The World Is Falling Apart But Jesus Is Coming Soon | Pastor Loran Livingston

I'm ready to go. How about you?

I'm ready to go today. There's not a place I want to visit, not a thing I want to do. I have already done it all as far as I'm concerned. I'm ready for Jesus to come back. Tell him one more time, even so come Lord Jesus.

Hallelujah, that's good music today. You miss that after a while. I don't know if you've had a chance to smile at the person beside you. Try it. When we all get to heaven, we'll be doing a lot more of that. Let me take a moment and say thank you to Glenn Moore. Glenn, raise your hand, sir. He's been one of our long-term elders. And for the last 28 years he has served as a lay pastor to Charlottetown Terrace, which is a low-income housing project. He has buried them, he has ministered, he's preached, he's taught, he's pastored for 28 years. Nobody ever hears about people like this. But those people down there know who Glenn Moore is and his team. So, thank you, Glenn, for all that you've done for 28 years.

That's what this church is made of. This is not what the church is made of here. This is just a catalyst. This is not what the church is. It's men and women serving Jesus out there. Turn with me, please, to Revelation chapter 3. We want to read one verse together. Join me.

"Because you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth."

I have to read that again. I love that promise to the church. Because you have to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of trial, which shall come upon the whole world to test those who dwell on the earth. Hallelujah for the blood of Jesus. Father, as we delve into this precious promise, we ask that the Holy Spirit teach us. Oh God, comfort and edify those who have held on and persevered and feel like they're losing their grip. I thank you, Lord, that as long as you're gripping us, we're just fine. Thank you, Jesus. And until that moment when you call us home, let us be determined to serve you. In Jesus' name we pray, and everybody said amen. Thank you. You may be seated.

Let me just do this. Let me start off by saying Jesus is coming again. I don't ever want us to get away from the motivating drive of all we do, which is the second coming of Jesus. I'm not serving Jesus just to get a reward. I want to see him. And brother, he is coming again. Now, please understand, there's going to be a catching away. Sometime before Jesus does come back, there's going to be a catching away of the saints. We're going to be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. Those who have persevered, washed in the blood of Jesus, have been promised that when the time of wrath, God's wrath, the lamb's wrath, and even the wrath of the evil one comes on this earth, we have nothing to fear because he has already taken our wrath for us. I don't know exactly when the catching away is going to be. I just know that because he's coming to catch us away, rapture us, we're not going to have to face the severities and extremities that will be poured out on this earth. I know it will be quick. We're not going to climb steps. We're not going to float away. The Bible says in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, we'll be away from here and there. We'll drop this body and get a brand new body. In a split second, less than a split second, before you can blink your eye, you will be caught away to meet the Lord in the air. He's not coming back to earth at that time. He's coming to the clouds. And the dead in Christ are going to get up out of the grave. And about that time we're going to rendezvous with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so shall we ever be with the Lord. Comfort one another with these words.

If life has gotten hard, let me give you some comfort. It won't be much longer. If you feel like you can't take it another day, let me give you some comforting words. There aren't many days left to take it. Jesus is coming again. Smile, lift up your heads, rejoice. Jesus is coming back. And he's coming for those who have faithfully persevered and trusted in him. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH. HALLELUJAH.

I don't need to tell you because you've watched the news this week, you've read the papers, you've felt the heat. These are all signs that the end is drawing near. These are the birth pains that bring about that great and notable day of the Lord. You know it's in trouble. And you know it will never recover. Back in '08, I said from this pulpit, it will never be the same again. I still mean it, it is still the truth. It will never be the same. We are never going to recover. The world is never going to recover. I don't have to talk about the violence in this world. We don't even see it, there's so much of it. We're accustomed to it. They can talk about lowering the crime rate all they want to. It hasn't happened, brother. You can do anything with numbers to get elected. But I'm telling you the crime rate is rising because there's crime going on that nobody knows about except God. I don't have to talk to you about the Middle East and the powder keg that's there. Why, look in at Syria. Thousands and thousands of people being martyred and murdered. That's what you know in the news. You don't even know about They don't even report the Christians that are being killed all over Africa and Central America for their faith. They won't mention that. But it's happening. Persecution is on the uprise, my precious brother. Understand that Islam is taking over. They don't want to report that either. And Islam is intolerant of any god but Allah and any prophet but Muhammad. And if you don't believe it, they don't say, "Well, make up your mind." They make up your mind for you. I'm not going there. I don't have to mention the attack on the traditional family. Let's just be honest. Let's quit playing games. This book says marriage is between a man and a woman.

And I enjoyed my Chick-fil-A sandwich the other day. And I respect and appreciate any man who will stand up and speak the truth even if it costs him something. Anybody Anybody, including preachers, can play politics, but God is not looking for somebody to squirm out of the issue. He's looking for his bride, his church, his people, his ministers to stand up for the truth. And if the church doesn't do it, nobody else is going to do it. I'm not angry at anybody. I'm not wanting to carry a sign down the street. I just went and ate a sandwich to say I appreciate a businessman who has put his faith before his money.

