IN THE RIGHT PLACE AT THE RIGHT TIME
By Pastor Jim May
In December of 1944, the German Army had mounted an offensive in the dead of winter as a last ditch effort to cut off the Allied armies from their sources of provisions coming into Europe. Known as the Battle of the Bulge, this attack found one American division, the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne, completely surrounded by the Germans at a little village that was founded at a railroad junction in France. The town’s name was Bastogne. The German commander sent a note to Gen. MacAuliffe of the Americans demanding that the Americans surrender or face annihilation. The answer to that German request has forever been recorded in the annals of history. One single word signaled the determination of the 101st Airborne to never surrender and never quit. He simply said, “Nuts”.
That’s the kind of fighting spirit we need in the church right now. At a time when it seems that the devil has declared all-out war against God’s people, and even seems to be advancing on all fronts, it’s time for those who are truly born again to stand up and send the answer back to hell and refuse to surrender.
Certainly we are going to have a battle on our hands. As time draws ever nearer to the coming of the Lord, Satan is making a last ditch effort to destroy the gospel message in the earth.
But he cannot win. The church is triumphant. How can we lose with God on our side? I almost feel sorry for the devil, but not really.
When I think of the multiplied millions of people who will spend eternity in the Lake of Fire because of Satan’s lies and deceitfulness, I can’t help but rejoice when I read about his final demise in the Book of Revelation. There we are told that the archangel of God will lay hold on him and cast him into the bottomless pit where he will be held prisoner until he is released for the last time, only to be utterly defeated and cast into the Lake of Fire along with all his fallen angels and sinful men.
We are living in some exciting times. You and I are God’s chosen generation who are at the right time, and in the right place, to see all of these things come to pass.
In 1 Peter 2:9 we are called, "… a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light…"
How many of you are peculiar? If you really want to know, don’t determine the answer for yourself; just ask your family, friends and neighbors. I guarantee that most of them will think that you are really strange.
Who else in your neighborhood will wake up in the middle of the night and go pray for someone? Who else in your neighborhood will get up early on a Sunday morning, get all dressed nicely, get into the car, rain or shine, and go down to a church where some preacher will stand and preach for an hour? Who else in your neighborhood is happy, and at peace with all men? Who else in your neighborhood displays any of the fruits of righteousness and gets involved in ministry to people that they don’t know?
I’m telling you that you are a peculiar bunch, because you love the Lord with all your heart, and your lives reflect that love in everything you do. Your whole life is a shining example of praise and service to the Lord Jesus Christ, and you make everyone around you feel most uncomfortable because they don’t know Him like you do.
Because we are at war with the devil, God has especially equipped the church in these last days. He has given us power to tread on that old serpent, and crush his head into the ground.
We sang that chorus last night declared over and over again that, “We went to the enemy’s camp and we took back what he stole from us.”
We took back the souls of our loved ones who were stolen from right within the church. And we will continue to take them back by the power of the Holy Ghost.
We took back the victory that Satan snatched from our hands, and we will not surrender that victory again.
We took back the joy of the Lord that was stolen through trials, tests and temptations, and we will not lose that joy again.
We took back the mercy and grace of God that Satan told us was gone.
And we took back the truth when he tried to substitute it with a lie.
Satan, you’re under my feet and that’s where you are going to stay. You are a defeated foe; a toothless lion; and a lying spirit; and you are finished.
God has given us the weapons of warfare that we need to defeat the devil. Those weapons are not guns, knives and rockets, but they are spiritual weapons that have the power to destroy the works of darkness that try to invade the church and our souls.
God has poured out his Spirit in these last days, and His Spirit is greater than the spirit of the devil and the spirit of antichrist that is in the world.
Acts 2:17-18, "And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:"
The devil thought that he had won the battle but it’s not over yet. In fact, it’s not over until we win.
A few years ago, I heard a motivational speaker by the name of Les Brown. He has a great story to tell of how he came from an orphanage to become a very successful businessman and he is demand all over the world.
In his story, he tells of his young son who loved to play checkers. Les knew that his son didn’t have a chance against his dad. Les could win every game easily. They started to play. 20 games later, his son was still losing. Les began to feel sorry for the boy, but could not bring himself to allow him to win by forfeiting the game. So on they played, into the late hours of the night. Les was teaching his son perseverance and patience. 50 games went by and still Les would win every time. Finally he told his son, “Son, let’s go to bed. I’m tired and you are losing every game. You can’t win against me.” That boy looked up at his dad and said, “Dad, it’s not over until I win”. Another 20 or 30 games went by until finally the boy won a game. Then he said, “Dad, I’m tired now. I’m going to bed.” His tenacity and fighting spirit would not let him surrender. He had the same fighting spirit within his heart as the Airborne Rangers of Bastogne and it saw him through to victory.
