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 copies and quoted from the Authorized King James Version of the Holy Bible.
Pastor James May
HAS GOD BEEN FAITHFUL?
As we come to the close of another year, it often serves a purpose for us to look back upon the time that has past and see where we have come from, what have we accomplished, what has God accomplished in us and through us, and where are we going from here. So, as a church, a part of the Body of Christ, that’s what I want us to do this morning.
God is faithful! He is faithful to those that love Him and He is faithful to those that forget Him too. God is faithful to his word, to his promises and to his provision for our every need. As we look back we can only say the same thing that David said so long ago in Psalms 37:25, "I have been young(er), and now am old(er); yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread." (Note: I added the (er) for emphasis only)
In the past year there have been some good times and better times. I would like to say that there have been no bad times but I know that in every life there comes the rain and storms because we have not been promised that we would never have trouble. In fact there is another verse that I think we need to remember that is found in Job 14:1, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." That verse flies in the face of those who claim that we will never face trouble if we have enough faith. In actuality, it is those troubles that builds our faith and helps us to grow stronger mentally, emotionally, and spiritually.
It is a fact that most Christians don’t really pray hard at all until bad times come. That’s when we really get down to business and begin to get close to the Lord because we know where our only real hope comes from.
We are like David who said in Psalms 121:1-8, I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The LORD is thy keeper: the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand. The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night. The LORD shall preserve thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and even for evermore."
Having said all of that let’s take a look at what has happened in the year that is soon to be over.
1 - Where we have come from?
Most of you know that the church has changed its physical location in the last year. God has seen fit to bless us with a more appropriate, though imperfect, building in which we can gather to worship him and serve one another. Even with all of its imperfections I am grateful that we have a larger facility that is better located and more meets our needs. God has been faithful to Victory Temple PCG. He has kept our financial condition stable, supplied every need and gave us the means to be a blessing to so many people.
At last count we have seen 27 people come to Christ for the first time. That alone is the greatest miracle and the greatest blessing that we could ever ask for. That is the main reason that we exist as a church – to see souls won to the Kingdom of God. Certainly not all of those who were saved have chosen to stay with us. Some have moved on to other churches and, sad to say, some have gone back into the world. At least they have had their opportunity to know Jesus in a greater way than ever before. Regardless of where they go from here, the fact is that Victory Temple and its ministries, and its congregation has done their part to reach out to the lost. I only hope and pray that in the coming year, should Jesus tarry, we will see many more won to Christ and see many more that will not only be saved but will choose to be a part of this church to win others in turn.
To most churches 27 new converts may not seem so great but I believe that if only 1 soul had been saved it would have worth everything we did in 2002 to see that happen. If you consider that our church has such a small congregation you will see that this number means that our church would have nearly doubled in size in they had all stayed.
In the coming year I want to challenge myself and all of you to reach out to the lost. I challenge you to win just 2 people to Jesus in the coming year. Can you imagine what would happen in Victory Temple if each of us would win 2 souls to the Lord. We would have a growth that would be the envy of the nation. Believe me, winning 2 people to the Lord may not sound like such a great challenge but how many of us has won even 1 person to Christ in the past 2 years? If that were true then Victory Temple would be a larger church than it is today.
A more important question for each of us is “Where have I come from in the past year?”
Some of you have emerged from a life of sin and shame to become a Child of God during the past year! How wonderful has that change been? How much more of life can you enjoy now! How much more peace do you have? How much more joy is in your heart? Is your relationship within your family better? Perhaps you are here this morning, listening to this message because Jesus kept you from ending your life and spared you for service in His Kingdom! Yes, God has been faithful to you and brought you from a mighty deep pit and a long way down the road to Heaven. Thank God for those victories!
Some of you have seen God take you from the storms of life and give you victory. Sometimes the troubles of this life can weigh us down and put us into the depths of depression and despair. But we have learned to look up and God is faithful to lift us out of our troubles. We have held on to His promise found in 1 Corinthians 10:13, "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
For some of you, in fact for all of us, God has brought us through trial after trial, test after test and trouble after trouble. Sometimes we have failed those tests and have either retaken them or will soon face them again. Remember that God is faithful and he never gives up on us. Most of us have faced some pretty strong tests and trials this year. Some have faced worse trials than others. But I want to remind you that God has confidence in your ability to overcome them through the power of the Blood of the Lamb. God knows that we all need to grow and he customizes our trials to match our need in different areas of life.
