False Revivals and False Christs

 

False Revivals and False Christs

We'll praise Jesus today everyone. One thing that our Lord Jesus warned us about in the end times were false prophets and also people going around claiming to be Christ or claiming to have salvation. And that is exactly what we're seeing today. We see a lot of Christian churches and the Christian culture claiming that they're having these revivals, they have these prophets, revival meetings, and you see a lot of people attracted to this because it has the appearance that something big is happening. And a lot of these revivals that you see with the young people, it's mostly all sensation. It's all about feeling, it's all about going to the altar, lifting your hands, singing all these so-called worship songs. But in the end it has nothing to do with true repentance, a true word from God, and real change. It has everything to do with just feelings, sensations, looking good. And this is a huge deception within our Christian culture. So many times throughout history there have been these so-called revivals. There's a preacher that comes along and says “all these people are spiritually dead, we need to revive”. And the so-called revival does not bring about the repentance that God desires for us. Remember that Jesus said, where the vultures gather, there the body lies. It's like a dead body. A lot of these Christians are spiritually dead, and all the vultures are like the demons gathering around there. And people go, “oh look, there's something going on”. And people flock to these meetings because the people are saying, “Jesus is here, he's in the inner room, Jesus is there, you're going to have to go out to the desert to meet him”. And we were specifically warned about this, that he's not going to be hidden in the inner room somewhere, he's not going to be tucked away on some college campus that we have to go all the way to Texas, or all the way to the East Coast or the West Coast to be able to get a peep and see Jesus. But in the end times when the Lord is returning, it will be evident, as much as lightning you see going from the East to the West, so will the return of the Son of God be. We're not going to miss it. And if we truly are Jesus' disciples, then we will be looking up, our redemption draws nigh. And instead of thinking that we need to join in one of these revivals, or one of these big prayer meetings, or getting involved with a prophet that's in America, rather we have to seek Jesus in our hearts, because we know this is a spiritual kingdom.

The kingdom of God is in our midst. It doesn't come with the signs such as men perceive it, that it's a physical kingdom that's being built up in Africa, or built up in America somewhere, but it is in our hearts. And if we truly repent and give our heart to Jesus Christ, then he can start working inside of us and be changing us from the inside out. The problem is most people are looking for sensational music that they're calling worship music, sensational stories about Christians that are persecuted, or Christians that came from a hard background and gave their life to Christ. They love this kind of entertainment, but it's not creating any change. Don't be looking for the perfect prophet, or the perfect speaker, or the perfect pastor, or the perfect church with worship arts music. This is the thing that Jesus warned us against. Instead of running after these things and trying to find the next revival, seek the Lord and ask Him what you need to be doing in these days.

We know that the end is near. We're living in the end times. Our death could be tomorrow. If we live it should be for Jesus Christ, and if we die it should be for Him. And instead of trying to just preserve ourselves and hide, we ought to be shining as a light for the world to see and calling people to repent that the Lord's house may be full. We want the wedding supper of the Lamb to be full of people so that God's kingdom can be full of guests, that it won't be empty. When Jesus tells the parable, He says “none of those that are originally invited will be able to make it in”. Those original people were the Jews. They were people that said they knew God. They knew Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They were God's chosen people. But they despised Jesus. They rejected the chief cornerstone. They threw that out. They didn't want anything to do with God's salvation. And so salvation was then offered to Gentiles, people that are not Jewish by blood or descent.

But spiritually, if we put our faith in Jesus Christ, we have that same faith as the patriarchs Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. And we put our faith in Jesus Christ and we also will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit and come into this newness of life, this new covenant that God has created with all of those who want to enter into His kingdom. The blessing is for you. It is for me. It is for all nations. Anyone who will put their faith in Jesus, believe that He died on the cross, that He resurrected and that we should now do the works of righteousness, not living in the old sinful life, but throwing off all the things that are sinful and ungodly and living holy, living righteous and calling people to be disciples, starting with our own family. We need to make sure that our own household is in line, that we're teaching our own children about Jesus. So are we being transformed from the inside out in our own households or are we deceived like these Christians in the pop culture that are always looking for what's trending, always looking for what's cool, what sounds good, what's sensational? Are we always looking for Jesus in the inner room? Are we deceived by that or are we really seeking first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, His kingdom in our midst, that is in our hearts?

I want to pray for those of you that do want to put your faith in Jesus, that want to overcome this world and by overcoming be part of the next world that is Jesus' kingdom. “Lord Jesus, I pray for my fellow brothers and sisters across the world. I pray that they can truly be called out and unshackled from all of the bondage of this world, all sin and evil and demonic influence. I pray that they can truly be set free of those things, that they could put their faith in You and not have the worries of this world, but the things of this world will grow dim in the light of Your glory and Your awesomeness. I pray that You fill us with the power of Your Holy Spirit and that we can walk in the newness of life with You, partaking in Your new covenant, that we can be washed by Your blood, that we can drink Your blood and eat Your flesh and just be part of You, Lord, having Your cup and eating Your supper. I pray that You be with us and let us just be light and salt, shining for You and preserving what is left, that more people may enter into Your kingdom and have everlasting life. In Your name I pray, Lord Jesus, Amen.”

Things You Wouldn't Think Exclude You from Heaven

 We’ll praise Jesus today, everyone. I wanted to make a simple message on something that will keep us out of heaven, but that a lot of us haven't thought of. When we think of being excluded from heaven, we think of blatant rebellion against God, things like drugs and alcohol, cheating on your wife, murder, all the lusts of the flesh that we know are evil, all the things that are contrary to the Holy Spirit, and things that the Apostle Paul lines up. In one of the Apostle Paul's letters, he talks about the fruit of the Spirit being love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. But then on the other hand, you have all these things that are the fruits of the flesh that lead to hell, you know, lying, cheating, hatred, murder, envy, selfishness, all of those things that we know lead to hell. But there is something else that Jesus talks about quite frequently that we also need to pay attention to, because even if you're not sinning in this way, this one thing can still keep you out of the Kingdom of God. So what is it? We're going to read the parable that Jesus spoke about this, and I think that you'll understand as we read this parable what Jesus is talking about. This is found in Luke chapter 14.

