Participants: Pr. John Lomacang
Series Code: 09HC
Program Code: 09HC000002
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00:24 Welcome to 3ABN's Fall Camp Meeting, Homecoming 2009.
00:32 Featuring inspired messages from your 3ABN Family. 00:39 Along with uplifting Christian music 00:41 all to prepare your heart for the coming of the Lord. 00:47 Once again we want to welcome all of you to 00:50 3ABN's Homecoming weekend right here 00:53 in beautiful Southern Illinois at the 00:55 Thompsonville Seventh-day Adventist Church, 00:58 also know as the 3ABN Worship Center. 01:01 So, I welcome all of you here in this beautiful 01:03 congregation as well as you that are viewing from 01:06 around the world we welcome you and this morning 01:10 we are going to be blessed by Pastor John Lomacang. 01:13 He is the pastor here at the Thompsonville 01:15 Seventh-day Adventist Church. 01:16 How many of have seen him on 3ABN for years now? 01:19 He co-host with Pastor John Stanton 01:22 house calls this view on 3ABN several times 01:26 a week as they answer questions and just expand 01:29 on the scriptures and we have learned from 01:32 this program that both of these men are lovers 01:35 of God's word imparts much knowledge 01:38 and wisdom and understanding and ability 01:41 to express what they receive from God. 01:44 So, I know we are going to be blessed again as 01:46 Pastor Lomacang ministers us too this morning. 01:48 But, before Pastor Lomacang comes 01:51 we have Kateena Leforge with us. 01:53 I'm gonna ask Kateena to come now. 01:54 And she is going to minister a beautiful song. 01:57 It's a song that I think is upon all of our hearts. 02:02 It's just a simple song 02:03 'Where can I go but where to, 02:06 but to the Lord'. But to the Lord, to the Lord. 02:08 Blesses as my sister. 02:10 Check once. 02:21 Living below in this old sinful world 02:29 Hardly a comfort can afford 02:37 Striving alone to face temptation so 02:46 Where could I go but to the Lord 02:55 Where could I go oh where could I go 03:03 Seeking the refuge for my soul 03:11 Needing a friend to save me in the end 03:19 Won't you tell me 03:20 Where could I go but to the Lord 03:37 Life here is grand with friends I love so dear 03:45 Comfort I get from God's own word 03:53 Yet when I face that chilling hand of death 04:01 Won't you tell me 04:02 Where could I go but to the Lord 04:10 Where could I go oh where could I go 04:19 Seeking the refuge for my soul 04:27 Needing a friend to save me in the end 04:34 Won't you tell me 04:36 Where could I go but to the Lord. 04:44 Where could I go but to the Lord 04:52 To the Lord. Amen. 05:05 Amen. Just like the song says you got to have 05:09 somewhere to go when trial comes, 05:11 amen, and what better place to go then to the Lord. 05:16 Thank you so much Kateena. Let's bow our heads 05:19 and ask for the God to bless this message. 05:21 Father in heaven, we are so frail, 05:26 we just don't know it. 05:29 We are, we get our best, 05:33 but we don't admit it. 05:37 Father we are short-sighted, 05:38 but we claim to see at all. 05:42 And we are lacking understanding, 05:44 but we claim to have wisdom beyond our ears. 05:49 We pray this morning as we open your word 05:50 that your strength will be imparted to us 05:54 to help us to understand the gravity of that song 05:57 that this is the opportunity to go the Lord, 06:01 in Jesus name I pray, amen. Amen. 06:05 I know you have your Bibles with you this morning 06:07 I would like you to open to the book of Job. 06:14 The book of Job, you know its Job, 06:19 Job what I often say is 06:26 Job's God did a Job on Satan. 06:33 It always amazes me that this entire book 06:37 was dedicated to the life of one man. 06:40 Years ago, I heard a song with the title 06:43 what a difference a day makes, 06:46 24 and one hours. 06:49 And the fact is we really never know 06:52 what the future holds, we just go forwarded 06:55 with expectations of great things, 06:57 but we go forward with the tentativeness 06:59 of uncertainty, never really knowing 07:03 what tomorrow is going to bring. 07:06 Twenty four hours is a long time. 07:10 In 24 hours we can go from prosperity to adversity, 07:15 in 24 hours, we can go from total calm to total panic, 07:20 in 24 hours we can go from sunshine to clouds, 07:23 and if you live in the Midwest 07:24 it doesn't take that long, 07:27 in 24 short hours. 07:31 We can be financially secure one moment 07:36 and completely bankrupt the next, 24 hours. 07:42 One moment our world can be secure 07:44 and the other our world can be a complete wreck, 07:49 and sometimes in less the 24 hours. 07:54 My wife and I've had events that have completely 07:57 changed our world within 24 hours. 08:00 And so as I share the sermon today, 08:02 I'm not just talking about what Job went through, 08:06 matter of fact I say it this way, 08:08 if you have never gone through a trail 08:11 you are not telling the truth, 08:12 amen. Can you say Amen? Amen. 08:15 If you are walking, if you are breathing, 08:17 you know what trials are all about. 