There is a growing intolerance of Christianity. We are afraid to talk about our faith. Before we mention something, we think, "I don't know if this is going to upset anybody or not." We We're always weighing now what we say about our faith. That's what the world has done to us in the marketplace in the business arena. We are very, very reticent to tell people we are Christians. And so, when an Olympic athlete gives glory to God or when a pro golfer thanks Jesus or when any other athlete or athletes bow down and thank God after a game, whether they lose or win there's this mhm um should they be doing that? How long How much longer will they be able to do it? Because in the church of Jesus Christ, we've lost that desire, that that that holy, compassionate aggression to say to people, "Jesus is the way. He's the truth. He's the life." They're intimidating us. We're afraid the government will get after us. In a conference I went to one time, I haven't been to many, just for pastors they reminded us that if the government doesn't like what you preach, they can blackmail you. They can somehow manipulate computers, even your home computer, to make it look like you've been downloading child pornography. And once you've been accused of that, you're finished. And he said, "Look out. That's what our enemies are doing these days. They are using the technology to falsely accuse and intimidate us into preaching a watered-down message. It's the day we live in. You've got to decide if you're going to stand up for Jesus Christ or just sit in a corner and wait for him to call you home. I can tell you right now the Apostle Paul would not have sat in a corner. The Apostle Peter WOULD NOT HAVE SAT IN a corner. They were willing to lay their lives down for him and put their heads on the chopping block. They weren't worried about losing their jobs or their tax-exempt status. They said, "We are here for one purpose, and it's not to preserve our life. It's to lay our life down." Jesus said, "He Whoever wants to save his life will lose it. But the one who will lose it for my sake and THE GOSPEL SHALL GAIN IT."

What about the storms, the drought, the weather? Am I just paranoid, but when I see that most of this country is in a drought now? And when it does rain, it destroys everything in its path. Folks, these are not coincidental. And I don't let skeptics tell me that it's always been this way. It hasn't always been this way. There are more earthquakes than there have ever been, more tornadoes, more tsunamis. Everything has increased. Don't tell me that's the way it's always been. I wasn't born yesterday. I was born again. And when you're BORN AGAIN, YOU HAVE AN UNDERSTANDING THAT THE WORLD DOES NOT HAVE.

WHAT ABOUT THIS INCREASING hatred for Israel? They can't do anything. And regardless of where you're from or what your stance is look at it objectively. What other nation in the world is constantly rebuked for defending itself? What other nation in the world is blamed for everything? What other nation in the world is taken to task by the president and the UN for simply trying to survive? Uh this book told us all about it. Just watch it, brother. It's going to increase.

But But what about the compromise in the pulpits these days? Oh, you don't want me to talk about that. Where is the blood of Jesus Christ? Where is the cross of Calvary? Where is a stand for holy living and righteousness? Where is it? What about all the false teachers and false prophets? And you know, the fact of the matter is there's nothing you can do about it. You can pray. You can go to church. But this thing is going to deteriorate rapidly, brother. Jesus is coming again. The Bible teaches me that one of these days the anger of God is going to be poured out on those who dwell on the earth. That doesn't mean those who have a house here. It means those who are part of the earth who do not know God who love this present evil world. I'm not going through the book of the Revelation of Jesus and try to explain to you the trumpets and the bowls and all of that. You already have read it, and you know that calamity is on the way.

So, what am I supposed to do about it? As an individual. And I'm not talking about getting uh involved uh politically and my civic duty and all of that stuff. That's so secondary. How am I supposed to be living as a child of God knowing that the catching away, the rapture, is imminent seeing all of these things around me, how should I be conducting myself? The Bible says I should live soberly righteously and godly looking for Jesus to come back. You see, we have forgotten this, I think. Please forgive me if I'm wrong. But we have forgotten to watch for him. Look for him. We're looking for the next president. We're looking for better times. We're looking for something. But we're not looking for him. And the Bible says unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time. See, we have to re- reboot our computers, if you will. And make ourselves understand that the solution to our problems is not on this earth. The solution to my problems and the end of all of my pain will be when the trumpet sounds and Jesus calls me home. So, when I start looking for him, it'll change my living. LOOKING WILL CHANGE my living. And I have to patiently endure. I can't be wishing this were over. I can't say I'm tired of it. I can't do it anymore. HE SAID, "BECAUSE you have kept my command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour." That's not 60 seconds. That's a time. I will keep you from the time of trial and testing which shall come upon the whole world to test or try, yes, even correct, chastise, judge those who dwell on the earth. Now, I don't know what you've been taught in your past or in your church. There are plenty that teach that the church must go through this as well as the world. And I know I'm being redundant for some of you, but listen to me. If I have to be judged and tested to make sure I'm saved, then the blood of Jesus didn't do me one bit of good. When you are saved, the blood of Jesus cleanses you from all unrighteousness, and you ARE FORGIVEN OF ALL YOUR TRANSGRESSIONS. HALLELUJAH. SO, BECAUSE I TRUST HIM NOW, I WON'T HAVE TO BE TESTED THEN. I THOUGHT YOU'D GET HAPPY ABOUT THAT.

WELL, here's what the Bible says. What Why don't you look at 1 Thessalonians chapter 1. Uh we're here to wait for his son from heaven whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus who delivers us from the wrath TO COME. HALLELUJAH. WHAT ABOUT ROMANS CHAPTER 5? Watch this one. Much more then, having now been justified by justified by his blood we shall be saved from wrath through him. How about 1 Thessalonians 5 and 9? For God did not appoint us to wrath but to obtain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. So, here's the glorious good news of Jesus. We were dead in trespasses and sins. We were called the children of wrath. But God, who is rich IN MERCY HAS SAVED US BY FAITH AND GIVEN us his righteousness, his forgiveness, HIS HOLINESS, AND BECAUSE OF THAT, WE DON'T HAVE TO BE JUDGED AND WE WON'T HAVE TO BE PUNISHED. HE TOOK IT FOR US. SO, THE WRATH THAT'S COMING IS NOT FOR ME, PRAISE GOD. I'M NOT LOOKING FOR WRATH, I'M LOOKING FOR REDEMPTION. BLESSED BE HIS NAME.