Jesus said,  “A certain man gave a great supper and invited many, 17and sent his servant at supper time to say to those who were invited, ‘Come, for all things are now ready.’ 18But they all with one accord began to make excuses. The first said to him, ‘I have bought a piece of ground, and I must go and see it. I ask you to have me excused.’

So the question here is, is it evil to buy a piece of land? How many of us have bought a house, or rented an apartment, or bought a new property? But that is an excuse that this person's making.

19And another said, ‘I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I am going to test them. I ask you to have me excused.’

So how many of us have bought a vehicle, or went out and bought a tractor? How many of us are farmers, or take care of the land? Maybe you bought a cow, a horse, you bought something, and it was an excuse to go out and use that piece of machinery, because after all it was a good cause, you're taking care of your family and others, and it's for your work anyway. So the first guy bought a piece of land, please excuse me. The next guy bought a yoke of oxen, please excuse me.

20Still another said, ‘I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.’

So another thing that sounds good, you're getting married, so please excuse me. How many of us have been in a relationship, or gotten married, and that also distracted us from doing God's work? So this person also made the same excuse,  I'm married, I can't come.

21So that servant came and reported these things to his master. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, ‘Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in here the poor and the maimed and the lame and the blind.’ 22And the servant said, ‘Master, it is done as you commanded, and still there is room.’ 23Then the master said to the servant, ‘Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. 24For I say to you that none of those men who were invited shall taste my supper.’ ” 

That is a scary thing that God is saying, because these people that are excluded from His Kingdom, that don't get to see the wedding supper, they're not excluded for looking at pornography or getting drunk, they're not excluded for murder or lying or cheating on their wife, none of those big sins that we think of, their sin that kept them out of the Kingdom of God was their wife getting married, paying attention to their wife, but not doing the work, not coming into the wedding supper of the Lamb. They bought something for their work, to till the field, they bought a tractor, they bought a new vehicle, they bought land, and all those things in the world seem good. But these are the things that are keeping many people out of the Kingdom of God, and the scary thing is that God says, all those people that were invited, yet they fell into the trap of those things and were not fruitful, none of them were invited to actually come into the wedding supper. This represents Christians who were invited by God to come in and to dine with Him and to eat His food, yet they always made excuses, they always said, “I'll serve you later God, first let me go to college, first let me get a job, first let me get married, first let me buy a car, first let me buy this property.” And they grew up, they did get married, and God was patient with them, they bought a house, God was patient with them, but they continued to say, “I'll serve you later God, I'll be a testimony for you later God.” And they went their whole life putting God in the back of their mind, and putting off God, they would say, “well let me serve you once my children are grown”, and then they would say, “well actually God, let me serve you after my grandchildren are grown, so they continue to make excuses about their wife, their property, their house, their job”, and all of these things seem good, it's not what you consider to be sin. But this is what Jesus says will eliminate people from the Kingdom of God, He says that none of those who are invited that do this will enter into His Kingdom.

This is scary guys, because this means that we have to go above and beyond just stopping on sin, we have to be fruitful, and not let these things of life choke us out. Remember the four soils, within these four soils, sin of course choked people out, but also the worries of the world, the desire of riches, all the pleasures of life, these also choke people out, especially Christians. So if we want to enter into the Kingdom of God, we have to be producing good fruit, which means we're praying and asking Jesus how to best serve Him, how to use all of our resources to glorify Him, and not just putting God off, or saying, we’ll do your work later, because I've entered into this marriage, so I need to take care of my wife first, I can't serve you God, or I have this work, my new business, so I can't serve the Lord. We need to make sure that we're really seeking first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness.

I also need to keep myself in check, you need to keep yourself in check, none of us are above the words of Jesus. We need to make sure that we are listening to what Jesus said and putting it into practice. Are we living by the Word of God, are we eating Jesus' flesh and drinking His blood like He has asked us to do? Or are we like the Christians that go out and they're always making excuses why they can't follow God, why they can't preach the gospel, why they can't tell their children about Jesus, why they can't be separate from the world? Are we the Lord's children bearing good fruit daily and hourly, or are we about to be cut off because we're so wound up in the world with things that look good that were unfruitful for the Kingdom of God? May the grace of Jesus be with you.

I refuse to be shut up by the devil

 

I Refuse to Be Shut Up By the Devil

Well, praise Jesus today everyone. There are a lot of ways that the devil can shut us up as Christians and keep us from spreading the truth of God even if we do know the truth of God. There's a lot of really horrible feelings in this world that we can experience. But one of those feelings that we can experience that's negative as Christians is knowing the truth but either being a coward to express what the truth is or being shut down, persecuted, pushed down to the ground so that we cannot be a light for Jesus. Because at the end of the day, as disciples we want to be salt and light. We want to be people who are always shining for the Lord, not people who are timid or a dull light or people that are hiding our light under a basket like how Jesus said. But we want to be people who are bold to proclaim the glory of God.

One of the worst feelings when I first started following Jesus was that feeling that I was a hypocrite when I was a paid pastor and coming to know the truth and just knowing that there was this dissonance between what I was doing in church, what people thought of me, and the person that I knew Jesus really wanted me to be. See when you are a pastor, especially when you're paid or you're in a congregation with people that look up to you, the reason why you're in that position is because the people put you in that position. Rarely it's because God put you in that position as a pastor. Pastors like to say that they're in that position because of God, but really they're in that position because the church has taken a vote and unanimously put them in the position of their pastor. So they have voted them into that office as the pastor of that church. If you as the pastor or leader of that congregation, if you decide that you're going to deviate a little bit from the pale of whatever part of orthodoxy you're involved with, whether that's Catholic or Baptist or some kind of Protestant, Evangelical, if you deviate away from those principles of the pale of orthodoxy, then you'll be excommunicated and they will not be giving you a paycheck. Or if you're an unpaid pastor, you're not going to have the dignity to stand behind their pulpit and to preach the truth about Jesus. So I'm telling you, it's a horrible feeling to know the truth of God, to know the things that the Holy Spirit is saying, but to be caught in some kind of snare of the devil to where it's money, it's feeling that your peers are going to persecute you or being fired from a job, maybe you have a lot of debt and you have no way out of your situation you feel like, and you have to basically pretend to be someone you're not. I know there's some wind here guys, so there might be a bit of interruption in this video. But there may be some major dissonance between how you approach people face to face and what you actually believe. You kind of have this mask. You pretend to be someone that you're not, and you're around people that are your peers or your fellow workers, your fellow brothers and sisters in church.

