Abiding in Our Death in Him

“O Lord, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy
servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who delight to fear thy name;
and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the
sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer” (Nehemiah 1:11).

The basis of courage is individual initiative. If we cannot act alone, we
cannot act together.

God has given us the power to lead. Our knowledge and skill developed by God
in us has given his people the ability to lead.

But it is only under the most difficult of circumstances that character and
courage earns us the right to lead.

Nehemiah led, even under great adverse situations to rebuild the walls of
Jerusalem.

People of God,

If we are His friends then He desires for us to know some future events that affect us and will effectively work in us.

We will be studying the 24th chapter of Matthew for our series of the “Hope-Filled Olivet Discourse”. We will learn the future for the nation of Israel and for the church.

Is the coming of Jesus for His church soon? We will look and study God’s Word and prepare for Him. What about four of His disciples who asked Him for future events? Who were they? Why is it called the Olivet Discourse?

Would you care to know that what is taking place with so many who are not studying the Word of God nor desire to do so? What does the Word of God say about those who are not Christian at all?

Who are the Nationals taken away at the catching away of the church? Can we know when He is coming? Can we know when the second coming of Christ will take place? We have abundant truths in God’s Word. Are there signs of His coming?

What does the rebirth of Israel say to us? All of what we will be looking at will be eye-opening.

Join us and sober up! He is coming soon!

Pastor Don

Left Behind (Preached on March 29th, 2020) Matthew 24:36-41
Prophecy seems to be out of place these days in our preaching unless a tragedy takes place. People go immediately to sensationalism to scourging the preaching but we need to go to the Scripture. The soon coming of the Lord seems to as common as American as apple pie, hotdogs, and baseball. We don’t think much about it. But we should! Jesus is coming again.
Our world is anxious today and worried. Everything has been turned upside down. Jobs are shut down, parking lots are empty, nonessential businesses have closed. And the church is emptied of its congregants. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled, ye believe in God, believe also in me…” (John 14:1). The Lamb of God is coming for the lambs of God. We are seeing a dress rehearsal for the coming tribulation.
People don’t believe in the rapture. Enoch did. Elijah did. Jesus did. Paul did. One day Jesus is coming back to catch us away. You find that in I Thessalonians 4:13ff. Who are going to be taken up with Him? The ones who have been born again, who have the same nature as God. Those who have a second birth. Those who follow Jesus as Lord on earth.
Some things out of place at this time. The bride is not with the bridegroom. The Jews are not back in the land of Israel. Satan is not in hell. Jesus is not reigning in Jerusalem from David’s throne. God is preparing all things to fulfill these prophecies.
One day children will disappear from their beds. Moms will be missing. Pilots will be taken up. Bus drivers and car drivers will exit their cars. One man working beside another and one is taken. Two in bed, a man and his wife, and one is taken.

1. A Word of Caution (Matthew 24:36)
   We don’t know when the event will take place but we know it will. Millions will vanish without a trace. It will be a worldwide event. In less than a millisecond, there will be an evacuation, an exit, an entry into the glory to be with the Lord forever. Can you imagine the anguish when loved ones have been taken and many don’t know where they are? We look at the nation of Israel. It was reformed as a nation in 1948. Never has this happened to any other nation or state. Jesus said this is the budding of the fig tree and when this happens the coming of the tribulation is nigh. That means before the tribulation happens the rapture will take place. Only when the true church is taken from this world will we see this happen. The world is awaiting a devastating day. And they do not know it and they are indifferent to it.
2. A Word of Contemplation (Matthew 24:37-41)
   Look at the situation today: politically, economically, ecclesiastically, and morally. Jesus said these things would take place and the world will be shaken from its moorings. Their anchor will be pulled up. Everything people have lived for, sold their souls for, will suddenly, fatally, finally be taken away. Noah preached for 120 years and only 8 got in the ark. He was a preacher of righteousness. With every blow of the hammer, with each cutting down of a tree, with the dabbing of tar on the boards of the ark to waterproof the ark from the water, God was speaking. God is saying things today. Adrian Rogers said, “I would rather scare you into hell than lull you into hell.” Too many are not ready! Mortality is coming, hell is coming, and people are being warned by today’s situations. Too many say they know Christ but the question is does He know them? Many Christians are asleep and they will stand at the judgment seat of God to be shown their bad works before a holy and righteous God.
3. A Word of Concern (Matthew 24: 42-51)
   After the rapture God will focus His concern on the earth. He is going to allow man to continue in their rebellion. They will ruin themselves. Then Satan will come in the person of the Anti-Christ to rule over and stamp his mark of 666 on earth of his subjects. But at the last 3 1/2 years of the Great Tribulation, God will begin to pour out his bowls of judgment upon the earth dwellers. They will cry out for the rocks of the mountains to fall on them and hide them from the wrath of the Lamb of God. Can you imagine that? What should we do as God’s people? Be watchful! Be Warned! Be Awake! What should the lost do? They should repent of their sin, their life of self-serving, self-ambition, and get the life of God in them by turning from their sin and asking God to be merciful unto them.
   One day Jesus is coming. A man went upstairs to the attic. He found an opened box with nuts, bolts, nails, dust, pieces of paper, and some splintered wood. He found a strong magnet and waved it over the box. What leaped to the magnet? The nuts, bolts, and nails. Why? They alone had the same nature as the magnet. Only those who have the same nature of God within will be caught up to Jesus. Those who know Him will be rescued from this world’s chaos that will take place one day. Either party, saved or lost, come to Jesus before it’s too late!

