Transcript: Reviving Faith in America: A Call to Spiritual Renewal

Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music Music This message I bring to you you has been burning in my heart for some time now. And I believe this is a now word for the church of the living God today. And his timing is ordained by God. What I have to say to you is very sobering and exhorting. And it is my prayer that you will take it serious and listen to it with an honest and open heart. For some of you, this will be an eye-opening and informative word. For some of you, you will be angry with me and disagree, but I believe for the majority you will agree that we as a church and as a nation are facing a giant called Goliath. We are in a real battle, dear saints, and it is a spiritual battle. We live in a day and a time where our rights as Christians are being subtly stolen from us. Christian leadership who speak from the pulpit and declare what God's word condemns in his holy scripture are called terrorists. And we are told by government hierarchy that we need to sit down and shut our mouths when it comes to discussing biblical doctrines of God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He condemns things such as abortion and gay lifestyles. Apostle Paul said in Romans 1.16 I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes the word of God has the inherent power contained within itself to produce the fruit of deliverance and healing and restoration in people's lives so that they might grow into the absolute wonderful and liberating freedoms of peace, of joy and eternal happiness, both now and forevermore. I believe that much of the problem in America today, as far as the church is concerned, comes from the fact that many of our Christian leaders have compromised the faith with many secular values and worldly passions, which the Bible calls lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and pride of life. Our Christian nation was founded and established on inalienable rights of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These inalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness means that they are incapable of being alienated or surrendered. The men who established the Constitution and the Bill of Rights in this nation were godly men. They were believers who kept the commands of God's word and practiced what they learned. They were men who fought hard and risked their lives for our freedoms and Christian heritage to be perpetuated into every generation of time as long as this earth exists. America has always withstood the storms that have come against her, mainly the barrages to erode her moral fiber and virtues and religious freedoms on which she was originally established. The erosion of these God-ordained virtues and these hard-fought-for religious freedoms is the breaking down of a nation and ultimately her destruction as a republic for which it stands because of neglect, of disobedience, and lack of truly practicing the holy scriptures found in the Bible. The pledge of allegiance to the United States of America is an oath of loyalty to the Republic of these United States. Congressional sessions would be open with a recitation with this pledge. And it used to be in schools across this whole nation that children would put their hand over their hearts and recite this pledge. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. But let me tell you, dear one, your liberties and freedoms are at risk, and it is time for you to wake up and pay attention. You might ask, well, pay attention to what? Pay attention to your responsibilities as a Christian citizen of these United States of America, and get rid of every bias, every prejudice, and every ungodly paradigm, every bent tendency, which is contrary to God's holy word, that prevents you from adding to your part in the balance of keeping our religious freedoms and liberties promised by our constitution. God's word says in Proverbs 28 verse 2, When there is moral rot within a nation, its government topples easily. But with honest, sensible leaders, there is stability. The United States of America is losing her stand of greatness because of moral decline, moral decay, loss of Christian virtue, loss of honest and integral leadership who have failed their post in teaching and upholding God's righteous standards laid out in the book of life. The church has allowed the world to creep into her sanctuary to where we can no longer tell the difference between godly men and women versus those who belong to the world. From the pulpit, we hear more about giving and increasing offerings so that a newer and bigger church or newer addition can be built. We have investments of where the church will build multi-million dollar gymnasiums in sports fields so that young people can play the newest and most popular games that have come along. And meanwhile, the work of God is secondary to the building projects. The fun and frill of the games and the excitement of which team wins actually dominates over the true mission of the church, and that is knowing God through his written word in a deep and intimate way and also by leading the young people into early experiences of tangibly sensing and knowing the presence of God in worship services and encouraging them to seek God daily. You know, if the teacher is excited and thrilled about his or her subject, so will the children be. As the Holy Spirit graciously pours himself out to bless all who are genuinely interested in him, is wonderfully contagious. I just say that again to you. Holy Spirit is wonderfully contagious. But please do not think that I am against children in playing sports, competition or games. Not at all. But part of the subtle erosion in maintaining the healthy state of the church is because the fun and the social activities have become the draw to entice people to come to church. And meanwhile, the real focus and subject, who is Jesus Christ, has been given the back seat as to what true Christianity is really about and the very reason that God sent his dear son to this earth. The corruption in the church has become so great. our godly and biblical values and virtues are exchanged for decaying and declining morals and the subtle deceptions that have infiltrated the church and they are so many the church today does not look anything like the New Testament church that we read about in the book of Acts the biggest deception in the church today is that the church and organized religion are said and thought to be the same thing. But dear one, they are not. Some people quibble and say, well, what is wrong with organized religion? Well, today, the modern and emerging evangelical monument-building church at the institutional level has methodically, for the most part, attempted to replace true Christianity with its own brand of organized religion. An institution is defined as a social order and cooperation governing the behavior of a group of individuals. Institutions are identified with a social purpose and with the making and enforcing of rules governing cooperative human behavior. and today we have some of the greatest ministry personalities of our times who have been deceived into thinking that Christianity and well-organized religion are the same. And we have to see that this well-organized religious engine is putting off a lot of steam and hot air but it is not really helping the cause of our Lord Jesus Christ at all. Oh yes, oh yes indeed, she touts the statistics to convince and impress the majority that this new way of reaching the lost is quite effective as God's way to evangelize the world and to equip and mature the body of Christ. But what about the other statistics that people do not hear about and like programs that have not brought forth true salvation? or were truly effective in equipping and maturing the saints but only provided a huge social club and coffee house church mentality scene where finally people were disappointed and worn out with all the pleas to give more with all the promises that would come to them for their giving. and the final result is that people grew weary and left the church