Disclaimer:
Due to the large amount of sermons and topics that appear on this site I feel it is necessary to post this disclaimer on all sermons posted. These sermons are original to the author and the leading of the Holy Spirit. While ideas and illustrations are often gleaned from many sources including those at Sermoncentral.com, any similarities and wording including sermon title, that may appear to be the same as any other sermon are purely coincidental. In instances where other minister¡¦s wording is used, due recognition will be given. These sermons are not copyrighted and may be used or preached freely. May God richly bless you as you read these words. It is my sincere desire that all who read them may be enriched. All scriptures quoted in these sermons are copied and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
RISE AND SHINE
Isaiah 60:1-2, "Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee."
Surely we are living in the times of darkness and gross darkness that Isaiah described. I know that he was prophesying over Israel to say that their Messiah was coming. The Messiah did come and He is coming again.
Darkness covers the face of the earth. This isn¡¦t just an absence of natural light given off by the star we call our sun. It is the absence of the light of God that comes from the Son of God, Jesus Christ.
There is more preaching and less gospel than ever in our ¡§Christian¡¨ churches. Pastors are no longer preaching a Holy Ghost anointed message. Now the message is watered down to appease those who refuse to live right.
One recent story I have heard pertains to a Pentecostal Preacher who belongs to the same organization and denomination that I belong to, who rarely ever had a real anointed sermon from the Lord. His sermons consisted of a 5 or 10-minute talk on some current event out of the newspaper and then quoting or reading a verse or two. His entire Sunday morning messages were about 10 to 15 minutes long at most. I find it impossible to feed the flock of Christ with newspaper articles and personal commentary. Where is the unadulterated Word God? What does such a minister believe that his calling, if he even has one, from the Lord is all about? Where is the message of the gospel in what he has to say? No wonder so many of our churches are in trouble and no wonder so many people are going back into the world. The power of deliverance is in the Word of God, preached under the anointing of the Holy Ghost and not in some words of wisdom that man has.
1 Corinthians 2:3-5, "And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God."
I venture to say that those whose ¡§sermons¡¨ are no more than a recap of the daily news are really ¡§ministering¡¨ in weakness, but there is no fear of the Almighty God of Heaven that called them, neither is their any trembling with awesome respect or trembling with a sense of responsibility for the souls of the people of God.
Unlike Paul who preached with demonstrations of the Holy Spirit and the manifestations of the power of God, these ministers are making speeches and preaching only the wisdom of Man and that wisdom is pure foolishness in the mind of God. Woe unto that man whom God has called and anointed to speak His truths if that man refuses or fails to do so.
In addition to false preachers and hirelings, we find teachers in the churches who spend their time telling fairy tales, watching movies, or doing anything to occupy the students under their care. Why aren¡¦t they teaching God¡¦s Word? I believe it because they don¡¦t have enough of the love of God, the conviction of the Holy Spirit or the personal discipline to get alone with God and pray until they have a word from the Lord for their students.
I tell, without the anointing of the Holy Ghost and the move of the Spirit of God upon the congregation, I don¡¦t have anything to give to you and nothing I say will change anything in your life. But, you let the Word of God go forth with power and the anointing and you will see chains broken. You will see homes put back together. You will see teenagers and their parents getting along well for the first time in years. You will see God¡¦s Spirit begin to move in the hearts of every true believing child of God.
Not only has the gross darkness of sin continued to plague and destroy the church from within, we allow people to say and do things, inside the churches, that border on being occult and then go into our routines of flag waving, dancing and choreographing entertainment under the guise of worship that not only doesn¡¦t bring glory to God but actually desecrates the House of God.
I know that the church building is just a building and that the real church is the people, but we still need to have respect for the House of God and we still need to come in with a spirit of true worship and not one of self-glorification, desiring recognition for our own talents and abilities.
It¡¦s bad enough when the world that doesn¡¦t know Jesus chooses to live in gross darkness but God help us when the church, that claims to be Christian, is no different than the world.
Some may consider me old-fashioned. Let me tell you how right you are. I¡¦m old fashioned because I still believe that the only way to get to Heaven is through the shed blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. I¡¦m old-fashioned when I believe that there is still, and always will be, only one name under Heaven whereby men can be saved, and that¡¦s the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. I¡¦m old-fashioned when it comes to standards of holiness and righteousness as taught by the Word of God. I still believe that men and women ought to dress right, act right, talk right and be on fire for the Lord. God has never changed and if standards of holiness and righteousness were adhered to in the days of the early church, then they are still good today regardless of what man may say.
There are a lot of people in Pentecostal churches who don¡¦t live a life of holiness. They go anywhere, do anything, say anything and never really take thought of what God has to say about it.
The next time you open your mouth to tell a joke, ask yourself this question, ¡§would I tell this if Jesus was listening to me right now?¡¨
The next time you get angry at a clerk at the local store or in the local restaurant because everything just isn¡¦t perfect and you are being inconvenienced, ask yourself this question, ¡§What would I say or do if Jesus was here?¡¨ Also, you might want to think about this. ¡§What kind of impression will I make? Will people see Jesus in me? What would I feel like if I were put into a position to witness the love of Jesus to this person that I¡¦m about to tell off?¡¨
Isaiah said to Israel to¡K Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee. I say to you that it is time for us to let the love of God shine through us. It¡¦s time to let people see Jesus in us rather than to see the spirit of the devil come out of us.
It¡¦s time to arise and shine for the Lord and quit bellyaching about every little thing that happens that isn¡¦t to our liking.
It¡¦s time to be thankful and praise God for the blessings in your life instead of thinking of all the negative things that are happening.
