; he is the same yesterday, today and forever.
The reason we aren’t living in the miraculous, is
Because we have changed,
We have settled for something far less,
Our dream has been forgotten.
We are part of the generation that says;
We don’t need the miraculous anymore;
We don’t need to shout anymore,
We don’t need apostolic worship,
And we don’t need anointed preaching.
This generation says by its actions,
we can get the job done by our well thoughtout programs,
our money,
our talents,
And our education.
But friend I summit to you;
If it took the miraculous, and the awesome power of God to establish the church in the beginning, this end time church needs to understand, it’s going to take the same thing for us today.
We need the anointing, we need the power, and we need the Holy Ghost.
Red-hot prayer rooms,
Faithfulness to the house of God,
Worship in our services and
Response to apostolic preaching.
Why?
Because men and women and young people’s hearts are waxing worse and worse.
Sin is abounding,
Seducers have increased,
Violence is out of control,
And hell has enlarged its borders.
Satan has launched and all out attack against the church, he has unleashed all the demons of hell as a mighty flood.
Sex…drugs and alcohol… murder… and rape… child abductions… abortions… homosexuality… disobedient children… Parents molesting their own children… crack…cocaine… heroine and marijuana on the street corners and in the schools….AIDS and herpes and other venereal diseases are rampant in our world.
What this world needs and what our churches needs is;
More of Jesus, not less,
More church, not less,
More preaching, not less.
We all need to get a grip on the cost of true Apostolic, Victorious living, and when we get a grip on that, we need to say, “I’m willing to pay the price as the church before us did.
I am convinced, when we come week after week with desire and hunger and thirst for Lord, and we say to the Lord, “what will you have me to do”? Get ready,
Get ready, because God’s getting ready to do some awesome things in our midst.
I feel that the coming of the Lord is so near,
I feel that we will be the generation that will see him come in the clouds of glory,
And now that we are at the end of the race,
When we’re just about to cross the finish line
This is not the time to compromise our principals, and allow our church to dry up, and get cold and lifeless.
ALWAYS REMEMBER THIS IS GOD’S CHURCH, AND WE ARE GOD’S PEOPLE!
My heart is not filled with fear, and worry, and confusion,
God has not forsaken us as some might believe, but I understand that my life and your life has been filled with destiny, and purpose.
Story:
George W. Truett, a well known preacher was invited to dinner at the home of a very wealthy man in Texas.
After the meal, the host led him to a place where they could get a good view of the surrounding area.
Pointing to the oil wells, punctuating the landscape, he boasted, "Twenty five years ago, I had nothing. Now as far as you can see, it’s all mine."
Looking in the opposite direction, at his sprawling fields of grain, he said, "That’s all mine."
Turning east toward huge herds of cattle, he bragged, "They’re all mine too."
Then, pointing to the west and a beautiful forest, he exclaimed, "That too is all mine."
He paused expecting Dr. Truett to compliment him on his great success.
Truett, however, placing one hand on the man’s shoulder and pointing heavenward with the other, simply said, "How much do you have in that direction?"
The man hung his head and confessed "I never thought of that."
I come this day with a new and renewed passion to reach this world… and to change the hearts of men and women.
To be able to Pastor you in a way that the only thing that satisfies your soul…. is winning souls…. changing our world and making a difference in someone’s life.
In closing the bible says in Luke 19:10….For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.
The word SEEK- means To endeavor to obtain or reach. To strive, to aim, to aspire, to go for with purpose, to pursue, To make an exploration, or an investigation, to hunt, to ransack, to scour, to root out, and to rummage, or to investigate, to covet, to crave, to lust after, to yearn for.
What I’ve come to say to us today, is that, what we need to say to the Lord, Is Lord your vision will now become my vision.
The bible says that we are not our own, but we have been bought with a price.
We were saved to win somebody else.
For too long, we have sought our own, we have only lived for self.
Our vision has not been his vision, let’s get real and honest.
How many of us have endeavored to obtain or reach for a soul?
How many of us have aspired more, for a lost soul….than what we have to obtain something in this life for our self?
Dan 11:32…But the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do great exploits.
Notice not until we know our God; will we be able to be strong and do great exploits in the Lord.
It’s not in a building… a pretty song or a program…it’s about winning the lost and restoring the hurting.
Friend I don’t claim to be some spiritual giant, but let me say to you as humbly as I can, that I believe beyond a shadow of doubt, that the only reason God robed himself in flesh was to save humanity.
He came to hunt down, to ransack, and root out, and investigate this whole world for someone who wants to be saved.
And not until we get that desire and that passion for the lost… will we ever be able to say that we are strong…. and that were doing great exploits.
I want to say to this church, “The right knowledge of God” is the love for souls, it will be our strength…. and our compass for the future.
It’s how God will build this Church
It is my vision, because it is God’s vision.
Everything we do and everything we try to accomplish will be driven by a passion for souls.
For the bible says; Ezek 34:16
I will seek that which was lost, and bring again that which was driven away, and will bind up that which was broken, and will strengthen that which was sick:
We need to learn again the parable; that says,
What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?
And when he hath found it, he layeth it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
And when he cometh home, he calleth together his friends and neighbours, saying unto them, Rejoice with me; for I have found my sheep which was lost.
I say unto you, that likewise joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth, more than over ninety and nine just persons, which need no repentance.
I can’t find anything else in this bible that brings joy in heaven, other than a soul.
Not a song, not building, not a message, not an offering,
But a man or a woman or a young person….who comes broken and lonely…. their life is a mess and the world has given up on them.
But someone that is filled with compassion and love, someone who is carrying a burden that understands that his or her only purpose, and only desire is to help somebody find Jesus.
I want to tell you something; the bible says he is able to save to the uttermost.
That word Uttermost comes from the Greek word “pas (pas)” A primary word meaning; all, any, every, the whole:
all (manner of, means), alway (-s), any (one), every (one) as many as, thoroughly, whatsoever, whole, whosoever.
Could it be the writer is saying to the church there is no-one that is un-savable, any-one, as-, many, whosoever can be saved.
As we begin our endeavor as a new church, let’s get a-hold of God’s vision….. let’s change a life….. let’s win a soul….. and let’s help populate heaven.
And if you don’t have a personal relationship with Jesus it could start with you….This morning….