I think sometimes when we ponder anything except the glory and the beauty of Jesus, when the church gets on tangents that smack of Jesus, that insinuate things about Jesus, but go off on extraneous and peripheral things and get excited about anything but Jesus, the church loses its momentum and its joy. Listen to me. Our joy is not in being able to have prayer answered. OUR JOY IS NOT IN THE FACT THAT WHEN YOU LIVE BY FAITH, YOU ARE MORE THAN A CONQUEROR. NO, SIR. Our joy is IN THE FACT THAT GOD LOVED US, STILL LOVES US. HALLELUJAH. THE THE CENTRALITY OF THE GOSPEL IS JESUS CHRIST COMING TO THIS EARTH BECAUSE GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD.

There's no way it that with your mind you can imagine heaven's glory. You cannot imagine Jesus before he became a man. It is too stellar, magnificent, it's too divine for your little tiny brain, our tiny teensy tiny brains to begin to get a grip on what heaven is and what Jesus looked like in his splendor and his glory before he came to this earth. And we will never comprehend what he GAVE UP TO GET HERE. What he LEFT BEHIND TO BECOME what we are. The closest thing you can imagine, and it doesn't even scratch the surface. I I hesitate to bring it up. For for Jesus to become what I was would be like you becoming a maggot. And that doesn't even begin to tell the condescension of the incarnation of Jesus Christ. BECAUSE WHERE HE CAME FROM, THERE WAS NO SIN and rebellion and ugliness and sickness and sorrow. Where Jesus came from, he had everything and all things revolving around him. And his created PRAISERS CRYING, "HOLY, HOLY, HOLY LORD God Almighty, which was and is and is to come." And in a split second, he who sat upon the throne was in a watery human womb, dark and closed up. And he, after 9 months, was pushed through the birth canal. And the first thing God did when he got here was cry. Where he came from, there was no crying. There was no reason to cry. And the first human action of God, the savior, was to cry. He who promised to wipe away all tears from our eyes started his earthly journey crying. He who would feed the multitudes, he who was the bread of life, had to be taught to eat. His mother, after she nursed him, had to tell him, "Open your mouth. Open your mouth. Here it comes." And he drooled and he spit up. And he who was the word had to be taught to speak. Taught how to talk. Say, "Abba." "Imma." Say, "Caleb." Mama, Daddy, dog. What's this? Catur. Kitty cat. Think of it, the word. The spoken word, the mighty creating word had to be taught how to say the alphabet. And think of it. He who as a divine architect, designer, measured the earth. He knows exactly what it weighs and how many grains of dirt comprises planet earth. And he who stretched out the heavens like a curtain was taken by the hand by his stepfather Joseph into the carpenter shop and was told, "This is a hammer. This is a saw. This string measures. This is a nail. Be careful. Drive it in. You've seen Daddy do it before. Now, where does the next piece need to go? Measure it. Go ahead. One The creator had to be taught to build. Think about it. Isaiah said his robes filled the temple. You've never seen this in your whole life. Just the robe he pulled BEHIND HIM FILLED UP THE TEMPLE. Yet when he got here, he had to take off his woolen garments and wash them in the river Jordan. I don't imagine as a man he washed them that often. He probably said, as a man, they don't smell that bad. The very one that said he could wash us and make us clean had to himself take a bath. The Bible says his transportation before he got here was the clouds and he walked on the wings of the wind. But when he got to this place where we live, he had to walk 60 miles to Jerusalem. From the top of Israel to the bottom, about 180 185 miles. He whose feet rest on the earth, the earth is his footstool, sat down many times and said, "Wow." It hurts. The water of life was thirsty. He who was the center of all attention one day in heaven would actually go to bed at night with a rock as his pillow among the wild animals because there was nobody there.

Why would God do this? There is no fancy theological explanation. God did it because he loves you. That is the only reason. And when you love somebody, no obstacle is too great, no pain too bad, no surrender too big for you to get to the person you love. When someone you love is lost, I promise you the greatest fear in this church for a parent is to lose a child. I cringe every time I hear about a kidnapping. A A a young girl, a young boy. To me, there's nothing more horrible on the news. And a parent would do anything to get them back. You'd give up an arm, a leg, or both to get them back. Cuz when you love somebody, when somebody's lost, no mountain too high, no river too wide, hey, no sin too great that you wouldn't be willing to take it up on school. Cuz they just didn't get it. But God chose them to show you that when you, after he's done so much, still fail and deny him, he comes after you.