discouraged and spiritually empty with a poor taste of church and Christianity and most of all and most regrettably they felt that God the Father and his son Jesus Christ had let them down what a crime what a crime the true word of God was never imparted, was never planted or nurtured and stressed as being the standard by which we live. But the modern evangelical building up of the institutional church, with its own brand and flavor of organized religion, was driving down her foundational structure to be the best all-around way to reach the lost for Christ. and now consequently today we have millions and millions of absentee Christians who have fallen into great deception and follow another voice they hear another gospel which is no gospel at all and in the meantime over a billion people are going to hell while the monument building institutional church keeps gorging and indulging herself in her own selfish desires. The truths in the scripture are meant to bring change in the lives of believers through the power of the Holy Spirit who works diligently to make all things new. 2 Corinthians 5, verse 17 declares, Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. Old things have passed away, and behold, all things have become new. Many Christians cry out for an outpouring of a national revival, and they say they want to see God come and bring change to this nation and the lives of their families and friends. But, dear Christian, if we are divided amongst ourselves because of denominational and petty differences, how can we truly be effective as the church to nurture and train up the harvest in this generation that might come in God will not be mocked let me add God is not pleased and shamefully many church leaders have compromised the pulpit for prosperity and have devalued the work of Jesus Christ and his church presumption and compromise of our Christian values and devaluing the integrity of scripture have always brought the downfall of a nation and the church and without Christianity this nation would not have individual God-ordained and God-given irrevocable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness unless the church joins together in unity that is laying down her petty differences denominational paradigms and I'm right and you're wrong prideful and odious and obnoxious arrogance as it appears to God that will never accomplish no matter how hard we pray will cause our eternal father to turn his ear to hear our pleas. We will continue to see our beautiful nation slide and fall into a nation no longer called the republic for which it stands one nation under God. Where there is moral and spiritual rot in a nation, its government topples easily. But where there are honest and integral and sincere leaders, there is stability. and this is speaking of both the church and leadership and also our government's leadership. We as the church have not upheld the footing in our communities by being the example of godly Christians. First, by teaching our children God's precepts and standards of righteousness and in our families being examples in our communities and neighborhoods of God's way of life. by being the salt of the earth. We have gone along with the world and have indulged our children with everything they have desired, from man-made fictitious heroes to the newest and latest gadgets. No, no, we must not deprive them because the boy or the girl next door already has it. They no longer have to do chores at a very early age and earn an allowance and learn at a very early age the value of money or caring for their possessions because if it gets broke they'll just get a new one. But most of all and most importantly instilling in them a preference for biblical ethics and teaching and training from the stories of the Bible and about our early forefathers all of which point to Jesus Christ as their real hope for future inheritance and eternal life. Proverbs 22, verse 6 declares, Train up a child in the way that he shall go, and even when he is old, he will not depart from it. Leviticus 26 says that those who forget Creator God and reject His commandments will be ruled by their enemies, they who hate you. It was William Penn, who was the founder of the state of Pennsylvania and a champion for democracy and religious freedoms, and whose famous words, Those who will not be governed by God will be ruled by tyrants. These words have echoed down through the generations of time and are at this very moment in our government's history becoming a fact. this man wrote and urged for a union of all the English colonies in what was to become the United States of America as we know it today Dear listener we desperately need unity in the church among all believers who are truly connected with Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. We are in a battle for our religious freedoms and for our God-given rights. And I say this to you because it is true. I say this to you because you need to wake up and take a look around you and read the news and see what is going on. The workers of iniquity are advancing upon us because we have been negligent with our Christianity. We have not taken serious Jesus' words in Luke 4, verse 19 to proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord, the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound. Many have not taken their salvation serious, and the freedoms and liberties that have come with salvation have been freely poured out. But these have been taken lightly and carelessly by so many. You know, this scripture is saying that when the message of salvation has come to the hearing of your ears, it is the time when God is willing to accept sinners back unto himself. This promise assures us that the guilty may return and that God will graciously receive them. Jesus Christ, God's own son has made this precious and gracious gift of God possible for every true believer in Christ God does not take lightly the sacrifice of his son and the very purpose and reason why he had sent him to this earth and allowed him to be brutally beaten and poured out when it comes to the presentation of the truth and testimony of salvation you are to take this truth seriously and live it every day as though there would be no tomorrow you are to practice the commands in this precious book of life and delight yourselves in them me too dear church we need to join hands with our brothers and sisters next door no matter what denomination or non-denomination they might be and pray earnestly and repent and ask forgiveness for our religious pride, our neglect of teaching our children godly principles and standards of righteousness found only in Jesus Christ. We need to repent and seek God's forgiveness of being so shallow in our daily pursuit of Him because we have preferred the pursuit of money, of things, of stuff, and more and more of the world, its fashions, bigger homes, bigger cars, well-padded bank accounts and other idols, rather than seeking God and delighting ourselves in Him and standing in awe of His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the author of life and all blessing and promise. Jesus Christ is eternal life Himself. Dear one, he did not send us salvation Jesus Christ is our salvation and it is found in him alone God has not given up on us as his church because Jesus is our head and he is seated high up on his throne and he governs and rules all things and will judge all people in their time Jesus Christ is the creator of all things and therefore he is the rightful owner and ruler of all. And it must be known and concluded that he has absolute power over all and is all sufficient to help his people in their greatest trial in times. Jesus said in the Gospel of Matthew 28, verse 18, All authority, all power of rule in heaven and on earth has been given to me. The hour is late and the day is growing dim, but the bell has not yet been sounded for our beautiful nation and land of the free to be cut short of remaining a republic, one nation indivisible with liberty and justice for all. This plea from our hearts today is to sound the alarm and say, Christians, we have the first hand