08:20 And further more if Jesus is your Lord, 08:23 you know what it is like for the devil 08:25 to get on your back. 08:27 You know what it's like to face hardship 08:30 and deprivation, you know what is like 08:32 to wake up one morning and ask yourself 08:35 the question should I have awakened today. 08:41 Another songwriter said rainy days 08:43 and Mondays always get me down. 08:47 But, if it wasn't Monday it'd be Tuesday 08:50 and I want to say you to the trials really have 08:52 no particular day, they just show up 08:54 when the time comes and I want to say 08:57 this in the very beginning 08:58 trials are no surprise to God. 09:00 Can you say Amen? Amen. 09:02 The Lord knows when it's coming 09:05 and I love the fact that Ellen White says 09:07 God measures the trials before 09:10 he allows them to come to his children. 09:13 Amen. The God has not measured his blessings. 09:17 He just knows how far he can bless us. 09:20 Twenty Four hours, it makes a difference. 09:24 It's easy to be a Christian when prosperity rolls. 09:26 It's natural to praise God when our plans are 09:29 working out the way that we want them to. 09:31 It's automatic to say praise God 09:33 when disease is absent. 09:35 It's a joy to give thanks to God and when 09:37 our prayers are answered, 09:39 but one of the certainties 09:42 of life is the uncertainty of life. 09:47 What a difference a day makes? 09:52 A wise man and I want to say wise because 09:54 after you have married 700 women, 09:59 I think you learn a thing or two. 10:03 And now wiser man in Ecclesiastes 9 10:06 and verse 12, he said for man also 10:09 does not know his time. 10:12 A wise man said that. 10:14 Like a fish taken in a cruel net, 10:18 like birds caught in a snare. 10:21 So, the sons of men are snared in an evil time 10:25 when it falls suddenly upon them. 10:28 Trials don't send you emails before they come. 10:33 You don't get a registered mail saying 10:34 tomorrow at 04:30 PM 10:36 a trail is going to begin. 10:38 That's why brothers and sisters 10:39 we have got to walk with the Jesus 10:41 every moment of everyday, can you say, Amen. Amen. 10:44 You can wait until the time come to get 10:46 to know who Jesus is. 10:47 You have got know him before the trial comes, 10:50 so that when it comes you don't have to worry 10:53 where Jesus is. If you are walking 10:54 with him everyday, he is there with you 10:56 when the trials are there 10:58 and even when they are not there. Amen. 11:03 Trials of life are scheduled we just don't know when. 11:08 And we don't know where they are going to begin. 11:11 The reason I said they are scheduled because 11:13 nothing catches God off guard. 11:17 We never know what to expect 11:18 and when to expect it. 11:20 There is no Lord that we can take 11:22 to avoid the storms. 11:24 There is no map that we can follow 11:26 to dodge the pitfalls When our time comes, 11:29 our time comes. 11:34 I wish I could stop the sermon right now 11:36 and just give you a history of our trials. 11:40 But, I don't wanna do that 11:42 because I believe that when the trail is behind you, 11:47 it does as well and the gives us a whole lot more 11:49 energy to not keep repeating those trials, 11:52 Amen. Amen. 11:54 Sometimes we have to give the devil less press. 11:57 Amen. And talk about the goodness of God more. 12:00 You know sometime you come to church 12:01 and you say to be how you are doing today 12:03 and they give you all the resume of all that 12:05 the devil has done or try to do. 12:07 What we need to say if we can still speak, 12:09 we are to say that devil tried this but praise God, 12:13 He is a lot stronger than the devil. 12:15 Amen. God brought me through 12:17 a tough one this time but God brought me through. 12:22 But, the question is what do we do when the rain 12:24 and bad news comes on the same day? 12:28 What do we do the diagnosis is terminal? 12:30 What do we do when we get laid off 12:33 just before the holiday season? 12:37 What do we do when we are one of those 12:39 five million that no longer can afford 12:42 to keep their homes? 12:44 What do we do when troubles come in and 12:47 we are on Satan's hit list, what do we do? 12:53 Well, I like to pause today to walk 12:55 you through the life of man that knew what to do. 12:58 I think that Christians are to have a, 13:02 what could I call that here, 13:03 we are to have a plan in place. 13:06 Let me, let me refer to us, 13:07 we are to have a plan of salvation when trials come. 13:11 Job had a plan of salvation when trials came. 13:14 Go with me to Job chapter 1, 13:17 we are going to look at the resume of a man 13:20 who God's saw fit to dedicate an entire book 13:24 to just this man's trials. 13:26 And I would suggest you we can learn a lot 13:28 from the way that Job walked with God 13:30 through his difficult times. 