So one way that Satan keeps Christians, true Christians, from really coming out and being separate and living a sin-free life is peer pressure and being involved in organizations that keep you within their   of Christendom. So within the  , I mean, there are things that are allowed and not allowed. As far as Baptists, I kind of had a Baptist background, and so you believe as the Bible is the one authority, you put that even above hearing from Jesus. Even though Jesus talks about the gift of the Holy Spirit and about Himself being the final authority, Baptists put the Bible as the final authority, the Word of God. They elevate the Bible higher than God Himself, and that is idolatry, and it's insane that they do that. But that is one of their fundamental principles in their church. The Bible is their final authority, not Jesus Christ, not His truth, not His living Word in your heart, not praying and seeking the Holy Spirit. That's all feelings and emotions, they think. But the Bible is their final authority, and their interpretation more specifically. So they go on to tell you how it's about once saved, always saved. And it's crazy guys, because while they act like Jesus and His teachings are the truth, they will elevate other people in their church and their doctrines, like John Calvin. They'll elevate these guys' false doctrines way above the truth of Jesus. And if you start going against any of those Lutheran ideas, or those ideas of John Calvin, or more modern people like John MacArthur, then you are a heretic, because you don't know the Bible as well as we do, you haven't been to Bible college, have you really studied Hebrew, Greek and Aramaic the way we have. They will start just belittling you, and they will throw you out to the world and say, “we're not going to even treat you as a Christian, because you're not inside what we consider to be the pale of orthodoxy or true Christian faith.” This is huge guys, this keeps Christians from stepping out in faith. It keeps Christians from really following the Lord by the Holy Spirit. For years, people will be detained and chained and held back to these false doctrines.

Doctrines like “once saved, always saved, we can't give up sin, we have to tithe to a local church”, all of these doctrines, these false doctrines that surround the false church system. And if you are part of one of these church systems, the closer you are to that, the harder it is to see the truth, and the harder it is to escape. They have major power over you and your family. Once you step away from that, you realize how real God is, and how He really directs your life, and He is in charge of life and death, not the pastor or some other person in that church. You realize how fake it is. But when you are involved in church, and it seems like the very essence of your salvation in your life and everything you're doing, your kids are involved in it, then it becomes this way for people to manipulate and control you, and it keeps people in check with the system of the world.

 So guys, the church of this world, the apostate church, or the harlot church, the Babylon church, whatever you want to call it, this is a huge agent of Satan to surrender your mouth that you can't really preach the truth or live the truth. I never want to be held under the thumb of Satan. I want to be able to live for Jesus with all of my heart, and to freely open my mouth. Which brings me to my second point about this, guys.

Some time ago, I began to do work in the public school system. So, I was teaching junior high, and some of you listening may have children in public school, or maybe you yourself are a public school teacher. So I don't say this to discourage anyone, but the fact is, if you have put yourself in the public school system, you are playing by the rules of the public school, and at some point, you will have to decide as a Christian if you are going to be fully surrendered to Jesus Christ in your faith, or fully surrender and submission to the government and the school system. It may look to you like you can serve both, that you can do good being a school teacher, and you can be a good Christian, but at some point, there's going to be this dissonance inside of you that resonates enough and shakes around inside of your brain until it hits your heart and you just realize like a ton of bricks, I can't do this. I can't play the hypocrite, pretending to uphold all these false ideas that my state and my country has, and the school district that are trying to make me lie and go against my faith. At some point, you're going to realize you can't serve both God and mammon, or false provision coming from that sort of education system.

This happened to me when I was in the school. The Lord allowed me for about three years on and off to be teaching substitute teaching, and I had a job for a while that was full time. And for a while, it was a blessing. I could speak to students there, I could open my mouth to an extent, but it was like walking on eggshells, trying not to crack eggs every time I'd walk from the parking lot to the classroom. Someone is going to get offended if we are surrendering ourselves to these sorts of jobs to try to make our money. At some point, it's going to hit the fan, and you're going to have to choose either between following Jesus with all your heart, or bowing your knee to Satan with all of your heart. But you're not going to be able to choose both. You may think you can right now, but it's getting to that point. And so a huge way that Satan is going to make you as a Christian shut up and not able to speak, not able to live your faith, or have major dissonance within your soul, is by stripping that away by telling you you're not going to have a job, you're not going to have security of money, or retirement, or health care, because the moment you step out of the school system, or whatever your government job is, you're going to have no provision. You're going to basically be shut up. You're not going to be able to speak about your faith in Jesus. And the devil is going to have you. You're going to be at the feet, bowing and kissing Satan's feet, because you're going to want a paycheck, you're going to want security for your future when you're old, unless you want to be still teaching, you know. When you're really old, you're going to want to be thinking about retirement and how to take care of your family. So the devil's got you right where he wants you. And you're going to be sucking up to the devil and kissing his feet, until you realize you need to really repent and seek after the Lord for your security.

Jesus said that we cannot serve both God and mammon. Mammon is a demon. It's a demon of false provision. You can call it money, but it's not only money, it's provision. And this is how Satan shuts up Christians. I decided, guys, I value my walk with Jesus more than anything. I don't want the devil to shut me up. I value being able to preach the gospel to my fellow brothers and sisters. I hope that more of you hear the gospel and that Jesus becomes real to you, not because of something that I said, but because you have a real experience with God and that you realize He's true and that He's the most important thing in life and that you willfully give your heart to Him. I hope that with all of my heart, because Jesus is in me and His love is in me. And because His love is in me, I want other people to experience the same love and overcome this life. Overcome everything that's evil in this world and not be shut up by the devil. So these things are huge, guys. These things are keeping people from being true Christians. The false church system is keeping people from genuine faith, and the school system is keeping people from genuine faith, and the workplace, a lot of times, is keeping people from genuine faith.