Hallelujah. Last night, I found a scripture that blew my mind. And I read it I have read it oh how only God knows how many times. Here it is, watch this. It's in Mark chapter 14. They'll put it up there. Now, as they sat and ate. Now, stop, look at me. Jesus is having the last supper, okay? Got it? Last supper. Now, as they sat and ate, Jesus said, I and I'm trying to get a picture. Did he have a piece of bread in his hand? Was he eating? Was he chewing when he said, "Assuredly I say to you, one of you who eats with me will betray me." Look at this. And they began to be sorrowful and to say to him one by one, "Is it I?" And another said, "Is it I?" You know what overwhelmed me about that? They didn't even know how loyal they were. They didn't even trust themselves to that point. When he said somebody here is disloyal and you're going to deny me, each one went, "Oh God, I know I've doubted him before. I know I have weakness in my life. I've stumbled. I've questioned him. Am I that one? Am I that person?" "One of you will betray me. Is it I?" Still, after watching thousands fed with a couple of little fish and some bread. And I've often been amazed at that verse of scripture when it says, "He took a few small fish." Well, what difference would it have been if it had been a few big fish? It's still 5,000 plus. But God wants you to understand that even when you don't know who you are, you don't know your own degree of loyalty. You doubt your own walk. These men watched him feed thousands. These men saw him walk on water. They saw him raise the dead. THEY SAW EVERYTHING WITH THEIR own eyes. And yet, there was still that uncertainty in them about them when Jesus said, "Somebody here is going to betray me." They said, "Is it I?" And that's exactly what we Christians go through every once in a while. Am I capable of that, oh Lord? I remember growing up in Pentecost, every time they'd preach on the Antichrist, I'd say, "Oh God, am I the Antichrist?" It's true true. Oh, I'd hear these Bible teachers talk about the Antichrist and what he's going to do and that sounds like me. He's going to deceive the world. God, I deceived mom and dad last night. He's going to make people take a mark. I thought, there it is. I'm the Antichrist. Because there is Wait. Has anybody else ever had that thought? Raise your hand up to the sky. Dennis? Yeah. Because there's something about us, we are still uncertain. We still know what's in us, and yet we don't. We still see our hypocrisy, our duplicity, our inability to be consistent, and we worry about persevering. If if I'm going to escape the wrath to come, I've got to persevere. God, am I able to? Am I able to hang on to the end? Am I able to persevere until he calls me home? Lord, I'm so uncertain. And guess what? That's not doubt. That's humanity. And God sticks with you. He didn't give up on them. He knew they were uncertain. And yet, when he rose from the dead, the first people he wanted to get with were the very ones that said, "Is it I?" So, I'm telling you right now, the uncertainty you feel is part of the persevering. You believe it anyway. I may be a dog sometimes, and I may miss mess and fumble and stumble and fall, BUT I STILL BELIEVE THAT THE GRACE OF GOD IS GREATER THAN MY WEAKNESS, MY SIN, MY FAILURE, AND MY FOOLISHNESS. I'M GOING TO HANG ON. I'M GOING TO BELIEVE IT. I'M GOING TO PERSEVERE. I GOT MY MIND MADE UP. I AIN'T WHAT I USED TO BE, BUT I'M STILL GOING TO SEE JESUS ONE OF THESE DAYS. I'M GOING TO PERSEVERE. IT'S NOT MY STRENGTH, IT'S HIS STRENGTH. HALLELUJAH. STAND UP WITH ME. God knows. Did you hear what I JUST SAID? PART OF THE PERSECUTION IS TO PERSEVERE WHEN YOU DOUBT YOURSELF BECAUSE YOUR FAITH IS NOT IN YOU, IT'S IN JESUS. SOMEBODY PLEASE SAY AMEN. MY FAITH IS NOT IN ME. I'M NOT STRONG. MY FAITH IS IN HIM. HE DIED. HE ROSE AGAIN. He has delivered ME FROM THE WRATH TO COME. IT'S JESUS WE'RE CENTERED ON. HALLELUJAH.

Fill up the aisles if you would. Just kind of move in together. I wants to worship God for a moment. We're going to raise our hands. We're going to worship this one who came to where we are, who became flesh so he could help us. My hope is in the Lord. People get upset with me sometimes when I say things like, "I have not always been faithful to God, but God has always been faithful to me." And I've had people not directly ask me, but kind of imply, "Aren't you afraid that makes people wonder what you do?" That's not my problem. I just told the truth. I haven't always been faithful to God. See? The opposite of that is I have always been faithful to God. I can't say that. I didn't always obey him. Haven't always loved him. But he has always loved me and never failed me. All right, I'm calling a praise service right here for the next few moments. To you who have been washed in the blood and delivered from the wrath to come, I want you to get your mind on Jesus. I don't want it to be on the old rugged cross all the time. I want you to see an empty tomb, and I want you to see a glorious throne to which he has now returned. And from that throne, he intercedes for you even when you say, "Is it I, Lord? Is it I?" Hallelujah. The lamb. Adoration.

Hey, let's do it one more time.

Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hang on. Don't give up on yourself. It is God who works in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. And all the church said amen. If you'll come back tonight, we're going to pick up right where we're leaving off, right here. Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, my redeemer. Amen. Bless you. Amen. Amen. Jesus. I speak the name of Jesus over your heart, over your mind, and over your family. Jesus. Jesus. Jesus. Salvation. Deliverance. Peace. Hope. Jesus. And for those of you watching, Jesus. Whether you know it or not, these lips have just uttered the most powerful name that has ever been spoken. Jesus. Joshua is the same. Means deliverer. I speak that name into your home right now. And Father, I ask that you let the miracle of hearing your word be as great as the miracle of speaking your word today. Open my understanding and open all of our hearts. In the great name of Jesus we pray. Amen. The whole church said amen. Thank you. You can be seated.