and principal responsibility for reclaiming of our nation's Christian heritage because it was upon our heritage that our nation's declaration of independence and the Constitution was founded and established. And this is not to say that non-Christians are forced or obligated to conform to God's righteous standards against their will or to convert to the Christian faith, but it is their duty and their responsibility as an American to uphold and defend the constitution of the Judeo-Christian supports of law and liberty, which grant us these rights and freedoms in our beautiful nation. In upholding these rights and privileged freedoms, in no sense of this duty and responsibility, calls for compromise with one's own religious convictions. Living as a citizen in the United States of America simply gives the assurance and guarantees a person the right to worship as he or she pleases without fear of persecution. We have had in our nation the relative freedom to worship according to our faith. and now we have militant religious groups infiltrating this land of the free and home of the brave whose background and basis of belief is that if you do not believe in their God and leader as they do and worship him and bow down to him they will kill you these militant groups infiltrating our nation are becoming successful in encroaching upon our religious freedoms and overall freedoms and are plowing their way to the top because multitudes of millions of Christians everywhere have abandoned their Christian responsibilities and faith in pursuing their Savior Jesus Christ. They have abandoned their post and they've let down in the number one responsibility given to all Christians and that is to pray. And now today, many professing Christians are open to atheistic, new age, humanistic, and cult-based false religion, which all undermine and weaken the support of the foundational truths and principles of God's truths and also the principles that our nation was founded upon. These are all a threat to our nation. these all erode and destroy the very fabric of our Christian faith and the values and principles of the foundations on which America was founded wake up Christians in America wake up you Christian leaders who stand behind the pulpit and lead your flocks open up your blind eyes and come out of yourself and see that we must march together to the same drumbeat once again as did our forefathers, both spiritual and also those who were instrumental in founding the principles of the United States of America. What a crime and a crying shame that so many have abandoned their Christian faith and commitment to our Lord Jesus Christ due to improper teaching and training beginning at the pulpit. And who will fall prey to this false prophet of hope and salvation that presents itself as peaceful with many promises which are empty, vain, and futile. Many of those in our government who purport to be Christians only use the name of Christ for the purpose of making him a means to their own horrible end. They deceptively use the name of Jesus Christ to sway masses of ignorant believers into their waiting nets of tyranny and slavery, both of which steal our God-given rights and freedoms. And in church today, so many pastors and teachers and leaders are guilty of deviating from teaching the pure truth of Scripture by watering it down and doctoring it up with ideas and opinions of men. True teaching will be imparting knowledge and biblical precepts by instruction in the faith, free and void of the mix and flavor of the new and organized ways for the church to conduct herself. Jesus set the standard and the pattern of righteousness for his disciples and apostles to walk by and also the way in which the church would conduct her business. Sound instruction in the faith is essential to the spiritual growth of Christians and to the development of the one true church. We learn this especially by reading the book of Acts. You know, it's not about how big our building is or the numbers in our congregation or the personality leading the groups. But dear one, it's all about Jesus Christ and his blood sacrifice and what he has promised you if you are faithful to him. He is eternal life himself. let us get our priorities right we can no longer water down this precious truth and present a feel good gospel that patronizes Jesus Christ to gain a legitimacy a name for ourselves or a bigger following and all the while this way only produces disobedience to God's commands and causes a desertion of millions of Christians from their real responsibilities in keeping the commands and precepts of Christ's doctrines. We have so many Christians who do not and have not practiced their faith according to Christ's commands. And when he said, if you love me, you will obey me, in John 14, 15, or in John 14, 21, The person who has my commands, Jesus said, and keeps them, is the one who really loves me. And also, 1 Corinthians 16.22. If anyone does not love the Lord, let a curse be upon him. That's God's word. Well, can I tell you that by these words are meant the severest type of curse? and it is saying in effect let this person be accursed even to the coming of the Lord that is to say to the day of his death forever and ever do you not know the very reason that God had sent his son to the earth it was a mission of love an apostle Paul in this word is saying that if any man does not love the Lord Jesus Christ let him be an anathema which means accursed and devoted to destruction. And this is not said in a way of a curse, but as a prediction of what would certainly come upon them if they do not repent. And eventually this prediction of Paul did come upon them because they continued to hate and defy the precious Redeemer of the world. If we as the church are not teaching the seriousness of salvation and individual responsibility of being watchful over one's own soul and also personal responsibility to develop a warm and deep intimate fellowship with the creator of the universe. First, through the word of God and secondly, by personal experience. We are missing the mark of true discipling. Our part as a pastor, a teacher or a leader is to point people to Christ and the Holy Spirit will do His wonderful work in their souls as they yield themselves to Him. This is our work. To encourage and exhort and equip the saints to look to Christ, the author and the finisher of their faith. There is no earthly power that will punish anyone for lack of love to the Savior. But Jesus Christ Himself will come one day and will take vengeance upon his enemies. And dear one, no one who hates the Lord will escape. No one will escape the divine condemnation of the Lord. We will be devoted to Jesus Christ or we will be devoted to the curse. Jesus will return to execute this tremendous and horrible sentence upon a guilty world. You see, Jesus does not force anyone to love him. All of us were created to love him. But God does not force any one of us to love him. Since this is our purpose and reason for being, that is to love God. And the reason that God had sent his son to the earth was to give every human being the opportunity through redemption to love God and call him father through his son Jesus Christ, spill blood and death upon the cross. Jesus said, if you love me, you will obey me. Do we love him by going to church once a week out of duty and mainly to appease our consciences? Or do we want to show our love for him by our obedience to do what he commands us to do and also to show love for the brethren by joining together with them in fellowship no matter what their denomination or non-denomination might be. Since Jesus' mission was a mission of love, and if you profess to be a part of his royal family of love, I ask you this question. Do you really have this kind of love and obedience that Jesus requires? In contrast to living in a subtle deception of thinking that you can live this way of life and continue in your sin? whether it be lying to cover yourself in any given situation or being involved in an act of adultery or fornication, of incest, perverted and twisted fantasies of the mind by dwelling upon