If you're not sure where to go, you need to pray and talk to Jesus, because He says He is the way. So if you're not sure of the way, talk to the way. He is the way. And just say, “Lord, please give me a job, give me some kind of provision. Let me put my hand to something where I don't have to bend my knee to Satan. I don't want to have to please people. I don't want to have to do things that are crooked or play the hypocrite to have my bread on my table. I want to eat my meat and bread with sincerity of heart and gladness in my heart, knowing that I'm taken care of by God. And so we need to get sincere about if we're going to follow God and have this privilege of being able to speak about Him, and this faith that we're able to walk with Him without hypocrisy, or if we're going to be scared, timid, and cowardly, like most people are in the world, and never resign from ungodly mammon.

Now I'm not saying or trying to give you direction for what you need to do if you're in a compromising job, but I am saying you need to call on Jesus and ask Him, because at some point, 100%, you're going to have to choose in this Y in the road to go left or right. You're going to have to choose to go with Jesus or have to choose to go with the devil. You'll either bow your knee to Satan or to Jesus Christ. As for me, I don't want to give up my freedom of speech, I don't want to give up my relationship with Jesus that's most important, and whether I live or die, I want it to be for the Kingdom of God, I want it to be for my King. That way He can say to me at the end of my day, “good and well done, my faithful servant”.

None of us know how much time we have left. We may have an hour, a day, a year, ten years, we don't know, God knows. But we do know that the present time is a gift to us, not to squander, but to be fruitful, to bear fruit, and to receive the Holy Spirit and use His gifts, so that we ourselves can be edified, that we can serve and glorify God and worship Him and please God, but that also the fruit that we bear can build the Church, the true Church, that people can come into the faith, be baptized, baptized physically in water, and then baptized spiritually in the Holy Spirit, and come into this newness of life, and come into the Kingdom of God, that they may live forever. This is what is important. It's important that we are dedicated to God and able to speak for Him and live for Him. If you can't, then you're like a chameleon, you're playing the hypocrite, you're double minded, as it says in James, and you're unstable in all of your ways.

So have you been shut up by one of these things, by the devil, either by false religion, you know, your church, your Bible study, your Christian friends? Have you been shut up by the school system that's always saying, accept everyone, accept LGBTQT, accept homosexuality, accept all of these things, accept Buddha, all of it may be true. Have they shut you up? Is it your workplace that has shut you up? What has shut you up and what has stunted your faith? Choose Jesus Christ and you will choose life. But choose the way of men in this world and you choose death. Anyways, I hope this encourages someone to go the way of life with Jesus Christ.

Why Jesus isn't More Clear or Show up Physically to Doubters for Proof

We'll praise Jesus today everyone. Sometimes we feel like Jesus is not close. We feel like that He should be more obvious in giving us direction in life, that He should heal us more quickly, that He should show up to a doubter. And we have many ideas of how God could improve His kingdom and make it better. One question that many of us have is, why doesn't Jesus show up more often? Why does He let things happen in this world seemingly going the way that people allow them instead of intervening? Why doesn't He show up to a doubter? Why does He leave us feeling alone when we are sick? Why doesn't He prove Himself? Why doesn't He just show up and help us more? We see this concept throughout the scripture in the Old Testament and the New where God seems to be elusive. For example, in the New Testament He speaks through parables. And people even ask Jesus to be more specific and not so vague. And Jesus talks about how He speaks in parables so that hearing people will not understand, seeing they will not see, least they repent. And so throughout history, God hasn't just shown up to doubters. He hasn't just opened the ears of the deaf. He does do miracles. He does work signs. He does show up to some people. But the proof that God offers to people is done in a way where it's for that specific individual and it's not per se transferable. For example, the Lord has shown up to me. I have proof that God exists for myself. But in no way is that proof that God has revealed Himself to me is true, transferable to you as a doubter.

And there have been many times in my life where I have had some kind of trouble and I have wished that God would show up in a more dramatic way where Jesus could just walk in, and I could physically see Him, He could hold my hand and show me what to do. And that did not happen.

I want to answer for you the reason why this is. The reason why simply is because God has designed this life for humans to overcome with faith. If God just shows up physically for everyone, fixes everyone's situation, and there is no element of faith, no element of having to push through, no element to overcome, there is no reason for this test on earth. We might as well have been made angels with no choice, because angels in heaven don't have to overcome physical things, not like how we do on this earth. But this earth was created for us as a test that first we would start in the physical realm. You and I are physical, we're also spiritual. But in this physical realm we have to go through trials, tribulations, tests. And if God takes away the whole element of faith by just completely showing up in the physical realm, taking away every physical problem, then no longer is there the element of faith.

For us to understand this concept a little bit deeper, I want you to try to read or follow along in Hebrews, in Understand Hebrews chapter 11. I'm just going to read the first few verses of it, but it's definitely a good idea to read all of Hebrews 11 and 12 to understand more of the context. “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. For it by the elders obtained a good testimony. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible. By faith Abel offered to God a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained witness that he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts, and through it he being dead still speaks. By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death and was not found because God had taken him. For before he was taken he had this testimony that he pleased God. But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek him.”

 See without faith it's impossible for us to be pleasing to God. God desires that we have faith without sight of physical things, without actually seeing Jesus walking in the flesh. Jesus had to wean even his own disciples off of His physicality. Jesus walked the earth for around 40 days I believe after He resurrected from the dead, and during that time He had to wean the disciples off of His physicality. The disciples wanted to physically be with Jesus, physically see His miracles, physically have Him as their leader, but that was not the plan of God. And Jesus resurrected and went back to heaven, and they saw Him no more. But the angels came and said, “Why do you look to Him in the sky?” And we know that Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to lead us.