ARISE AND SHINE AND GIVE GOD THE GLORY YOU CHILDREN OF THE LORD! That¡¦s an old children¡¦s song but it still holds true today. That¡¦s what God wants us to do.
The world outside these walls is living in gross darkness. There is no light in that darkness unless it is the light of the Christian that is letting his/her light shine for Jesus. The world needs help! The world needs some answers! The world needs Jesus! Who is going to give Jesus to them? It certainly won¡¦t be some sourpuss, cranky, know it all, self-righteous, judgmental, hell-bound, self-proclaimed Christian.
Just take one look at your morning newspaper or watch the news on TV and you will see just how dark this world really is, and it¡¦s only growing darker all the time.
Luke 18:7,8 - "And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
The world has no faith in God; their faith is in their own power and wisdom. The church has little faith to believe god anymore. We are too busy trying to be like the world. No wonder that Luke made this statement. Faith was at a premium in Luke¡¦s day and it hasn¡¦t improved with age since that day.
There is a spiritual darkness that has overshadowed the earth and all who will not or do believe in Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Just consider the headlines of this morning¡¦s local news:
„h Arafat orders forces to stop terror
„h Powell: Peace process endangered
„h Father helped find pipe-bomb suspect
„h Law arrives for abuse case testimony
„h Pakistan suicide blast kills 10 Frenchmen
„h Treasury chief warns on U.S. default
Let¡¦s check out these stats on DWI related teen and young adult deaths:
Prom / Graduation Dates Total Traffic Fatalities Total Fatalities Alcohol-Related Percent Alcohol-Related
4/14/00 - 4/16/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 215 137 63.9%
4/21/00 - 4/23/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 207 117 56.7%
4/28/00 - 4/30/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 225 131 58.3%
5/5/00 - 5/7/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 246 136 55.2%
5/12/00 - 5/14/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 237 140 58.9%
5/19/00 - 5/21/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 234 142 60.6%
6/2/00 - 6/4/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 240 138 57.4%
6/9/00 - 6/11/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 268 163 60.9%
6/16/00 - 6/18/00 (6:00 pm Friday to 5:59 pm Sunday) 210 122 58%
*Source - National Highway Traffic Safety Administration FARS
That¡¦s 2082 kids aged 15-20 who died from alcohol related auto accidents in one 30-day period 2 years ago ¡V and its only getting worse each year!
In fact, while I was at the funeral home this very morning, they received a call to pick up two more DWI related fatalities of high school kids!
AIDS Statistics
As of the end of the June 2001, 793,026 AIDS cases in the USA had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Of these,
¡P 79% were men,
¡P 21% were women
¡P and 1% were children less than 13 years of age;
¡P 41% were in whites,
¡P 38% in blacks,
¡P 20% in Hispanics,
¡P <1% in Asians and Pacific Islanders,
¡P and <1% in American Indians and Alaska Natives;
¡P 46% were in men who have sex with men (MSM),
¡P 25% in injecting drug users,
¡P 11% in persons infected heterosexually, and 1% in persons infected through blood or blood products.
In June 1981, the first cases of what is now known as AIDS were reported in the United States. In the 1980’s, there were rapid increases in the number of AIDS cases and deaths of people with AIDS. Cases peaked with the 1993 expansion of the case definition* and then declined. The most dramatic declines in cases and deaths have occurred since 1996, with the widespread use of antiretroviral therapy. Persons with AIDS are surviving longer and are contributing to steady increases in the number of people living with AIDS.
(That¡¦s frightening when you consider how many more will be infected by these same victims)
Historically, many states have only reported AIDS cases, but more states are implementing HIV cases reporting in response to the changing epidemic and the need for information on persons with HIV infection. This identification of HIV infections and AIDS cases enables state and local areas to estimate the size of the population living with HIV/AIDS and to predict the services and resources needed. It is anticipated that all states will be reporting cases to the CDC within the next two years.
Through June 2001 there were 455,750 persons reported to the CDC as living with HIV infection or AIDS. These reports only include persons diagnosed with HIV infection in States with integrated HIV/AIDS surveillance systems and persons diagnosed with AIDS in all States and Territories. In 1999, CDC estimated that 800,000 to 900,000 persons in the U.S were living with HIV or AIDS. The difference in these values is due to several factors, including the fact that:
¡P reporting of persons diagnosed with HIV has not yet been implemented in all States and Territories
¡P anonymous tests are excluded from case reports
¡P and many people are unaware of their HIV status
Source: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES
Public Health Service
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
National Center for HIV, STD and TB Prevention
HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report
U.S. HIV and AIDS cases reported through June 2001
Mid Year Edition Vol. 13, No. 1
When will it all stop? What is happening to the world? What is destroying our youth? What great power is attempting to annihilate every human being off of the face of the earth?
Isaiah called it ¡K the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people. We call it the Spirit of the Antichrist ¡V the Devil and his demonic powers.
Surely the words of Isaiah ring true today as never before. Surely the world is covered in darkness. The prophecies of Matthew chapter 24 are coming true before our very eyes.
The people are being trapped by Harry Potter and his occultic mysticism under the guise of literature.
Pornography is being touted as acceptable forms of art.
Hollywood is portraying the lifestyle of homosexuals and lesbians as acceptable and normal.
If there was ever a time to Arise and Shine with the Light of the Gospel, this is that time. I want to encourage you to arise from your comfortable place of safety and see the pain and suffering of dying souls destined for the pits of hell, then ask yourself this question, ¡§When was the last time I really allowed Jesus to shine through me?¡¨