If your trial is physical and you have been ill, God knows that you need to have a test that will build your trust and faith in Him to meet your physical needs.
If your trial has been in the area of working on the job, then God knows that you need to learn patience, learn to work with others, learn to put your trust in Him and work through situations on that job in order to make your life a success.
If your trial has been in the area of finances then God knows you need to learn how to handle your finances better and examine your stewardship of those things that God has blessed you with. God wants to bless you financially but He cannot do so if we misuse, abuse or misappropriate money or property that rightfully belongs to God.
We must learn to handle our finances when they are small or we will only be in worse shape when they grow larger. If you have trouble paying your bills now you will only have more trouble and more bills when you grown richer. It isn’t just the amount of money you have, it’s how you handle it that makes the difference.
So many think that if they could only make a few thousand more a year, that they would be able to manage, but if they continue the same habits that are there now, that few thousand dollars will only translate into deeper debt and less time for the family and for the Lord.
Financial trials are some of the worst and yet are some of the most frequent trials because so few of us really are good stewards of what God gives to us. We tend to waste so much on frivolous things. We tend to impulse buy and get what we what now at the expense of what we want most of all. We will buy that new car, new boat, new whatever, putting it on a charge card or making a note that will drain even more of our limited income through interest rates that can reach as high as 37% by state law, and give up our freedom and independence to be slaves to our debtors and fair game for the courts and legal system to take everything we own and destroy the testimony of God within us.
Most of you have had to fight some pretty strong spiritual battles too. Spiritual battles are always the hardest to face and overcome because so much is at stake whether we win or lose!
We are fighting a war in the realm of the spirit. Every demon and devil of hell is doing everything in their power to see to it that you don’t make Heaven your home and to keep you from serving the Lord!
It is any wonder that we all face such great spiritual battles! Those battles could range from being indecisive in where God is leading you to actually falling into sin and grieving the Holy Spirit within. Indecision leads to inaction and confusion and we know who the author of confusion is. If Satan can keep you in confusion you become absolutely ineffective to the Kingdom of God. Of course we know that falling into sin is dangerous and causes a great division between us and the Lord. Satan wants you to have no part in the Kingdom of God so he will put whoever and whatever in your path to make you fall and he knows your weaknesses.
Have you ever been going along, just feeling great, feeling happy, feeling like you are doing so great in your walk with the Lord and suddenly, out of nowhere, something or someone causes you to get angry and do or say things you know are wrong? You see, the devil knows your weak spots and his demons are working overtime to see to it that your weaknesses are exposed and exploited. Then when you fall, he brings on this guilt and condemnation. That’s when we must turn back to Jesus in repentance and allow his Blood to cleanse us once again. We are all subject to falling. It’s not whether you will fail God or not, but when! And when it does happen remember 1 John 2:1, "My little children, these things write I unto you, that ye sin not. And if any man sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous:"
God knows that our greatest weaknesses are always in the realm of the Spirit and thus he allows great spiritual battles to come our way so that our faith and trust in Him can be built stronger. We are being prepared to rule and reign with Christ and to live in our eternal home in glory so don’t give up, keep fighting. The war will be over soon and we will all be going home as victorious and overcoming Children of God.
So what trials have you faced this year and what lessons have you learned from those trials. I do hope we have learned something so that we don’t have to retake the test. Once through many of these trials is bad enough. Let’s not get set back in our grade and have to repeat it all over again.
2 - Where are we now?
As you look at your life, have you grown spiritually? Have you learned some lessons in the realm of finances? Have you learned to trust more in the Lord? Have you become stronger in Christ than you were a year ago? Hopefully all of these answers will be Yes!