Now to many Christians, especially the doubter, this seems too elusive. We don't see the Holy Spirit, we don't hear Him physically, we don't see or hear Jesus or hear His kingdom, so how can we believe in something that is not tangible? Well that is exactly what Jesus wants us to overcome as Christians and his disciples. We have to have faith without sight. So believing even though we are not seeing as doubting Thomas believed only because he saw. So we have to have faith, otherwise we are not pleasing to God.

Now sometimes I come across videos on YouTube. The other day there was the really popular channel by Joe Rogan, the Rogan Experience. And it's a very wicked channel guys, I don't recommend it to anyone. But Joe Rogan was talking about faith. And he was saying in it that he wants to believe in Bigfoot, he wants to believe in aliens, he wants to believe in Jesus. But because he hasn't seen these things physically, he just can't believe in them. He has logic. So he can't believe in it. And he would wonder why Jesus doesn't just show up to him, prove himself to a doubter. Well again, it's because of faith. If we don't walk the journey of faith, if we don't show God that we want to overcome sin, overcome temptation, things that are evil, if we don't want to get off of drugs, if we don't want to stop looking at pornography and experimenting with the occult, with witchcraft, then why would God prove Himself to a sinner? This whole world is to be overcome by a child of God. And if we're not willing to overcome, then we're not going to grow in our faith, and we're not going to please God. Without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

We have to seek Jesus Christ. My testimony is this, when I have diligently sought out Jesus Christ in prayer, He has proved Himself to me. But again, that proof is not transferable to you, or to Joe Rogan, or any other doubter in all of the world. All of you could say it's in my head, it's just a dream that I had, it's just a vision, it's just something that coincidentally happened after I prayed. You would have to see from my perspective to have that proof, and you can't see from my perspective, you can't see from Jesus' perspective, and you can't see from God's. It's impossible for you to please God without faith, and it's impossible for you to have faith unless you start believing that Jesus exists, and that He rewards those who love Him and who will obey Him. That's the way God designed this whole world, this whole earth, this whole thing that we are experiencing on this planet.

One day you will know 100% that God is real, that demons are real, but don't let it be too late, because for many people, because they are skeptical and they doubt, even though they know there is proof, and that all of these things didn't just happen by chance, they are doubters, because they haven't seen Jesus Christ physically. They want proof without having faith. They want faith to be eliminated from the equation. But they are going to completely miss out on the Kingdom of God and all that Jesus has to offer. And one day we are either going up into eternity with Jesus because we did have faith, or down into the bowels of hell because we didn't have faith and we didn't repent. And in that day we will know that God is King of Kings and Lord of Lords. We will know that Jesus is real. We will know the torments of hell. We will know everything, but it will already be too late.

So the key guys is faith. Do we have faith to believe that Jesus is King of Kings, that He is Lord of Lords, that He is good? Do we have faith to believe in Him? Or do we just doubt God and does this hinder us from actually growing in experience with Jesus to overcome sin, to overcome this world and growing and having spiritual eyes and ears? Are we doubters that keep us from growing in our faith and overcoming these things? Without faith it truly is impossible to please God. Are you a doubter? Or are you able to throw sin and doubting aside so that you can grow as a child of God? So I hope this helps you to understand why you don't just experience Jesus the way that you want to as the disciples did 2000 years ago. Jesus wants you to overcome by faith, to have faith that He exists, to have faith that those nails were in His hands and the spear piercing was in His side and the nails in His feet, even though you don't see Him the way Thomas saw Him. So do we have faith? Do we believe in Jesus? And will we obey Him and overcome even though we don't see? Or are we like doubting Thomas and the others who just doubt that, want God to show up for us with no faith, with no actions, with no repentance? Are we living ungodly? May the grace of Jesus be with you.

Should You Become a Doomsday Prepper

 

Should You Become a Doomsday Prepper

We’ll praise Jesus today everyone. I wanted just to make a short message that I believe to truly be beneficial to those that are concerned about the end times, the apocalypse, how we should prepare. I want to first tell a short story of something that happened to me fairly recently, and then relate that to what Jesus said in Luke chapter 12. Because I think a lot of people imagine that if the apocalypse is coming and the return of the Lord is near, all these bad things are going to happen. And so we need to physically prepare ourselves, like how Joseph did in Egypt, storing up grain, beans, meat, certain dried foods, MREs, these sorts of things. And a lot of Christians really think that wisdom comes from storing up a lot of food before the apocalypse. They call themselves preppers. You know, they're the sorts of people that have a pantry with all sorts of things stowed away in it, just in case there is the apocalypse. Extra bullets, extra weapons, they're ready to take up arms, all of that sort of stuff to protect themselves and their families in the last days when the government takes over or when there's another huge event in the world that shuts down the economy, the market, that sort of thing.

So let me tell you a short story. A few years ago, about three years ago or so, the Lord put someone very special in my life. He was a prepper, a doomsday prepper, and he had a love for his country, and he had a love for God and he wanted to preserve himself and his family for the future. And so what he did was he bought a bunch of those MREs, I believe they're called. They're basically freeze-dried or dried foods, and he bought enough for himself to last maybe a year, maybe a two-year supply. But anyways, as things progressed on, he ended up sadly getting cancer and things didn't work out the way we wanted them to work out. You know, sadly he passed away. And what I realized in his passing was he had these expectations of what the future would look like, and he put his money where he believed that he would be able to secure himself. But what he didn't take into consideration about the apocalypse and the end times was his own fatality or his own death. And so here you have this man who believed himself to be wise in prepping for the end times for this doomsday event, yet he died, you know, like a year ago. This guy was truly one of my friends, guys, so I'm not trying to be rude to anyone here. I'm not trying to bash on anyone that is a prepper, but I'm trying to point out the reality of this. This man stored up for himself, yet he died before the apocalypse happened.

And many times what we fear happening in the world, what we fear will be our demise and our end has nothing to do with reality. We'll end up dying in a car accident or of cancer. There will be some event that God allows to happen in our life that we did not expect. So being a prepper, a 1 out of 10 on the effectiveness level was not even a 1, it was a 0. It was absolutely 100% not beneficial for him to store up anything. Now you could say, well his family could benefit from it, but his family is just going to give that food to charity. They're not preppers. They don't have that same mindset of being a prepper or a doomsday prophet or someone that's telling everyone about the end of the world and the government takeover and the next big event that's going to happen in America. They don't care. They just want to live their lives.