sexual encounters, by pornography or stealing even in business transactions or stealing from the IRS or local government regarding your taxes. You see, God hates cheating. God hates all of these. Do you dress immodestly to attract attention? The word of God tells women in 1 Timothy 2.9 to dress decently and modestly. Dressing modestly is where women will not be guilty of causing another to sin because parts of the body were not clothed properly but left open and exposed to draw and attract attention to that particular area of their person. Dressing modestly is an act of obedience to God's word because we love him and desire to please him. Yes, even in our dress. And that goes for men too, not just women. Ephesians 5 verse 3. Ephesians 5 verse 3 declares, But among you there must not even be a hint of sexual immorality or of any kind of impurity or of greed because these are improper for God's holy people. Dirty stories, foul talk, and coarse jokes, these are not for you. Instead, remind each other of God's goodness and be thankful. The problem with this indecency of the way women dress, both for church and on the job, has not been corrected from the pulpit as proper behavior for godly women. Husbands have been weak and negligent in their responsibilities of encouraging their wives in this area of training and instruction from the pulpit. Do you see movies with sick humor, with sex and violence murder and so on And justify yourself by saying that there is a good spiritual message in it What a lie Stop deceiving yourself and putting yourselves in the position of those who hate God and stand to be judged, accursed, and devoted to destruction forever and ever in the lake of fire. Did I tell you from the beginning that there would be some of you who would be angry with me because of this message? Well, just listen to the warning that comes by way of God's word and know that you have been witness to today in many areas of your Christianity in this message. I have been direct and purposely outspoken because I love you and I care greatly about the condition of your soul. And if you do not obey the commands of Christ as a true follower of his, You actually invoke the curse and horrible sentence that will come upon the guilty that Paul was speaking of in 1 Corinthians 16.22. If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed. Beloved, Apostle John said in 1 John 2.4 that anyone who professes to be a Christian but does not obey Christ's teachings is a liar. And these are the inspired words God directed at all professors of the faith. In the book of 1 John 2, verse 1, we read, My little children, I am telling you this so that you will stay away from sin. But if you sin, there is someone to plea for you before the Father. His name is Jesus Christ, the one who is all that is good and who pleases God completely. He is the one who took God's wrath against our sins upon himself and brought us into fellowship with God. And he is the forgiveness for our sins, and not only ours, but the whole world. verse 3 and how can we be sure that we belong to him by looking within ourselves are we really trying to do what he wants us to do someone may say I am a Christian I am on my way to heaven I belong to Christ but if he doesn't do what Christ tells him he is a liar but those who do what Christ tells them will learn to love God more and more that is the way to know whether you are a Christian Verse 6 Anyone who says that he is a Christian should live as Christ lived. Dear ones, we need an exhorting word at times where it acts like a watchman on the wall and brings an alert or a rude awakening so that we might be rousted about and shaken up to come back and stand in holy fear of our God once again. Holy fear is a wonderful friend to holy faith and holy living. The word says, those who profess to be a Christian but do not do what Christ commands, that is, hating sin and turning away from it and turning to God and begin to live as Christ did. If we do not do this, we are called liars. There are liars living amongst the true saints of God. and the proof of our allegiance to Christ is the hatred of sin and the love we now have for God and the beautiful fruit we bear because of the attachment we have in Him. And this love begins small but it blossoms into a deep and an abiding quest to know Him more and more. Obeying Him is no longer a stumbling block for you because you delight yourself in the pleasure of pleasing him. And the people who are subject to fall into the horrible curse is he or she who does not love the Lord Jesus Christ. And these are those who do not obey him because they slight his doctrines and commands through their own human pride and vain reasoning and carnal knowledge. They show that they despise the truth when it comes to them. by not obeying and practicing it, because they have a better way. We see the symptoms of this subtle rebellion to the ways of God in the church today, and the result of it has been surfacing for the last several decades. But in our present day, the waywardness and absence of millions of Christians in America have evidenced itself in the emerging church, the well-organized institutional church with her diversity in doctrine and philosophy that says all things are relevant in our modern culture and we must change with the times. And today, this emerging evangelical monument-building church has methodically, for the most part, attempted to replace true Christianity with its own trademark of organized religion. Oh yes, it looks so impressive and great. But it will always be void of the Holy Spirit's presence and power. It is cold and a dead religion. Oh yes, it can have a big orchestra and huge choir with much talent and great effects with lights and color with drum rolls and a lot of pomp and circumstance and vigorous preaching from the pulpit, telling people what they want to hear, not necessarily what they need to hear, and send people home with warm, fuzzy feelings about how nice church was today. But I ask you this. Is there true change? Were people challenged in the word preached at the pulpit about their sin? And if so, what are they going to do about it? Were they exhorted and encouraged to reach out to their community or neighborhood to be a witness for Christ? Were they most of all encouraged and challenged to seek Christ daily in their devotions for their spiritual sustenance and wellspring of living waters? You would be surprised to know how many Christians throw God a kiss on the way out the door every morning as they're going to work and say they pray while they are in traffic. what can I tell you that God wants your undivided attention sometime during the day or night when you will come to him just like David did when he said in Psalms 42 as the deer pants for the streams of water oh my soul pants for you oh God my soul thirsts for God for the living God where can I go and meet with God can I tell you that God is jealous over your soul dear one that he loves you with a passion and precious Holy Spirit is working ever so diligently to keep you in the Lord's pasture and within the gates dear one God never changes his word never changes only fickle man changes and erodes the God ordained commands of scripture with his new way of conducting the church and her business. And because of all of this, there has been a moral decay, a moral decline, and loss of our Christian virtues, a loss of honest and integral Christian leadership who have failed as pillars in God's house in teaching and upholding God's righteous standards for holy living. I reiterate that much of the problem in America today as far as the church is concerned comes from the fact that many of our Christian leaders have compromised the faith with many secular values and worldly passions which the Bible calls lust of the eye lust of the flesh and pride of life please understand we all know that there are true dedicated, honest and integral men and women who stand behind the pulpit in churches all across this land and preach and teach the pure doctrines of Jesus Christ knows who are his. I believe I can say this as a prophetic unction from