My Moses is dead. The Lord is speaking to Joshua and telling him, uh I've turned it all over to you now. Just as I was with Moses, I will be with you. And I'm raising you up to take my people into the land of promise. Just make sure that you don't forget my word. Let my word be on your tongue. Let it live in your mouth. Speak it day and night. Whether you understand it at times or not, speak it. Whether you feel it, speak it, talk it. Let my word be your conversation. And with that, Joshua prepares the people to go across the Jordan into the promised land. And that day, just before they crossed over, he was surveying the situation down by the Jordan. The Bible says in Joshua chapter 5, beginning with verse 13, it came to pass when Joshua was by Jericho that he lifted his eyes and looked, and behold, a man stood opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand. And Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" So he said, "No, but as commander of the army of the Lord, I have now come." Joshua fell on his face to the earth and worshipped and said to him, "What does my Lord say to his servant?" Then the commander of the Lord's army said to Joshua, "Take your sandal off your foot, for the place where you stand is holy." And Joshua did so.

Something very transitional has just happened here. When Joshua saw this man, this man had his sword drawn, and it doesn't mean it was just out of the sheath. It was drawn and pointed towards Joshua's heart. All Joshua could do was ask, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" And he said, "I'm God. There's only one side. I am God. Up until this point, you have seen me, imagined me, and talked to me up in the heavens. Your people have known me on the mountaintop, in a cloud, in a fire. But things change today. I've come down to be amongst you. I've not come to fight you. I've come to fight for you." And I believe that there is a lesson there. As you see Jesus, that's the pre-incarnate Jesus. You got Joshua talking to Joshua. He has that sword pointed at Joshua's heart. And I believe it was saying, as a symbol of the word of God, the sword of the spirit, "You cannot adequately, fully speak my words until they have pierced into your heart. You can say them with your mouth and speak them with your tongue, but until my word goes down into your heart, it has no power, and it will not be effective." And I believe that Jesus, the commander of the Lord's army, the Lord of Sabaoth, would have me tell you and you today the same thing. This is not just to be preached from our lips, but to be lived from our hearts. Our lives must do the preaching, not just our mouths. I believe that we're about to see our Jesus in a new way. We've come to a different day. This is a new time. I've known him all my life as a shepherd. He still is. As a savior. Oh, a mighty one he is. But God in these last days is showing us a new side of what's supposed to be happening right now in the church. In Isaiah chapter 42, verse 13, I want you to listen to these words. The Lord shall go forth like a mighty man. He shall stir up his zeal like a man of war. He shall cry out. Yes, shout aloud. He shall prevail against his enemies. I do not believe the Lord is going to be silent any longer. I do not believe the church should be passive another day. I believe it's not only the cross we ought to proclaim, the fullness of the Holy Spirit, and a holy life, but we've got to proclaim that God loves people, all people. And that God demands justice. It must start at the house of God. And when it flows from the house of God out into the streets, people will understand that justice cannot come from a man or a city. It must come from a man of war, even Jesus Christ. It must come through his people, even the church. We have to understand again, the Lord has come down like a mighty man. He says, "It's time to fight this good fight of faith." Quit hiding in the church. Quit hiding behind a Bible. Get out and let your light shine and don't be ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He says, "I'm not here to fight you. I'm here to fight for you. I'll go before you. I'll prepare a way before you."

But Joshua, after this encounter, had a had a thought and I believe this thought is relevant for right now. He goes back and he tells the people, "In 3 days we're going to cross the Jordan and God has given us the city." But do you know what he said to those people? "Be quiet. Don't talk till I say so. You can read this when you get home today. Don't talk among yourselves. Don't discuss the situation. Don't try to figure out the plan. Don't discuss who I am and what I'm doing or what God is doing. Be quiet." And I think Joshua remembered that the last time God said it's time to go into the promised land, people started talking. They started murmuring and complaining. And because they wouldn't be quiet and because the word of the Lord was not in their mouth, because they discussed everything according to their own perspective, God says, "YOU'RE NOT GOING in now." And for 40 years they wandered foolishly in a desert all because of their tongues. Joshua had learned his lesson. He's the only one that came out of that generation, you see. He'd learned his lesson. He said, "When we go this time, don't talk until I tell you to. I wonder if God's trying to speak to us this morning and telling us that we have to be extremely careful when we face a challenge that we don't permit our lips to defeat us. Our own mouth, our own speaking and talking and discussions, when God's about to do something great, take us into it a new place, a deeper place, a higher experience, how many times have we been here? Think about it. How many times have we been here, but we let our tongues snatch victory from our hearts? We could have been there, but we decided to talk about it and criticize it and confuse it. I know people don't like to hear these kinds of things, but brother, words can set you free or they can bind you up. The Bible says it over and over. The Bible is replete with the fact that our words are creative and they are powerful. They can make something happen or they can snuff the life out of something. Joshua knew it and he said to the people, "Not this time. Just do what I tell you to do and when I give you the signal, then I want to hear from you. But until then, close your mouth. Until then, seal it up and zip it up. Don't even take a chance that something destructive could come out of your mouth, that something you say can create a bad atmosphere in you and it spread to OTHER PEOPLE. I TELL YOU AGAIN, CHURCH, what you say can bind you, imprison you, destroy you, defeat you or if you speak words of life, they can raise you up, they can resurrect you, they can build you, they can cleanse YOU, THEY CAN EMPOWER YOU. The proverb says, "Keep your tongue from evil and your lips from speaking guile." The other proverb says, "He that keeps his mouth keeps his life." Another proverb says, "Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue will keep his soul from trouble." Look at it. If I can control this, I can enjoy life, have life, spread life. If I can control this, I can stay out of trouble and not be TENSE AND ANXIOUS ALL OF THE TIME. EVEN PETER IN THE NEW Testament said, "He that would love life and see good days, let him re- refrain his tongue from evil and his lips from speaking guile."