And so the moral of this story is, if we want to prepare, we better prepare our heart to enter the kingdom of God. And I want to read to you something that Jesus said in regard to the prepper or the person that thinks that if they have worked hard enough, they have enough money in the bank, enough food in the storehouse, that they will be secure. And so this is found in Luke. I'm going to start reading in Luke 12 verse 13, and I want you to really consider these words if you think that you're going to secure your life as being a prepper or thinking that you're like Joseph in the Bible, in the Old Testament. I want you to think about these words of Jesus because these words are the words of the Messiah and the words of importance to us, the words that will last even when this world does come to its end.

13Then one from the crowd said to Him, “Teacher, tell my brother to divide the inheritance with me.” 14But He said to him, “Man, who made Me a judge or an arbitrator over you?” 15And He said to them, “Take heed and beware of covetousness, for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of the things he possesses.” 16Then He spoke a parable to them, saying: “The ground of a certain rich man yielded plentifully. 17And he thought within himself, saying, ‘What shall I do, since I have no room to store my crops?’ 18So he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build greater, and there I will store all my crops and my goods. 19And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease; eat, drink, and be merry.” ’ 20But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?’ 21“So is he who lays up treasure for himself, and is not rich toward God.”

This is the moral of the story, guys. Most preppers are trying to be worldly wise. They say that they're Christians. They say that they're saved by grace. They say that they are going to enter heaven, and that God is the one that's giving them the mind of wisdom to be so smart here on this earth to preserve themselves. But I have watched this play all the way through. People prepare themselves for doomsday. And then in a year they pass away. And then all of that food, all of those guns, all of that ammo, all of that stuff that they prepared, who do you think it will go to? Most likely your family won't even want that junk. They'll just give it away to the homeless people. They will give it away to the people down the street. They will not value the same thing that you valued on this earth. We take a lot of value for the things that we appreciate, that we think are important. But I guarantee you, other people in your family will not have your exact same values. In fact, the things that you think are so important, maybe your house, your property, your car, your investment, the things that you have put blood, sweat and tears into, the next person doesn't really care. They will just pawn that off. They will sell it. They will give it to someone. They literally will just give it away to charity, never to be heard of or mentioned or cared about again. That may hurt your heart, but it is not going to be your business. It's not going to be something that you can do anything about, because you will be already passed from this earth.

The important thing is, what are you doing now? What are you doing to prepare for your eternity? If we want to talk about preparation, we need to be talking about preparation for all eternity. Not this little, short inch of time that we live on this planet. But where we will spend our eternity. Because what we do with this little inch of time here in this world, will determine where we spend eternity. What we are doing now determines our destiny. So are we prepping to be right with God now, so that our hearts are pure before Him, and that He will not be ashamed of us when we stand before Him. We know that Jesus said that, if we are ashamed of Him, and if we don't take a stand for Him now, that when He comes, He will also be ashamed of us before His Father, and before the Holy Angels. But if we confess Him now, and we are proud of Him now, and we are thankful for Him now, then He will also be proud of us, and thankful for us, and He will be our advocate. He will be there holding our hand, and walking us into His Kingdom. So if you want to be someone that preps, think about your eternal destiny. Don't think about the little bit of food you have squirreled away in your garage. Think about your eternal destiny, and if you really are living on the words of Jesus. Jesus said that this world, everything in this earth, is going to pass away. The heavens and the earth will pass away. But He said, My words will never pass away.

So if you want life, you have to eat Jesus' words. You have to eat His flesh, and drink His blood. And if you do that like Jesus said, then you will have everlasting life. And whether you get cancer and die, or have a heart attack and die, or get in a car accident, or whatever happens in life, whether naturally old age, or some accident, you will be prepared to enter into eternity. This is the kind of prepper that we need to be as Christians and as disciples. It is foolish to be like the foolish man who said, let me store up in my barns, I'm going to just sit back and party and relax, not worry, because God could demand our life at any moment. And then, who will inherit those things? It could be your son or your daughter, but likely not. Likely it will go back to the bank, or it will go to some random stranger that you never thought it would ever go to in a million years.

I hope that you get your life right with God. Stop playing the fool. Stop listening to the TV and the radio and letting it scare you. You know, a lot of Christians, they listen to the wisdom on the radio and on the TV and on the phone, the news, they get all hyped up. And they think, oh man, it's only a thousand dollars to buy this preparation kit. It comes with this, that, and the other. And if I buy this, I am head and shoulders above the other guy. When my neighbor and his wife and children are starving, and they can't fend for themselves, and they're getting raped and killed, I'll be over here, able to defend myself against the government, and I'll be off shooting squirrels, and I'll be able to hunt, and I'll have my food squirreled away that I'll be able to maintain for at least a few years.

What are you thinking? Either you have your provision from God, and He's going to provide for you just as He did for the nation of Israel, for Moses, for Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, or you can play the fool, thinking that your own hand of your own flesh is going to provide for you. You can imagine yourself to be spiritual in doing it, thinking that, you know, Joseph did the same kind of thing during his time in Egypt. You can imagine yourself to be spiritual with those kinds of things. My question is, are you really eating Jesus' flesh and drinking His blood? Are you really hearing from Him? And is your wisdom in Him? Or is all that wisdom that you have rattling around in your brain coming from the TV, coming from the news, coming from the radio station you listen to, or whatever channel you're listening to? Because likely, all of this hype that is in you to be a prepper, or to be scared of the apocalypse, or the return of the Lord, all is coming as hype from your church, or some false prophet on the internet. It's all coming from something other than Jesus Christ. Jesus said that He wanted to be your one and only teacher, and that His sheep hear His voice, and they do not listen to strangers. So you would be wise to stop listening to those strangers on the internet, and on the radio, and on the TV, and all that stuff. You'd be much wiser to say, “Lord Jesus, please teach me. I've heard what all of these fools say, but I want to listen to you because I don't want to play the fool as well. I want to throw off foolishness. I know I am mortal. I know I will die. But I know if I trust in you, then spiritually I'm going to live forever. I know that you will lift me up from the grave. You'll give me eternal life, and give me true happiness, and joy, and the purity that comes from God, and the love of my Father in Heaven.”