God has poured out His Spirit upon us for a purpose. It’s not just to make chills or “do-dads” to run up and down your spine. It’s not just so you can speak in other tongues and dazzle your brothers and sisters in the Lord. It’s not just so you can be slain in the Spirit or shout around the altars, in out of the pew and run up and down the aisle. God gave us the anointing power of the Holy Ghost so that we can defeat the devil and pull down strongholds of darkness.
God pours out His Spirit upon our Sons and daughters. The Holy Spirit comes upon them, giving them understanding and knowledge of the Word of God and the Spirit of God that many, even of the older generations, don’t have. These young people are endowed with the great challenge of teaching the next generation to carry on the torch of God’s love and spread the gospel.
God opens the windows of Heaven and pours out new visions upon young men, calling them into the ministry in one form or another, so that we will have a constant flow of new preachers, pastors, youth ministers and men who will not compromise the gospel but stand and deliver what thus saith the Lord. God endows them with a constant flow of ideas and works of righteousness that the Body of Christ can use to drive back the powers of hell and build God’s kingdom in spite of every attack that the devil can bring against us.
The Lord has opened the floodgates of Heaven and poured His Spirit in these last days, and I believe we are going to see a mighty revival strike this land, and this world, like we have never seen before. Upon every Child of God, in whatever society they are found, and in whatever social order they live, God has poured out His spirit, and regardless of who they are, where they are, or what they are, they will be used mightily to spread the gospel. The church is triumphant and the devil is on the run. He might roar but he has to run for he cannot stand against the power of the Blood.
You are I are some of the most blessed and privileged people on the face of the earth. In fact we are the most privileged people to be alive since Jesus walked the earth over 2000 years ago. We are in the right place, at the right time, with precisely the right power at our disposal to give the devil his ultimate blow.
In all of my studies in the prophetic books, and the apocalyptic books of the Bible, I am convinced of one thing. We are living in the last generation and I am convinced that we shall witness the Rapture of the church and the coming of the Lord in the clouds of Glory.
Israel became a nation again, and God began to gather them back into their homeland in fulfillment of the scriptures. This began in 1948 when the State of Israel was once again recognized as a sovereign power. Since that day, we have prophecy being fulfilled at an astounding rate. The only thing remaining to be fulfilled before the emergence of the Antichrist, is the Rapture of the Church, and that can happen any day. Do you understand? We could be only a few short years from the end of Satan’s reign and the beginning of the reign of Christ. What an exciting time to be alive! We are at the right place, at the right time, and we are in the position to witness the final defeat of the devil!
All I can folks, is that we need to stay full of the Holy Ghost and power. We can’t afford to let our guard down now. The war is almost over.
The devil will try to make you believe that you are surrounded by powers of darkness that you can’t overcome.
Maybe it will be a sickness that comes over you and threatens to steal your victory. Maybe it’s a split within the ranks of the church that causes you to wonder if the church really is triumphant after all.
Maybe its greater temptations to sin than you have ever faced in your life.
Maybe it’s the devil throwing up all of your faults and failures before your eyes to try to tell you that he is winning, not you.
Maybe the devil sits on your shoulder telling you that your sons and daughters, and your friends and family, won’t be saved, because they are too far gone to come back now.
The devil will try to make you think your surrounded by the powers of darkness and that the Spirit in you isn’t strong enough to drive him back.
That’s when you need to stand up and be counted for the Lord. A good soldier doesn’t stop fighting just because the odds seem against him. A soldier in the midst of the battle can never see the big picture. We can’t see what’s going on in the whole war. All we can see is our little corner of the battlefield.
We have to learn to lean upon the Word of God.
The Bible says that we are triumphant in Christ and greater is He that is in us, than he that is in the world!
The Bible says that if we will just resist the devil, keep on fighting him with the spiritual weapons at our disposal, and depending upon the Lord Jesus Christ to fight the battle for us; that we cannot lose and Satan will soon run from the battle with his forked tail tucked between his legs and his lying tongue screaming in fear of the Spirit within us.
Church, we are in the right place, at the right time. The battle is nearly won. The war against sin, evil and the powers of hell is nearly over. Don’t surrender now! Keep on being faithful and fight the battle. Send a message back to the devil the next time he tries to make you think that you are losing. Just tell him, “Nuts”.
Devil, you’re a liar and the father of lies. You can’t win and I cannot lose because I have the Lord on my side. The church is triumphant and your end is near. Let us praise the Lord for He is mighty and He is victorious, and He is fighting the battle for us! Praise the Lord! It’s not over until we win!
