THE PAST - THE PRESENT - THE FUTURE : EXPERIENCING GOD IN THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF TIME
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OUTLINE
1. EBENEZER - GOD IN THE PAST
2. EMMANUEL - GOD IN THE PRESENT
3. HOLY SPIRIT - GOD IN THE FUTURE
THE MESSAGE
THE PAST - THE PRESENT - THE FUTURE : EXPERIENCING GOD IN THE WHOLE SPECTRUM OF TIME
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1. EBENEZER - GOD IN THE PAST
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The Lord has been our Ebenezer helping us thus far. We must praise Him with a grateful heart for all the blessings that we have received from Him. The Lord wants us to remember every miracle that He has performed for us and He wants us to share it with our future generations so that they too would put their faith in Him. We should not be ungrateful to the Lord after we have received answers to our prayers. We should be diligent to offer our praise and thanksgiving to Him. We must realise that we would have perished if the Lord had not stood by us in our time of danger and distress.In our time of prosperity we should remember the Lord who helped us in our low estate and lifted us high.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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1 SAMUEL 7:12
Then Samuel took a stone and set it up between Mizpah and Shen. He named it Ebenezer, saying, "Thus far has the LORD helped us."
HEBREWS 13:8
Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.
PSALM 103:1-2
Praise the LORD, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name.
Praise the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits-
PSALM 77:11-12
I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago.
I will meditate on all your works and consider all your mighty deeds.
PSALM 78:5-7
He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children,
so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children.
Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.
PSALM 105:5
Remember the wonders he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,
PSALM 111:4
He has caused his wonders to be remembered; the LORD is gracious and compassionate.
JOSHUA 4:4-7
So Joshua called together the twelve men he had appointed from the Israelites, one from each tribe,
and said to them, "Go over before the ark of the LORD your God into the middle of the Jordan. Each of you is to take up a stone on his shoulder, according to the number of the tribes of the Israelites,
to serve as a sign among you. In the future, when your children ask you, 'What do these stones mean?'
tell them that the flow of the Jordan was cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it crossed the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. These stones are to be a memorial to the people of Israel forever."
LUKE 17:11-19
Now on his way to Jerusalem, Jesus traveled along the border between Samaria and Galilee.
As he was going into a village, ten men who had leprosy met him. They stood at a distance
and called out in a loud voice, "Jesus, Master, have pity on us!"
When he saw them, he said, "Go, show yourselves to the priests." And as they went, they were cleansed.
One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.
He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked him—and he was a Samaritan.
Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine?
Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner?"
Then he said to him, "Rise and go; your faith has made you well."
LAMENTATIONS 3:21-23
Yet this I call to mind and therefore I have hope:
Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
PSALM 124:1-8
If the LORD had not been on our side—let Israel say-
if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us,
when their anger flared against us, they would have swallowed us alive;
the flood would have engulfed us, the torrent would have swept over us,
the raging waters would have swept us away.
Praise be to the LORD, who has not let us be torn by their teeth.
We have escaped like a bird out of the fowler's snare; the snare has been broken, and we have escaped.
Our help is in the name of the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.
ISAIAH 25:4-5
You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in his distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat. For the breath of the ruthless is like a storm driving against a wall
and like the heat of the desert.You silence the uproar of foreigners; as heat is reduced by the shadow of a cloud, so the song of the ruthless is stilled.
PSALM 22:24
For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.
DEUTERONOMY 8:2-4
Remember how the LORD your God led you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep his commands.
He humbled you, causing you to hunger and then feeding you with manna, which neither you nor your fathers had known, to teach you that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.
Your clothes did not wear out and your feet did not swell during these forty years.
2 SAMUEL 7:8-9 , 18
"Now then, tell my servant David, 'This is what the LORD Almighty says: I took you from the pasture and from following the flock to be ruler over my people Israel.
I have been with you wherever you have gone, and I have cut off all your enemies from before you. Now I will make your name great, like the names of the greatest men of the earth.
Then King David went in and sat before the LORD, and he said: "Who am I, O Sovereign LORD, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?
2. EMMANUEL - GOD IN THE PRESENT
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The Lord is our Emmanuel who is with us in the present. He is our shepherd who meets all our needs. He watches over us and is our shade . He is with us as a mighty warrior and destroys all the attacks of the enemy. He favours us and does not allow the enemy to triumph over us. He works in our life to fulfill His will and good purpose.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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MATTHEW 1:23
"The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel"—which means, "God with us."
PSALM 23:1
The LORD is my shepherd, I shall not be in want.
PSALM 121:5
The LORD watches over you— the LORD is your shade at your right hand;
JEREMIAH 20:11
But the LORD is with me like a mighty warrior; so my persecutors will stumble and not prevail. They will fail and be thoroughly disgraced; their dishonor will never be forgotten.
PSALM 41:11
I know that you are pleased with me, for my enemy does not triumph over me.
PHILIPPIANS 2:13
for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.
3. HOLY SPIRIT - GOD IN THE FUTURE
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The Lord will be with us in the future through the Holy Spirit . He has promised to be with us till the end of the age. The Lord who began a good work in our life will carry it on to completion until Christ returns. The Lord will be with us when we go through trials and tribulations to protect us from all harm. He will carry us till our old age. No weapon formed against us will prevail. When the enemy rises against us, the Holy Spirit will drive him away. When we remember how the Lord has delivered us in the past , it will build our faith to face the present and the future challenges. The Lord promises a bright future for the Church. The Church will grow from glory to glory and expand its horizons over the earth.
SCRIPTURE REFERENCES
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JOHN 14:16
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever—
MATTHEW 28:20
and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
PHILIPPIANS 1:6
being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.
ISAIAH 43:2
When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.
ISAIAH 46:4
Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you.
ISAIAH 54:17
no weapon forged against you will prevail, and you will refute every tongue that accuses you. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and this is their vindication from me," declares the LORD.
ISAIAH 59:19
From the west, men will fear the name of the LORD, and from the rising of the sun, they will revere his glory. When the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD will put him to flight
1 SAMUEL 17:34-37
But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock,
I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it.
Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God.
The LORD who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you."
2 TIMOTHY 4:16-18
At my first defense, no one came to my support, but everyone deserted me. May it not be held against them.
But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth.
The Lord will rescue me from every evil attack and will bring me safely to his heavenly kingdom. To him be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
MATTHEW 16:5-10
When they went across the lake, the disciples forgot to take bread.
"Be careful," Jesus said to them. "Be on your guard against the yeast of the Pharisees and Sadducees."
They discussed this among themselves and said, "It is because we didn't bring any bread."
Aware of their discussion, Jesus asked, "You of little faith, why are you talking among yourselves about having no bread?
Do you still not understand? Don't you remember the five loaves for the five thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
Or the seven loaves for the four thousand, and how many basketfuls you gathered?
HAGGAI 2:9
'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty. 'And in this place I will grant peace,' declares the LORD Almighty."
MATTHEW 16:18-19
And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven."
ACTS 9:31
Then the church throughout Judea, Galilee and Samaria enjoyed a time of peace. It was strengthened; and encouraged by the Holy Spirit, it grew in numbers, living in the fear of the Lord.
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