We have to get our eyes fixed back on what really matters. Back on the love of God, loving Him with all of our hearts so that He can guide us into eternity, and stop thinking about this sort of self-preservation, and how we're going to hunker down and be able to survive the apocalypse. Are we disciples of Jesus? Are we Christians? Or are we like the apocalypse cowards who think that they're going to defend themselves by their own arm of their own flesh? Think about it, because at the end of the day, either you are fighting with Jesus, or you're fighting with the devil. Are you with Jesus Christ, or are you with man and the ideas of men? May the grace of Jesus be with you.

Gospel Message of Jesus is Offensive

We’ll praise Jesus today everyone. I had this dream right before I woke up in the morning. And in my dream, I was sending out shirts like how I have been, Jesus’ message shirts with the gospel message on it of repentance. And in this dream, there was a young guy, probably 17, 18 years old that received one of my t-shirts. And when he opened up the package his dad saw the t-shirt. And his dad read the message on the shirt and was extremely offended and upset that his son would have ordered the shirt from me. And the son asked him why he was offended because it was the gospel message. I had put the verse from the Bible below the quote on the shirt and it was a message that Jesus had said. And the dad realized that he wasn't offended at the shirt or at his son for ordering it, but he was actually offended at God for the words of Jesus Christ. He was offended at the Son of God. The gospel to sinners is very offensive. The gospel is offensive because it calls us to action. The gospel calls us sinners. The gospel calls us not good people. The gospel says we are going to hell if we don't change. And the world hates this message because they love sin, they love to stay in the darkness, and they have bought into the lies of Satan. It is like confronting your son or your daughter when they have done something sinful. Whenever you confront someone, no one likes to be confronted, no one likes to be told they're wrong or that they're doing something that's inappropriate. No one likes that kind of confrontation. And the gospel is very confrontational. Jesus speaks His truth into our hearts. And if we're not ready for that, if we're not ready to change and to repent, then we will try to put up every wall to block that. And Satan is very good to try to appease people, to make them think that they are right, that they shouldn't receive the gospel. Satan has basically a counterargument for every single word that is in the gospel to try to defend yourself from the truth. So no wonder people are offended at the gospel, they try to throw out the gospel, they try to believe the false gospel of the church, easy grace.

We know that the gospel is divisive. The words of Jesus will cause divisions among mothers and fathers, sons and daughters. And if you do put your faith truly in Jesus, expect that your family members and your friends will despise you, they will leave you, they will not accept you as their own, because most people have bought into the false gospel that the church preaches and that the world preaches, this easy grace, that you don't have to repent, that you don't have to stop sinning, that God will accept you as you are. That's why the churches are always saying, “Come as you are, brother. We're all sinners. Church is a hospital for the sick. Don't worry about repentance. Just believe that you're saved. We're not saved by works at the end of the day. We're saved by grace, so don't worry that you're a sinner”. And Satan has used this false gospel, this watered down gospel, to deceive the nations. It's a witchcraft. And many people are on their way to hell because they're offended at the truth and they have believed the lie.

I want to read to you what Jesus said in regard to sin. Our sin problem and what will happen if we don't repent. And these are Jesus' words. This is the essence of the gospel. It is not man's words. It's not my words or someone else's interpretation. This is what Jesus said in John chapter 8. Then Jesus said to them again, “I am going away, and you will seek me, and you will die”. Or he said, “I am going away, you will seek me, and will die in your sins. Where I go, you cannot come”. So the Jew said, “Will he kill himself because he says where I go you cannot come?” And he said to them, “You are from beneath, I am from above”. That itself right there would be very offensive to a Jew. He's saying they're from beneath, they're going to hell, you're from above. “You are of this world, I am not of this world, therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins. For if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins”. Again, another offensive word Jesus is saying. You have to believe in Jesus to be saved, not Allah, not some other god. You can't just believe in any deity. You have to believe specifically in Jesus Christ, and you need to believe that He is the Son of God, the Savior of the world, and if you don't believe in Him and eat His flesh and drink His blood, you will have no life and you will absolutely die in your sins.

Then they said to Him, “Who are you?” And Jesus said to them, “Just what I have been telling you from the beginning. I have many things to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true, and I speak to the world those things which I hear from Him.” They did not understand that He spoke to them of the Father. Then Jesus said to them, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and that I do nothing of Myself, but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do things that please Him.” As He spoke these words, many believed in Him. Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed.” Here is another offensive word that Jesus spoke, because a lot of people don't think that they have to have actions and deeds, they think they just have to have belief. They think that if they just believe in the gospel, that is good enough.

But what did Jesus say about that? He talked about the wise man and the foolish man. And He said, if you put His words into practice, you are like the wise man. If you practice His words, practicing His words is the work. But if you just believe in His words without work, then you are like a foolish man that built his house upon the sand. Another word that He said that is offensive. So He says, “If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed”. That means if you obey. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free”. They answered Him, “We are Abraham's descendants, and have never been in bondage to anyone. How can you say you will be made free?” Jesus answered them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin”. Again, this is an offense, because Christians in particular want to believe that they are saved by grace, that it's okay if they sin, because they are Christian sinners, and Jesus has saved them, He has done it all on the cross. And now all they have to do is look at pornography, and live life in the lusts of their flesh. They don't have to repent of anything, because Jesus has tacked it all on the cross. But that is not what Jesus says here. He says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, whoever commits sin is a slave of sin”. You are a slave of sin, even if you are named a Christian, if you are still sinning. And Jesus says, “And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever”. In other words, if you go on sinning, eventually you are going to be kicked out of the kingdom of God, you are going to be kicked out of God's house. You are not going to be allowed into His eternal kingdom. People that are sinful, sinful Christians, can be allowed in church for their whole life, and accepted in church with homosexual lifestyles, with thinking they are women when they are men. But you will never be accepted as a child of God, into the kingdom of God, living a sinful life, living in rebellion to God. You will be rejected.