So Joshua's instruction was to the people, "Don't talk." Because if you're not praying, your talking will turn into murmuring and complaining and cursing and cussing. So we're going to go across this river and we're going to march around this city. We're going to do this for a week. We're going to march around once a day for 6 days and on the 7th day we're going to march around seven times. You are not to utter a word. No matter what they say to you up on top of the walls. No matter what they call you, no matter what they throw at you, don't say a word. Be silent. But then when I give the signal, shout to the walls. See, our problem is we're shouting at each other. Shout to the wall. Turn your words to the walls, not to each other. Not your neighbor. Your neighbor's not your hindrance. Your neighbor's not the barrier. It's those walls up there. Turn it all in that direction and shout. I want to tell you something, brothers and sisters. When we shout at each other, the same thing happens as when we shout to the walls. We crumble and we fall. When we shout at each other, we crumble people. We destroy people and eventually ourselves. There's a lot of shouting going on these days, yelling and screaming and accusing, which is what Satan would have. He loves it because he sees us all just crumbling, melting, if you will, deteriorating. All we're doing is shouting about us and them and this and that. And the word of God has departed from our mouth. And instead of speaking words of life, we are speaking condemning words. And we are seeing the results of it. Brother, one of the most powerful verses you will read in this time is in Ephesians chapter 2 where Paul declares that he, the Lord, has broken down the middle wall of separation. He was referring to the fact that two opposing races of people, Jews and Gentiles, who had nothing in common, wanted nothing to do with each other, could not stand each other. The Jews considered the Gentiles or the non-Jews filthy dogs and useless pigs. And the Gentiles, the non-Jews, thought, "Those are insane maniacs who serve some kind of crazy God and they're nothing but religious fanatics." PAUL SAID, "Through Jesus, he took two peoples who were totally opposed, could not stand each other, and through the cross and the shed blood brought them together, eliminated their animosity, removed their hatred, CAUSED THEM TO FALL IN LOVE WITH EACH OTHER. AND with two people like that, he started a brand new race of people called the church of the living God."

And I say to you, if God can do that between Jews and non-Jews, HE CAN CERTAINLY BREAK DOWN color barriers, cultural fences, racial divisions, AND WALLS THAT HAVE BEEN ERECTED through hundreds OF YEARS OF FIGHTING AND disagreement and hatred. If he can heal religious adversaries and bring them together in him, he can surely help ALL OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY. ALL OF US BUILT THIS COUNTRY. ALL OF US WITH RED blood in our veins BUILT THE MIGHTIEST NATION THAT THE WORLD HAS ever seen. We did it through a civil war. WE'VE DONE IT THROUGH WORLD WARS. WE'VE DONE IT THROUGH ALL KINDS OF SOCIAL DISTRACTIONS. WE'VE BEEN DISHONEST WITH each with EACH OTHER. WE'VE MISTREATED EACH OTHER. WE'VE MISTRUSTED EACH OTHER. BUT SOMEHOW GOD, WITH ALL THE DIFFERENCES, BUILT THE MIGHTIEST NATION THAT EVER HAS BEEN ON THIS PLANET. AND I SAY TO YOU, IF GOD CAN HEAL TWO RELIGIOUS ADVERSARIES, GOD CAN PUT BROTHERS BACK TOGETHER. GOD CAN LET BROTHERS AND SISTERS LOVE ONE ANOTHER IN JESUS CHRIST. In Christ, God can help us respect our differences and recognize our sameness in him. All that's left to do for me and you is take our sandals off our feet. Realize he's come to fight for us. This mighty man of war is about to scream. He's about to shout victory. But I got to take my sandals off and bury my face at his feet, seal up my mouth and let him stick a sword in my heart. And nothing other than that is going to change us. I've got to understand that we don't we don't yell at each other. We got to yell at the walls.