the Lord and what he has been showing us in this ministry. God has been preparing his workers for the great harvest that lies just ahead. And like in the times of Elijah, God had 7,000 faithful ones in the cave who had not bowed their knees to Baal and whose mouths had not kissed him. And today, God Almighty has silently been preparing many in the way of true evangelism and those whom the Holy Spirit will be working with though mightily in this great harvest of time in the way of miracles, signs and wonders and healings will abound and will be a great witness for the lost. these outpourings that we will see and experience and are at work in some parts of this earth already will not be contrived outpourings with sick and abusive conduct or apostate filled doctrines of demons but will be pure and holy governed by the Holy Spirit and ordained of God to bring in the lost to heal the sick and deliver the oppressed the power and presence of God at work in these outpourings will confound the wise and will be an enema to skeptics and atheists all the machinery is in place and people are the tools that God uses powerfully in these days and these times these rising leaders are not interested in building a pulpit, a big monument in their name or to leave a big legacy to be remembered for generations. But they are interested in seeing the lost truly come to Christ and being discipled in order to grow into full maturity just as Apostle Paul spoke of in Ephesians 4.11. And he himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, that it might develop until we all attain oneness in the faith and in the comprehension of the full and accurate knowledge of the Son of God, that we might arrive at really mature manhood, the completeness of personality, which is nothing less than the standard height of Christ's own perfection, the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and the completeness that is found in him. God will astound the world by his almighty presence and power. God loves all people, regardless of creed, of race, gender or religious tendencies. He wants to come to his Son. He wants all to come to his Son, Jesus Christ, in the way that it is prescribed and ordained by himself. and that is by the blood of Jesus. God is busy at work wooing the world unto himself through his son Jesus Christ's death and resurrection regardless of the color of anyone's skin what part of the world they live in or who they bow down to. All people have a choice to come to Christ through the repentance of their sin and receive eternal life through him alone or not. We all have choice, but if we do not accept Christ as Savior, there awaits these people the promise of eternal death, a grave in the deep and darkest recesses of hell's ever-burning flames of fire and torment forever and ever. Our Christian nation was founded and established on inalienable rights of the individual to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. The men who established the Constitution and Bill of Rights in this nation were godly men who truly loved God and His Son Jesus Christ. They were committed to their cause of a free nation where people could practice their faith in freedom and liberty of doing so. They were believers who kept the commands of God's word and practiced what they learned. They were men who fought hard and risked their lives for our freedoms and Christian heritage to be perpetuated into every generation of time as long as this earth exists. As I had said, America has always withstood the storms that have come against her, mainly the barrages to erode her moral fiber and virtues and religious freedoms on which she was originally established. The erosion of these God-ordained virtues and these hard-fought-for freedoms, religious freedoms, is the breaking down of a nation and ultimately her destruction as a republic for which it stands because of neglect, disobedience, and lack of truly practicing the Holy Scriptures found in the Bible. The church of the living God has always been meant to be the standard and the light shining out into the dark world. We have let down by not being the examples we should have been, by letting our light shine. The enemy of darkness called Satan the devil has come in and has dazzled the world and much of the church with its mysticism, occult practices, Harry Potter generation, perversion and pornography and every other evil practice to steal the inheritance of our Lord Jesus Christ. You know, we have coursed through this brief word today, seeing in this allotted time frame But the state and the condition of the visible church in her role to equip the saints and be the role model and standard of righteousness to the world has more or less, through the last several decades, has let down her responsibility and role of shepherding the flock and letting her light shine into a dark and sick world on its way to hell. Instead, she has been a mockery to the world in the news of her fallen state of crimes, the crime of sex scandals, greed of money, divorce, caught in homosexual activities, embezzlement, an adultery, acquisitions of outlandish seven-figure estates for personal use, and so on. and as I said previously God has not drawn the curtain on the church and her remaining part of these last days harvest we need to begin by examining our own hearts and evaluating where we each stand in our Christian faith our stability our faithfulness to God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ we need to pray earnestly and repent of our sins, of religious pride, our neglect of teaching our children godly principles and sticking by them and not letting down. We need to repent and ask God's forgiveness for our neglect of Him by being so shallow in our daily pursuit of Him because we have been caught up in the pursuit of money, bigger homes, bigger churches, cars, comfy bank accounts and other idols and so on. As I had said, we need to repent and ask God's forgiveness of letting down in our role as a part of the church. In letting our light shine out into the world around us. And being an example of God's righteousness found in Jesus Christ. And the flavor of his nature, of his character and his purity. This word to you today has been a plea to sound the alarm and say, Christians, we have the first hand and principal responsibility for reclaiming of our nation's Christian heritage because it was upon our heritage that our nation's declaration of independence and the Constitution was founded and established. It is necessary for professing Christians to join together in prayer, whether it be in your church, your homes, your cell groups, or your family members to petition and cry out to God that he might extend mercy to our nation and save our country from free falling into the hands of tyranny and slavery Please do not take this request lightly Your spiritual freedom depends upon it. It is time to pick up your number one Christian responsibility, and that is prayer. Prayer is not relegated to women only. Prayer is for the whole body of Christ. Let us all ask God to open our eyes to see the magnitude of the encroachment of these militant groups infiltrating our nation and stand to steal our rights as Christians in the way of freedoms. We have to worship our God and Father and His Son Jesus Christ. These militant groups are dedicated to their cause and are making headway into this nation as they have other nations to take them over. let our prayers begin with them let us pray that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob will visit them and save their souls pray that God will move mightily in their lives and in their families multitudes of them are a part of the inheritance that our Lord Jesus Christ died for and as the scripture says in Romans 9.25 I will call them my people who were not my people You see, God is not a respecter of persons. He loves all of his creation. And he loves you, dear one. If you are backslidden, come to Christ the way you came to him initially. And he will receive you and restore you back into his fold once again. There is no sin too great that he will not forgive. Come to Jesus