Untitled Sermon (29)

Introduction:

I was sitting in prayer yesterday morning and while I was praying the Lord started speaking to me. Those who were here may have noticed that at some point I was on my phone during prayer, I was actually recording the words the God was speaking to me.

Because if you know anything about prayer, sometimes God may do the talking and you have to do the listening. Most of the time we do the talking and God does the listening but sometimes if you are in tune with the Spirit of God and you can hear and discern the voice of the Lord, sometimes God desires to speak to us.

I noticed how Elder Basham was praying for this nation and praying for government officials, praying for them that we may be able to live lives unto the LORD. This is scripture and we are to pray for them.

Yet at the same time, we must discern the times in which we live in. We are living in evil times, sin is rampant and the scriptures declare because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax or grow old.

This love is just not restricted to Phila love, because we see more killing in our streets within the last 5-7 years than I’ve seen in my entire life time. We are short fused, we have road rage, and I’m in no way advocating violence but when I was growing up and you had a difference or disagreement that got heated, we fought it out and then became friends afterwards. Phila love is brotherly love, love for your brother or your sister familia love. But because we are so short fused and because we are angry all the time we see people can’t get along with their brothers and sisters.

The scriptures declare that “we are to love our neighbor as ourselves.” Jesus advocated for loving one another and show justice and mercy to one another.” Now there is no mercy, there is no love, there is hatred and violence. And the scriptures declare that during the days of Noah that the earth was filled with violence!

And Jesus declared that “as it were in the days of noe, so shall it be at the coming of the son of Man.”

The love of many shall wax cold. I read a encouraging report concerning divorce rates in the US that the divorce rate slightly rose on 2020 and 2021 yet is continuing in a downward trend. That is good, but it is still high. Eros love is the love between a husband and wife. I said a husband and wife. Husband in the scriptures is defined as male and female.

The love of many shall wax cold. What Jesus is talking about is the love that people have for God. That in the end times that people would love sin and iniquity more than they do God. That their love for God would over time wane.

Churches are closing down left and right, people no longer attend church like they use to, because their has arisen a generation that not only does not know God, they do not love God. Because everything that you do and everything that you don’t do should be motivated by the love you have for God.

People have left God, they no longer have a mind to serve God and they feel like it is an inconvenience to serve God. It is one thing for a person to not be able to attend service because of some disability or health issues, but when you are healthy and you refuse to fellowship with the saints, you refuse to sit under teaching, you refuse to really pray and study God’s word.

You might say well pastor I read and I pray, but if it was up to an individual to read and study for themselves there would be no need for those of us who have been called into ministry. Quite frankly my brothers and sisters, people have taken matters into their own hands, and what has risen up is a generation that do not truly know God like they should. It was never meant for the church to be in isolation, it was never meant for the saints of God to worship God and read how they deemed to be fit. The backbone of the church has always been prayer, preaching, teaching, and fellowship of the saints of God.

WHAT!?!? Do you think you gonna make it to New Jerusalem and not have anything to do with our brothers and sisters in Christ? No!!! It’s not going to work like that….quite frankly if you can’t get along with people down here…..then maybe you need to do some true self-evaluation not according to your standards but God’s standards which is the word of God.

There is a generation that challenges the preacher and listen I know that all preachers aren’t right….unfortunately it is the signs of the time in which we live in. And now everyone knows more than the preacher that they don’t need the preacher anymore, and here it is that I’m humble enough to admit that I don’t know everything there is concerning scriptures, there are parts of the bible I have yet to touch and dissect.

But now because of pride and self-deception, many feel that they don’t need the church. Because the love of sin and inquity, they rather live lives outside the perimeters of God.

Some people will make excuses to not come to the church, they don’t like the people….well no one is perfect. We have brothers and sisters in the natural that sometimes get on our nerves, we have brothers and sisters that we sometimes have disagreements, but when it is all over said and done with we are family. And in the church, there is no such thing as perfect people!

We are going to get on each other nerves, we are going to say and do thing that iritate one another, but when its over and done with we are all on the same team and we are not each others enemy. So now people have allowed the devil to put it in their mind not to come to church because they’ve been hurt or wronged….when the scriptures declare “let not the sun go down upon your wrath.”

Closing