Let me talk about walls for a moment. You know, when natural man is given authority, he uses it for the people he likes and he uses it against the people he doesn't like. I'm going to repeat that. When natural man is given authority, he uses it for people he likes. And he uses it against people he doesn't like. And that's what we call the abuse of power. When people don't have a voice, they become victims. When they are bullied into a corner and told to be quiet and a wall is erected, what you have enclosed in that wall is a city of victims. Nobody listens. Nobody really believes it's that bad. You see, it is it is the basic nature of human beings to cry when we are in pain. The first things babies do is scream because they are uncomfortable. It is who we are. When we hurt, we cry. When we are without, when we have needs, we cry. We scream. But when those voices are shut down, ignored, all you have are people in pain and nobody's listening. Nobody believed all those Catholic young boys who cried and said they were abused by Catholic priests. Nobody believed that. That's too bad. Ah, that's just sour grapes. For years and years, tens of thousands of innocent boys, victims of homosexuals and pedophiles under the cover of religion and church getting away with it because they shut their voices down and they just remained victims. NOBODY WOULD believe them. Nobody would say, "Okay, let's at least give them an audience." No, they said it can't be that bad. You see, when people are trapped behind walls so high and so thick that nobody can hear them anymore, people out here are okay. They're fine. They go on with their lives. But people in there are living in misery. And and you tell me that you you pack a prison full of men or women, pack it full. They've got nowhere to go. And they're supposed to improve? Why, we've been home for two or three months in nice houses with a variety of food. We've had cell phones. We could watch television. We had relative freedom. And we fought with each other. We got mad and we struck one another. And we screamed and yelled. What do you expect from people who are trapped behind walls of confinement, CANNOT GET OUT, DON'T have a variety of food, don't have tons of entertainment, don't have a clean, nice bed every night, don't have any privacy? And we expect them just to be quiet and improve? Native Americans, we call them Indians for a long time, were slaughtered and robbed of everything. And the government pushed them out on reservations as far as they could, built walls around them, so to speak, and said, "Shh, be quiet. It's our land. Here's some money from the government. Go get all the liquor you want. Just leave us alone. Shh, be quiet." What an injustice. And if you think that God almighty, the commander of the Lord's army, has forgotten it like we have, you are dead wrong, my brother. There are people in those reservations killing, dying, suffering, crying, but nobody hears it. What do you expect when African-Americans are with inferior everything on top of one another, don't know how to get out? Not even possible to get Oh, a few slip out here and there and find their way and things work out. But can we be honest? How can you expect people in pain who are doing without just to be quiet when they don't have A VOICE? THEY LIVE A LIFE OF A VICTIM. WALLS. SHH, that's what we say. Get behind the wall. Stay there. Don't bother us. Poor white people in Appalachia living in shacks and run-down trailers, scared to death of the local law who tells them how to vote and arrests them if they don't comply. Walls. Shh, just be quiet up there in the mountains. Don't bother us. Immigrants. You cannot make me believe that these immigrants are coming to destroy this country. You can't make me believe that. I believe that the vast, huge majority just want to feed their family. They want a house. They want their babies to have health care. They want their children to have an education. They're not all coming over here planting bombs under cars and trying to set up sale groups. Not all of them. They see that flag with those stars on it and those red and white stripes and they see the lifestyle they believe everybody's enjoying and they say whatever it takes, I will swim across a river. I will fight the law. I will climb a barbed wire fence if I can just get over there. But when that doesn't happen, it is the basic, I repeat, the basic instinct of human beings to cry, to scream, to try to get some attention, to need help. And if we, the church, think that the best thing we do all week is come here, shout and sing for an hour and a half, or maybe go to a Sunday school class, or maybe come during the week to some special class. If we think that that I that that is the summation of our Christian duty and call, we do not know the Bible. If we can look at hurting humanity and be disgusted by it and be angered by it without having the commander of the Lord's

Army put that sword right at our heart and say, "Is this the right feeling? Do you think this is how I felt when I was hanging on a cross? That I look down at people and say, 'You are the scourge of the earth, YOU SCOUNDRELS, YOU DIRTY PEOPLE, YOU REBELS, you make TOO MUCH NOISE, YOU'RE NEVER SATISFIED.'"

NO, JESUS SAID WHILE HANGING THERE, "FATHER, FORGIVE THEM. THEY DON'T KNOW WHAT THEY'RE DOING. FATHER, I'M HANGING HERE TO SAVE PEOPLE FROM THEIR SINS AND FROM THEMSELVES. FATHER, LET WHAT'S IN MY HEART FLOW DOWN TO THIS GROUND AND FLOW OUT TO THESE PEOPLE. FOR GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD THAT HE GAVE HIS ONLY BEGOTTEN SON THAT WHOSOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM should not perish but have everlasting life. I'll be glad when this is over. That's what I said. I'm ashamed. I'm a minister. I'm a citizen of heaven. I belong to this new race of people. What in What in What was I saying? I'll be glad when this is over. I'll be glad when people go back home. I'll be glad. And then what? And then what? There are people behind the walls."

>> [snorts] >> And there is only one way. And you may disagree with my illustration this morning and you think I've got it all backwards because the people behind the walls of Jericho were evil people and God wanted them dead. That's I know that and you know what I'm saying. But I'm telling you right now, my brother, if we don't have a hotter compassion and a bigger ear, if we're not listening more and praying about it more, why do people act the way they act? Why is the world in the condition it's in? And when it's over, will we be happy to just keep on talking, forget about the walls, and just enjoy ourselves?

This is what I think the Lord has spoken to me. I don't know sometimes if it's me or him. I don't. But several times I've made the reference that when we get back, things are going to be different. This is it. I am not going to endure church as usual. I am not going to a show every Sunday for an hour and a half and feel better because I did my religious obligation. I'm not. These hands are supposed to get dirty.

>> [snorts] >> And I don't know how to do this. I just don't know how, but God's going to help us do it.

>> [snorts] >> What has happened to the heart of the church that we can't at least listen? My God, just listen. You might hear something you've never heard before. Don't just close your ears and say, "You people shut up." Realize people are behind walls and they're trapped and they can't get out. But I got out. Jesus got me out. You understand what I'm saying? Jesus got me out. Maybe if Jesus would help ME GET SOMEBODY ELSE OUT, the world would be a better place. EVERY TIME ONE PRISONER GETS set free, the world is a BETTER PLACE. EVERY MAN OR WOMAN THAT WALKS OUT OF SPIRITUAL prison makes the world A BETTER PLACE. EVERY CITIZEN OF THE US THAT DISCOVERS LIFE IN JESUS AND WALKS OUT OF THE WALLS MAKES THIS A BETTER COUNTRY.