and enter into his wonderful fellowship once again. and for those of you listening who have never made a bold and courageous and open statement and confession of your faith in Jesus Christ may we encourage you to do so now God's word declares in the book of Romans chapter 10 verse 8 that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus Christ and believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead you will be saved and for with the heart one believes unto righteousness and with the mouth is made confession unto salvation. If you would like to be saved from the darkness of saints and the devil and eternal death and would like to be guaranteed eternal life in Jesus Christ your Savior, please allow me to pray for you. Would you please repeat this prayer yourself as your own confession of faith and salvation as I lead you? Dear Heavenly Father, I acknowledge that I am a sinner, saved by the grace of my Lord Jesus Christ, my Savior, who died for me. Father, I repent and I ask for your forgiveness for every sin I have ever committed. I desire to be called your child and restored to right relationship and fellowship with you. I desire to live my life according to your precepts and holy ways. Heavenly Father, I believe and confess Jesus Christ as my Savior. I make him Lord of all, master and ruler of my life from this day forth. I ask for your Holy Spirit to lead and guide me every day into truth so that I may know you in a real and living way. Thank you for loving me and giving the assurance that I am now your child and am made new in your sight. Dear Jesus, please lead me into a place of fellowship with your beloved brethren for I may grow in the faith and flourish and produce fruit for your eternal kingdom. Amen. Congratulations. You have made the greatest decision that you will ever have made in your entire life. Life on this earth is very short, but eternal life is forever. Welcome to the family of love The family of God As you are now called his child You have been washed clean By the blood of Jesus Christ And that means that your sins of the past Are as though they never were You have a bright and hopeful future Ahead of you now Your family here At Shining Light 7 Ministries Invite you to visit our website As it is designed to help you grow In understanding and build you up in your most holy faith. We offer many audio teachings and Bible studies dealing with the many aspects of your Christian life and walk. And these will help you grow into a harmonious relationship in your faith commitment to Jesus Christ until the Holy Spirit leads you to a place of fellowship in a congregation of believers. Visit us today at www.ShiningLight7Ministries.com Again, that is www.shininglight7.com Congratulations and welcome to the family of God. Dear Church, in parting, we urge you to seriously get involved in prayer and believing God for a turnaround in the church and this nation for God's hand of mercy and grace to move and restore her back to her original roots. And that is in the biblical precepts of his word. May God have mercy upon us all. The End you today that is the command of the Lord Jesus Christ to you and to me and everyone else who claims him as their Lord and Savior and this command dear ones must not be taken lightly the command is a personal command the command is to have your own narrow gate experience as a Christian we have no excuse not to we have been given everything we need to enter into this experience and win the victors crown of life and the robe of righteousness that gains us entrance into the eternal city above and with the privilege of finally sitting at the bridegroom's table the wedding supper of the land with multitudes of millions who had their own personal narrow way experience you see let's open this word today in the book of matthew 7 verse 13 where jesus gave the narrow gate command hallelujah praise the lord i'm excited about this word today i'm kind of bubbling over with it amen Jesus said enter through the narrow gate for wide is the gate and spacious and broad is the way that leads to destruction there are many of those who are entering through it but the gate is now and the way is straight and compressed that leads to eternal life and few are those who find it and And of course, what Jesus is speaking about is eternal life. And this word, in this word, he gives the command by saying, enter through the narrow gate. He didn't say, climb over the gate or break the gate down to enter in. He didn't say, arrange with someone to widen that gate for you. The command to you and me is to enter through the narrow way. In effect, Jesus makes it very clear that the narrow way is the only way into the entrance into eternal life. Understand that this gate is narrow. It means that only one person at a time can fit or enter through it. and it so eliminates the herd mentality or if you will go through it, I will go through it sort of thing. It's a mandate for all true Christians. It's not a suggestion, dear ones. This is an individual word to each and every one of us who claim Christ as Messiah or their Savior. In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus gave the same command using another expression but yet meaning the same thing. In Luke 13, verse 23, someone asked him, Lord, will only a few be saved, be rescued, delivered from the penalties of the last judgment and made partakers of salvation with Christ? Will there just be few of them? Jesus said in verse 24, strive or make every effort to enter by the narrow door. Force yourself through it. For many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able. So Jesus uses the word strive here. And strive means to enter through the narrow door, the gate, is in effect saying, don't dwaddle or stroll or saunter through this gate or door, but strive here means to push or force your way through it. This command of our Savior to strive is also resonating loudly with the understanding that the entrance through the gate or door is so narrow and tight that you must force your way through it. And the Greek meaning for strive is agon. And it means to fight, to contend, to race, and some measure to have anxiety over it. In fact, this word says, agonize over your entrance into eternal life. And you should have a great measure of labor and fervent endeavor to enter into this privileged place because please understand, this place offered to you and me as a redeemed of the Lord Jesus Christ does not come to us without a high cost, precious ones. Jesus spilled his precious blood so that you and I could enter into these gates of heaven and live eternally with the one who died for us and made eternal life possible. What gratitude we should have. Christ's precious blood is the price by which heaven is purchased. It is the main price by which we are all redeemed from hell. Jesus spilled his blood and his suffering was the price and the cost which satisfied his father's demand for our sins. His father does not take the cost or the effort that you personally exert in forcing your way through this gate lightly. His son suffering and spilled blood and going to hell on your behalf to take back the keys from Satan the devil cost Christ great untold suffering. But now he holds the keys of death and Hades which is the realm of the eternally dead. In Revelation 118 Jesus says, I am the everlasting one. I am living in the eternity of eternities. I died, but see, I am alive forevermore, and I possess the keys of death and Hades, the realm of the dead. Now the Eternal Father looks upon his son's suffering and spilled blood as immeasurable worth or value because his son, out of respect and honor to God's majesty and greatness, He submitted himself to his Father's authority, who had commanded him to do so. And now Jesus' obedience holds infinite and absolute and immeasurable worth or value in his Father's sight. The dignity and humility of his Son in submitting himself to his Father's orders to pay the price for our sins is the way by which you and I now come through this narrow gate and way. Revelation 118, Jesus says, I am the living one. I am, I live in the realm