God is talking, are we listening? In these last days He is speaking to us through His Son, the Lord Jesus. Times are fleeing and lives are valued by what we do with Jesus. But are we listening? How far have we drifted from God and His voice? Have we become more dull of hearing and distracted by the things of the day? Satan is our invisible enemy.

I am praying that my world will hear what God is saying, and to the church may we hear her Shepherd and draw nigh to His side. The world needs to realize that repentance is a necessity and only the Holy Spirit can reveal Christ to the lost and of its unbelief in His Son. They are dead in trespasses and sins and only He can give life. He is the Creator and Redeemer! All things began by Him and they will end in Him. And all will stand before Him! And one day all will kneel before Him!

The people of God should examine themselves and to repent of her selfishness and fleshly ways. We should know better but we have a drift as well from God’s ways. Our ways are not His ways and therefore we must know Him, hear Him, so as to follow Him. As the church goes so goes the family, the city, the country, and the world. Without the church who is to become a part of the conscience which awakens the sinner all will continue in its apostasy. So will the church listen to what God is saying to her? Will we love, pray, witness, give, confess our need to Him, or will we continue to try to deafen what He is saying? He is slow to judgment and yet He is great in mercy!

May we draw nigh and He has promised to draw nigh to us. Listen to Him!

Pastor Don

Dear Church, 

Our hearts are saddened by all the damage inflicted upon mankind with the destruction from Hurricane Helene. 

May I give some critical thoughts for consideration? 

1. Natural disasters give us the opportunity to respond to God.  We can be angry, especially if it were our house, our business, our child lost in the rushing water, or the fallen tree.  Or we can stand in awe of the mighty power of the Almighty. 

2. The ground shook in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee as did the other states where landfall occurred, and the storm moved up and left.  The only thing that matters to many is to be able to find firm ground to stand upon. 

3. The Bible instructs us to make sure that our lives are built upon a foundation that will never be shaken, a foundation that is not subject to the unpredictable forces of nature. 

4. At Mt. Sinai, the Bible records the first earthquake as God gave the law to Moses.  Why?  God expects and commands those who are created by Him to tremble and be in awe of His power.  His voice speaks of the content of the moral law; the voice of nature (earthquake) spelled out God’s power and authority.  The Ten Commandments shouted His rules for living; the Trembling of Nature shouted His rules for worshipping.  We are to fear Him for this is not only appropriate but commanded. 

5. God also spoke at Mt. Calvary and the earth quaked.  Jesus spoke words of kindness, mercy, and love even while He was being judged for our sins.  We should listen. “Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking.  For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to Listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!”  When God spoke from Mount Sinai His voice shook the earth, but now he makes another promise:  “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also.” 

6. The earth will not go on forever.  Earthquakes and hurricanes remind us that life is short and that God will re-create a new heaven and a new earth.  Only what is eternal will remain. 

7. We are to know that tragedies are teachers that instruct us to hold on to Christ tightly and hold everything else loosely. 

The Eternal Kingdom will never be shaken.  Find your Firm ground to stand upon and thank God for His Unshakeable Kingdom. 

Pastor Don 

God’s Word says, “Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouths and lied unto him with their tongues. For their heart was not right with him, neither were they steadfast in his covenant” (Psalm 78:36, 37). Do we desire God’s presence in our bodies, homes, churches, nation, and the world?

Many claim to want revival. Why do we plead for revival? Is it to save our face, when the first thing we need to do is to lose our face. The fallow ground must be broken up. There is the cost of humiliation and even embarrassment when it comes to revival. God cannot rain showers of blessings on fallow ground. That would just mean more spreading of briars and weeds.

If we are to prepare for rain we must prepare the soil of our hearts. We must be disturbed and broken up for what we see and what we are. But, like so many of us, we do not like to be stirred and agitated in our churches. We like our smooth exteriors while keeping our roots of bitterness and sins hidden.

Revival will come when we really desire it and meet the conditions. But God has not changed the price of revival. He has not placed any of His blessings on the bargain counter at reduced rates. Stubborn wills, hardness of hearts, and pretension in repentance will never meet the criteria for revival.