BUT WHY COULDN'T WE, AS THE CHURCH, CURSE THIS RACISM THING? WHY COULDN'T WE STAND UP AGAINST IT AND REALIZE IT'S NOT just a social disorder, IT'S A SPIRITUAL DISEASE. AND INSTEAD OF JUST TALKING ABOUT IT AND TRYING TO COUNSEL OUR WAYS OUT OF IT, WHY COULDN'T WE STAND ON TWO FEET RIGHT IN FRONT OF THE LORD OF THE COMMANDER OF THE ARMIES AND SAY, "WE CURSE YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS." WE SPEAK THE NAME of Jesus. WE DON'T SPEAK THE PRESIDENT'S NAME. WE DON'T SPEAK ADVERSARIES' NAMES. WE SPEAK THE NAME OF JESUS. WE WANT THE WALLS TO COME DOWN AND THE CAPTIVE TO BE SET FREE.

So >> [applause] >> Say it with me. Jesus said, >> [snorts] >> "The spirit of the Lord is upon me, for he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor." See, this is what the Holy Spirit does. He did not come just so we could speak in tongues. He did not come so we could just wave and sway once a week. The spirit of the Lord is upon me because he has anointed [music] me to preach the gospel to the poor. Listen, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted. To proclaim liberty to the captives.

>> [snorts] >> Did you hear it? To the prisoners, to the captives. There's liberty in Jesus.

>> [snorts] >> And recovery of sight to the blind. To set at liberty those who are oppressed. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord now.

>> [snorts] >> Am I wrong when I say we've all got some bad attitudes? Am I wrong? When I say we have not listened properly, am I wrong? If I say we haven't really cared, am I wrong? If I say they're aggravating. WE'D BE FINE IF IT WEREN'T FOR THAT. AM I WRONG? NO, I'm not wrong. I'm telling you that we've >> [music] >> become so unspiritual. Walls can't come down because all we're doing is talking. Please, Jesus, don't make me or don't let me say what I shouldn't say. Please, Jesus.

>> [snorts] >> If you're talking Democrat and Republican, you're the problem. If [snorts] all that's on your mind is the next election, you are the problem. If we aren't proclaiming from here, if we aren't listening here, if we're saying shh, we're the problem.

>> [snorts] >> We've got to start here, church. Right here. I need to quit, don't I? But I can't. I laid in bed the other morning thinking, "You know, if if if a man has constant severe migraine headaches, and he goes to the doctor, [music] and the doctor says, 'You have a tumor. That's why you have constant migraines.' And the man says, 'Well, what do I do?' He says, 'We'll have to do surgery. If I can get the tumor out, we can solve the headache [music] problem.' 'I don't want to do that. That's going too far. Just give me some stronger medicine. Just give me something I can pop right quick and make the pain go away.' And the doctor says, 'But you you got a tumor. If you let me remove it, you can have free days without migraines and pain.' 'I don't want that. Just give me some stronger medicine.' Oh God, is is that what we are guilty of now? Instead of the church getting on its face and writhing in the presence of God at the feet of the commander of the Lord's army, instead of taking OUR SHOES OFF AND REALIZING HE'S COME TO FIGHT FOR US, we just want TO HAVE CHURCH. BUT GOD WANTS TO GO DOWN DEEP. WE GOT A TUMOR. And we stay on the verge of aggravation AND DIVISION ALL THE TIME CUZ WE GOT A TUMOR. BUT WE DON'T WANT SURGERY FROM THE SWORD OF THE SPIRIT.

So, the same thing applies to the world waking up every day with a headache and a heartache, and and the good physician says, 'You got a tumor. It's called sin. Let me cut it out. Oh, you'll have a headache every once in a while, but you won't have to live with this constant agony.' That's why we proclaim Jesus. Am I supposed to call an an altar call, am I? I can't. This is terrible. If you believe anything you heard this morning, say amen.

>> [applause] >> All right. Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus, I come to you today and ask you to let your word rest on our tongues because it has been seared into our hearts. I ask you today, Lord, to open our ears that we can listen to other people. We just want to hear from you sometimes, Lord, but you told us, "Listen to other people."

>> [music] >> Let us realize that what we're fighting against is a spirit, >> [snorts] >> and spirits [music] only respond to spirits. And so, through the Holy Spirit, we gather together and say to that evil spirit of division, "You are cursed in Jesus' name. Your destination is the flames of hell. You're going to be locked up one of these days for eternity, but we're not going to let you reign in here now. You may be ALL OVER THE WORLD, BUT YOU'RE NOT GOING TO REIGN IN THIS HOUSE. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO REIGN IN OUR FAMILY. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO REIGN IN MY HEART. YOU ARE CURSED. I CALL YOU OUT, AND I DAMN YOU IN THE NAME OF JESUS." And the whole church said, "Amen." Sing, David. Jesus.

>> [singing] >> Oh Lord, Jesus. >> [music] >> Jesus. Won't [singing] you move among us? >> [music] >> Lord, [singing] and free >> [music] >> free >> [music] [singing] >> Oh Lord, free us >> [music] >> to >> [music] >> obey >> [singing] >> and worship you.

>> [music] >> And now, let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable IN THY SIGHT, oh Lord, my strength and my redeemer. Amen. God bless you. We'll see you tomorrow night at 7:00 for prayer meeting. Have a blessed day.

>> [music]