of the eternity of eternities. But I died, but see, I am alive forevermore. I hold the keys of death and Hades. You see, Jesus is not still up on that cross. But he has risen and he has won for you and me the keys and entrance into eternal life. Jesus holds the keys of entrance into his eternal kingdom. And he's been given all power and all authority over all matters where you and I are concerned. New Testament scripture speaks about five keys and Jesus holds them all. And the first being the keys of death and of the grave. And the other keys he holds are the keys of the kingdom. The key of knowledge. And the key of the throne of David. And lastly, he holds the key to the bottomless pit. You see, you and I have no excuse once we come to Christ to have the idea that once we're saved, that we are always saved. in our opening scripture in Matthew 7 14 Jesus said the gate is narrow and the way is straight that leads away to eternal life and few let me repeat few are those who find it for anyone to think that once they confess Christ Jesus as Lord and Savior and then do very little in growing in knowledge and the ways of the Lord are deceiving themselves right into the bottomless pit called hell. What a distortion of the scripture. What ignorance. Jesus holds the key of knowledge. And this means that you must force your way in to gain that knowledge, precious ones. Christ himself said in Matthew 11 11 he said truly I tell you among these born of women there is not one risen any greater than John the Baptist in yet he who is least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he first well and from the days of John the Baptist until the present time the kingdom heaven has endured violent assault and violent men sees it by force as a precious prize a share in the heavenly kingdom is sought with the most ardent zeal and intense exertion the kingdom of heaven has endured violent assault and violent men and women sees it by force as a precious prize And the latter part of the verse says they view the entrance into this privileged place as a precious prize. And they seek after it with passionate burning and eager and intense exertion. And hear this, and they take it by force. And this means that they did not sit on their hind end doing nothing, amen, thinking that they could live life presumptuously, to do what they wanted to do, see what they wanted to see regardless of what God's word demands that they do, and deceptively think that once saved, always saved. Only violent men and women, the scripture says, take it by force. And this doesn't sound to me like anyone ought to believe the lies of denominational paradigms and doctrines they dream up in ways for the redeemed of the Lord to coast into hell. In Luke 13, 24, Jesus said again, strive to enter through the narrow gate. For many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able to. Once the master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door saying, O Lord, Lord, open up for us. And he will answer and say to you, I don't know you. Where have you come from? And then you'll begin to say, But Lord, we ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets. But he will say, I tell you, I do not know you. Where are you from? Depart from me, you workers of iniquity. When we come to Christ and admit that we are sinners saved by grace, we repent of our former sins. We commit our lives and our wills into his hands, and thereafter we obey his commandment says, if you love me, you will obey my every word. And this now means that the real work and effort on our part to apprehend this precious prize is just the beginning. Violent men and women take it by force. how bad do you want to enter into eternal life? What kind of energy are you putting forth in apprehending that precious prize? All of your works will count for nothing if you are not obedient to Christ's commands to love his Father and himself with all of your heart, all of your mind, all of your soul, all of your being. You see, not one part of your entire being is left out in this command to love the Lord your God. And to take heaven by force means that you must rise up early in the day. You must rise up daily and seize the Lord Jesus Christ by entering into worship, into his word, into his heart by fellowship with his precious Holy Spirit. it. How bad do you desire eternal life? How bad do you long after it? Do you think that God will accept a half-hearted effort on your part in obtaining this precious prize? You see, this precious prize is found in the person of Jesus Christ himself. He is the embodiment of eternal life. Jesus Christ didn't send you or me eternal life, dear ones. He is eternal life himself. You and I must exert effort, a time and study to gain this precious knowledge and revelation that makes eternal life possible. Jesus holds the keys of knowledge. Remember that. He holds the key of knowledge. You must come to him for this knowledge. Paul's greatest prayer that the Holy Spirit prayed through him is found in Ephesians 1.17. He prayed, I always pray to God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, that he may grant you a spirit of wisdom and revelation, of insight into mysteries and secrets and the deep and intimate knowledge, the knowledge of him, by having your eyes flooded with light, with the truth, so that you can know and understand the hope to which he called you and how rich is his glorious inheritance in the saints, his set-apart ones. Hallelujah. You see, once your eyes are enlightened with the precious knowledge of him and what he did for you, you can't help but desire to know him more intimately. And because of this genuine desire, you will be given a fiery passion to plunder heaven for insight into the mysteries and the secrets that is the deep and intimate knowledge of your precious Savior and King. This is what it means when violent men and women take heaven by force. Heaven suffers violence because these precious saints are at the throne of grace. They're at the throne of God. And they are praying and beseeching him to know his son more intimately, more perfectly, more personally. Do you think for a moment that the Father is annoyed with these? I don't think so. I certainly hope that you can read between the lines here. And these are those who are entering by violence and are desperate to better their present situation or present state of existence by means of livelihood or good living by the good life found only in Christ. And this energy they exert in behalf of this goal requires violent earnestness. Yes, violent earnestness. And this brings glory to God the Father's precious ones. He sees your heart in earnestness in gaining entrance into your eternal home. And David gives us insight to the passion when he said in Psalm 63, verse 8, O Lord, my whole being follows hard after you and clings closely to you. Your right hand upholds me. You see, this hunger that David had for his Lord shows not only in the diligence of his pursuit, which included his whole being, but it shows his desire for nearness and also the firm hold that he had gotten on the mercy of his God. Hallelujah. And may I tell you that what David was speaking of here is firmly gluing himself to God. Two pieces of wood or paper are glued together or as the branches connected to the vine. Praise the Lord. He did not want to be separated from his God. And this should be our soul's desire to be near God in these ways. You see, wooden paper can be separated from one another, but the soul of a true believer who exerts violence and faith and is consistent in his effort knowing God and the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be separated from him. Praise God. The word of God confirms that. In Paul's epistle in 1 Timothy 6.12, the apostle charged his spiritual son to fight the good fight of faith in order to lay hold of eternal life. Amen. So what Jesus commanded each of us to do in striving to enter into the narrow gate, Paul says it to Timothy in another way, and that is to fight the good fight of faith in order to enter into this desired place, this preference, this place that is