Victory Temple church has had its share of trials and tests also. We have seen people come and go. There is a saying that says that everyone brings joy, some in coming and some in going. We have joy at the coming of those who visit or stay with us a while and we are sad when they leave but people are ever moving. Some have left because it was time to go and God was taking them somewhere else while others chose to follow their own path and not where God was leading them.
We have seen some wonderful services where the Spirit of the Lord moved in all of His power and we have heard God’s Word expounded over and over again. The church is blessed in every way and the future looks bright indeed.
There is a renewed spirit of unity within the congregation and renewed sense of purpose. We are all looking forward to the coming new year with great anticipation at what lies ahead for our church. I feel in my spirit that this year will be our year for growth. I know that if we keep a spirit of unity, continue to fast and pray for revival, and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit, that the growth will come naturally.
I believe that God has begun a healing process in the church and you can see it in the faces of those who come to the services. I have also sensed a different mood in the services and I hope and pray that this will translate into more commitment and service to the house of God.
Some of you have grown spiritually in the past year and it is evident in your life. Others have begun to change and, if you stay faithful to God, your lives will also show the evidence of spiritual growth. Everyone changes at their own pace. That pace is determined by personal commitment to God and the development of your own personal relationship to Jesus.
I hope and pray that by this time next year, the fruits that you will bear will show all the world that your life is truly committed to Christ. I hope and pray that all of us will bear such fruit!
3 – What has God accomplished through us?
Allow me to give you a quick recap of what God has done in Victory Temple in the past year.
We have seen 27 souls saved, 12 filled with the Holy Ghost with the evidence of speaking in other tongues as the Spirit gave the utterance, and 13 baptized in water to signify that their old life is dead and their new man is resurrected in Christ. We have seen God meet every need financially. God has given us a deeper knowledge of Him and His Word. God has healed us of our sicknesses. He has given us victory after victory.
God blessed us with a great youth camp. Our Fall Retreat was wonderful. He has protected our people on the highways in our times of activities together. God has been so very faithful to Victory Temple and to each of us.
Take a look at your own life. I believe that each of us can truly say that God has blessed us so much. He has allowed us to work for him. He has used us to witness to others about Jesus. He has used us to meet the needs of those around us. God has allowed us to be vessels of honor in his service. IT JUST DOESN’T GET ANY BETTER THAN THAT!
4 – Where do we go from here?
Looking to the time ahead we are endeavoring to fulfill the commandment that was given forth in the Parable of the nobleman as spoken by Jesus in Luke 19:12-13, "He said therefore, A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom, and to return. And he called his ten servants, and delivered them ten pounds, and said unto them, Occupy till I come."
That’s our goal, just keep working for the Lord to see his will done in our lives. We do not know what the future holds. Our best laid plans and methods are nothing but putty in his hands. We will endeavor to pray, fast and seek the will of God and to know the mind of Christ. That is the best thing we can do.
Surely we will make plans to accomplish a work for the Lord. Yes we will set some goals and layout a game plan to accomplish those goals but we must depend upon the leading of the Holy Spirit if we are going to really do any good.
Psalms 127:1, “Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain that build it…”
I know that God has great things in store for each of us and for our church. I am believing God for doubling our numbers in the coming year, not just for numbers sake but for the souls that it will represent. I am believing God for great financial blessings and miracles of healing and deliverance for all of our members.
But, the one greatest thing that I am looking forward to for our church is the coming of the Lord! I believe that Jesus is coming soon and it may be that this new year will be the last one we spend here, if Jesus doesn’t come before then.
I’m not just making plans so much for bigger buildings and bigger congregations, bigger bank accounts, bigger ministries and a bigger district. Surely we all want all those things. But all of that must take second place to winning souls for Jesus because I’m making my preparations to leave this old world behind and go to the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. I believe that we could all be home with Jesus very soon.
So where are YOU going from here? That depends upon your relationship with Jesus. Yes, make your plans to occupy until Jesus comes. Work your jobs, support your families, work for the Lord in his Kingdom through your service to God and man, and work to build a bigger and better Victory Temple, but far more importantly, make your plans to leave this all behind and go to be with Jesus! That’s where we are all going – to meet Jesus either as his bride or as those will face his judgment.