And this is the gospel. If you put your faith in Jesus Christ and repent, you will be saved. But if you reject Him, you will die in your sins. “Whoever commits sin is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in the house forever, but a son abides forever. Therefore if the Son (meaning the Son of God,) makes you free, you shall be free indeed”. This word is also a hard saying, because Christians do not want to believe that Jesus will set them free, and that they will be free indeed from sin. They will say, “No, brother, Jesus can't set me free, I am always going to sin as long as I am in this flesh. As long as I am on this earth, I will always be a sinner”. And they do not believe the gospel. They don't believe that Jesus sets free sinners, and they will be free indeed. Do we believe the gospel? Do we believe what Jesus said? That we will be set free from sin? That we actually have to repent and stop sinning? Or have we believed the easy grace gospel lie? That we don't have to work for Jesus? That we don't have to repent? That we don't have to stop on our sin?

Then Jesus goes on to say, “I know that you are Abraham's descendants, but you seek to kill me, because my word has no place in you”. Just as Jesus' word has no place in many Christians, they reject Him, even though they say they are the sons and daughters of the kingdom. “I speak what I have seen with my Father, and you do what you have seen with your Father”, obviously the devil. They answered and said to Him, “Abraham is our father”. Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham. But now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God. Abraham did not do this. You do the deeds of your father”. They said to Him, “We are not born of fornication, we have one Father, God”. Jesus said to them, ‘If God were your Father, you would love me, for I proceeded forth and came from God, nor have I come of myself, but He sent me. Why do you not understand my speech? Because you are not listening to my word. You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in Him. When He speaks a lie, He speaks from His own resource, for He is a liar and the father of it. But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. Which of you convicts me of sin? And I tell you the truth, why you do not believe me? He who is of God hears God's words. Therefore, you do not hear, because you are not of God”.

Most of Christians are not of God. They have believed in their Father the devil. They reject the words of Jesus. They love to think that they are saved by the blood, saved by the cross, saved by their church, saved by all those things. But at the end of the day, they reject Jesus' words, they despise Him, they spit on what He did on the cross, they despise the prophets, and they rip the pages out of the Bible that they do not like and that they do not approve. They only read the verses of the apostle Paul and the verses they like that try to secure their doctrines of once saved, always saved. And they love anyone who stumbles in their faith and falls and messes up, because that secures their false doctrines that it's okay to go on sinning. Then the Jews answered and said to Him, “Do we not say rightly that You are a Samaritan and have a demon?” Christians will say this to you as well if you say that you have repented. They will say, “You have a demon. No one can stop sinning. No one can repent. You are out of your mind. You are one of those crazy Christians that thinks you are high and mighty and better than everyone else. You think that you can't associate with us because we are sinners and you are so much better”. They will get belligerent. They will get mad at you because they hate Jesus Christ. They hate His words. They call Jesus demon possessed.

Jesus answered, “I do not have a demon, but I honor My Father, and you dishonor Me. And I do not seek My own glory. There is one who seeks and judges. Most assuredly I say to you, If anyone keeps My word, he shall never see death”. Then the Jews said to Him, “Now we know that you have a demon. Abraham is dead, and the prophets. And you say, If anyone keeps My words, he shall never taste death. Are you greater than our father Abraham who is dead? And the prophets are dead? Who do you make yourself out to be?” Jesus answered, ‘If I honor Myself, my honor is nothing. It is My Father who honors Me, of whom you say that He is your God, yet you have not known Him, but I know Him. And if I say, I do not know Him, I shall be a liar like you, but I do know Him, and keep His word. Your father Abraham rejoiced to see My day, and he saw it and was glad”. Then the Jews said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old, and have you seen Abraham?” Jesus said to them, “Most assuredly I say to you, before Abraham was, I am”. Then they took up stones to throw at Him, but Jesus hid Himself, went out of the temple, going through the midst of them, and so passed by.

This right here is the gospel guys. Jesus calls sinners to repent. He calls us sinners if we are sinning. And many Christians are still in sin, they are on their way to hell, they have rejected the truth of the gospel, they will reject you, thinking that you have a demon if you preach righteousness, but really, they hate Jesus, they despise His words, they reject the true gospel. They do not want to be confronted by it. But if we really have ears to hear, ears to hear the truth, we will receive what Jesus said, we will repent of our sins, we will stop sinning, and we will say to the Lord, “Please purge me, purify me from unrighteousness, give me a new heart. Open my eyes so that I can see and let me be a vessel of honor and glory used for You”. We will stop worrying what our dad thinks, what our mom thinks, what our grandma thinks, what our grandpa thinks, what our friends think, and we will start concerning ourselves with what Jesus thinks of us and living bold, living for Him with all of our heart.

Are you compromising today with sin and sinners? Are you compromising? Or are you truly living a godly life to please Jesus? Are you living above reproach? Are you preaching the gospel? Are you living holy and righteous that you can be used by God? Pray for those of you that want to overcome in Jesus’ name.

So “Lord Jesus, I pray for my fellow brothers and sisters in the Lord that want to accept Your gospel, that want to accept You into their life. I pray that their hearts will be changed and renewed, that You will fill them with the power of the Holy Spirit, fill their hearts with Your truth, and change their heart from a heart of bondage and sin and blackness to a heart that beats, that is filled with Your Spirit and Your truth. I pray that You indwell Your children and that You clean them from all unrighteousness, that they would be white and clean and purified from everything that is worldly and ungodly. I pray that You break the chains of the sinners and set them free in Your name, that they can be free indeed and walk in the newness of life and preach holiness and the true gospel that You have put before us. We know that we walk on the straight and narrow path, and we don’t want to turn to the left or the right or listen to people who are deceptive snakes. We want to listen to You Lord and we want You to be our one and only Teacher, Lord and Master. So I pray that those who are listening today can truly repent, come out of darkness, that they would come into the light and be saved by Your gospel. In Your name I pray, Lord Jesus. Amen.”