eternal. And again, you can't do it by sitting on your derriere or your fanny making a half-hearted attempt at knowing God's Son by not cracking open your Bible, or let's say by cracking open your Bible to be politically correct. You can't blow him a little kiss on your way out the door and give him a little hand clap and say, well done, good Savior. A little pittance here and there. Do you think that God the Father will hear the prayers of someone like this? Do you think that he'll even incline an ear to listen or notice you when you need him the most? Apostle Paul said, push your way in, Timothy. Push your way through. Live the gospel. Defend the cause of Jesus Christ. Expose the hypocrites and the wolves. Purge the wolves and the apostates out. Abandon those who love the world. but build up the church so that the Father may bless her. Praise God. Fight for the crown of life, Timothy. And I ask you today, do you personally understand what you're fighting for, dear ones? See, you personally must see why we strive and contend for the prize of eternal life. Can you say at this moment in your life that you really, really understand what this means? See, to fight, to strive is for entrance into the celestial city above. But this command goes much deeper and carries with it a great personal responsibility. and if you as a Christian are not agonizing or straining or exerting effort or struggling or have some anguish over your entrance or race into eternal life, then I believe there must be no depth to your faith at all. And this is why Jesus said few find their way into it. this is an alarming a frightening statement that our savior our great judge has made i don't know how anyone could read these verses and not be hit by it very deeply i hope to stir up the faith today i hope to rattle the cages of prisons today where the captives may be set free and come out of denominational lies of once saved, always saved doctrines that were coined and phrased by mere men who sat around a table deciding what you should believe by way of their own interpretation of the Bible. And not only that horrible belief of once saved, always saved lie, but so many other beliefs and lies that have watered down the pure word of God breathe forth his commands into the hearts of faithful God fearing men showing the way that we should live in conformity to his mind and his will and to his purposes you find their way into this narrow place it is a command by Jesus Christ himself and says you cannot enter idly wasting your time doing nothing and taking this command of Christ in having your own personal narrow gate experience you must take it serious me too in fact for those who make great effort there are many blessings to be enjoyed along the way but for those who take this command lightly there will only be spiritual starvation there will be thorns and thistles these are better known as curses Deuteronomy 11.26, the eternal living God announced, Behold, I set before you this day a blessing and a curse. Deuteronomy 11.26. And can I tell you that this announcement or command is still in effect and force today? in verse 27 we see the conditions of the blessings and the curses. In the blessing if you obey me the Lord says which I command you today and the curse if you will not obey my commands but turn aside from the way which I command you this day to go after other gods which you have not known verse 29 and when the Lord your God has brought you into the land which you possess, you shall set the blessing on Mount Gerizim and the curse on Mount Ebal. So this speaks about receiving a blessing or receiving God's judgment for living in disobedience to his commands. And this is our call today too. If we diligently make every effort to exert effort, and energy to enter into the promised land by keeping the commands of our Lord and living righteously before Him, we will be given eternal life. We will enjoy the blessings of the promises that are laid out in Scripture for us. In Deuteronomy 30, verse 15, God was speaking about a physical promised land that His people were to inherit. But these were in fact prophetic words that are blueprints for each and every one of us today, showing us that the big battle and fight is against living sinful lifestyles, which prevent us from obeying God and drawing near to Him. God says in the same chapter of Deuteronomy 30, but in verse 5, See, I've set before you this day life and good and death and evil. If you obey the commands of the Lord your God which I command you today, to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commands and His statutes and His ordinances, then you shall live and multiply, and the Lord your God will bless you in the land into which you possess. But if your mind and heart turn away, you will not hear Him. but are drawn away to worship other gods and serve them, I declare to you today that you shall perish and shall not live long in the land which you pass over the Jordan to enter and possess. Verse 19, I call heaven and earth to witness this day against you that I have set before you life and death, the blessings and cursings. Therefore choose life that you and your descendants may live. that you may love the Lord your God, obey his voice, cling to him, for he is your life and the length of your days, that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to give your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So life and blessing will be ours if we love and obey the Lord according to his terms, and cursings will come to us if we turn away from him and follow after the desires of our own hearts, satisfying the desires of the flesh, pride of life, and lust of the flesh. See, these are idols. These bring curses. These are worthy of death. And this is that where Jesus said, you find the narrow way into eternal life. I looked up the word few in Strong's Greek Hebrew dictionary, and few here means a number which is puny or small or brief. And again it confirms what Jesus said, that few find that narrow way. Few have their own personal narrow gate experience, in other words. Interesting also in looking up the meaning of few, the other references right around that word gives the depth of what few means. It means that those who have never had their own personal narrow gate experience, they lack confidence in Jesus Christ. Another word that describes people who have never had their own personal narrow gate experience is a word called incredulous. incredulous means those who are doubtful uncertain and hesitant in obeying the commands of God they are mistrusting and have little faith They are faint or little which says they have little regard for the truth They do not take serious the commands of Christ once they hear them. So, in effect, God says people like this, hate him or despise him because they do not obey him. And Paul lays out a great portion of parameters of what having your own narrow gate experience is speaking about in his epistle found in Ephesians 5 verse 7. Paul says, sure. No immoral, impure, or greedy person. Such a man is an idolater and has any inheritance into the kingdom of Christ and of God. Verse 6, let no one deceive you with empty words. For because of such, God's wrath comes to those who are disobedient. Therefore, do not be partners with them. Do you have any friends that come and say, let's go hang out at the bar tonight. Let's go party and find us some action. Oh, let's go see the newest and the latest movie. Most movies today are filled with everything that Paul just warned us about in the scripture that we've just read. So today you don't have to make effort in going to see a movie. You can flip open your computer or access your smartphone and fill your mind with all kinds of bills. Violence and murder and pornography, any other kinds of lustful pursuits, are just a fingertip away. You don't have to exert yourself to be enthralled at all with the world today. The apostle gives us more clues to Christ's commands than having our own narrow gate experience by saying in verse 10 of the same chapter, he says, find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rathe