13:33 Beginning with Job chapter 1 and 13:35 we are going look at verse 1 to 3, 13:36 let's look at his resume. 13:39 You know, when we want to get a Job 13:41 we boast our resume. 13:43 But, what I like about Job's resume is God 13:47 has his hand in Job's resume, 13:52 because what is written in the Bible is not 13:54 what Job wants us to know, 13:56 but what God wants us to know about Job. 13:59 Let me, let me just, I mean go further on that. 14:01 Aren't you glad that people don't know 14:04 everything about you? Yeah. Yes. 14:12 You see after David messed up 14:15 and he cried out to God, 14:17 God not only forgave him but redeemed him 14:20 and then called him a man after God's own heart. 14:26 God covers us, and then gives us the credit 14:32 for the way that we shine to his glory, 14:34 praise God for that. Amen. 14:36 The Bible says about Job. Look at this man's resume, 14:40 Job chapter 1 beginning with verse 1, 14:43 there was a man in the Land of Uz, 14:46 not the land of us, this was real, 14:52 whose name was Job; and that man was blameless 14:58 and upright. You know, 15:01 when God can call you blameless and upright, 15:04 that's praise the Lord, 15:08 and one who feared God and shunned evil. 15:12 Look at his possessions and seven sons 15:17 and three daughters were born to him. 15:21 You need God when you have 10 children. 15:28 Bible tells us that Job would wake up 15:31 early in the morning and pray for his children 15:33 and even offer to God sacrifices 15:36 for their sin before they sin. 15:41 When you have 10 children you need kneepads. 15:46 As one writer said you send knee mails to God, 15:51 not email. Also in verse 3, 15:55 his possessions were seven thousand sheep, 15:59 three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen, 16:06 five hundred female donkeys, 16:11 and a very large household, 16:14 so that this man was the, 16:18 what's the next word? Greatest. 16:20 Greatest of all the people of the East. 16:23 Notice the Bible didn't say he was the greatest 16:26 of all the people of the earth 16:28 and the reason for that there is always 16:30 somebody can do it better then you. 16:33 Don't ever think yourself to be the greatest. 16:36 Whatever you do as somebody wants us I can do better. 16:40 No, I'm saying I can do better, 16:41 but there is always somebody that God 16:44 has that can take your place 16:46 when you think that you are better then anybody else. 16:50 So, as far as the East was concerned, 16:52 Job was the greatest of all the people of the East. 16:55 Solomon was from the East. 16:57 The wise men were from the East. 17:03 But, what these tells me is that trials 17:05 are not cancelled because of our possessions. 17:09 Trials don't care about your fame. 17:14 Trials don't take into account your popularity 17:17 or your wealth, or your fortune. 17:19 None of those things exempt us 17:22 from the trials of life. 17:25 But, on the contrary I would suggest 17:27 you the more you have the more trials 17:29 you are going to have. 17:32 My wife and I got our, and I think the Lord 17:36 for some of the turnaround in AIG 17:38 can you hard Amen. Amen. 17:41 You know, those AIG, those three letters AIG 17:43 is a bad word right now. 17:46 I remember getting our statement of 17:48 our Pastoral Retirement Fund. 17:54 Only to determent that I lost thousands 17:58 and I thought now I can retire 65 18:00 after work till I'm 75. 18:03 But, things are turning around 18:05 but I want to say this, this morning 18:06 I don't even put my faith in that, 18:08 my faith is still in the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. 18:12 Because he is the only one that said your bread 18:13 and your water shall be sure. 18:16 Job had trials and friends you got to keep 18:20 this mind calling yourself great 18:23 and being called great by God 18:25 is something all together different. 18:27 Not a great people just died. 18:30 Farrah Fawcett great, Michael Jackson great, 18:36 and I forget the list, Walter Cronkite 18:40 and Ted Kennedy and Pastor E.E. Cleveland; 18:46 I just pray that one the Lord 18:47 comes he calls them great. Can you say Amen? Amen. 18:50 That's all that really matters because 18:52 greatness in the eyes of man 18:54 and greatness in the eyes of God 18:56 are not the same thing. 19:00 Some writer said when the angel that open 19:04 their records not a trace of his greatness could find. 19:10 But, Job was the great man because 19:11 God called him great. 19:13 If God said that Job was great, 19:15 Job was great, but one of the pitfalls 19:18 are being well know is this, 19:20 everyone knows when you stand and everyone knows 19:23 when you fall. I can imagine Job's neighbors, 19:28 what a trial that must have been, 19:29 being at the top is all that it's stacked up 19:32 to be being way up their means 19:34 you get more breeze than anybody else. 19:37 And sometimes the wind blows and bends you more, 19:40 but I'm so glad to know that God knows 19:42 how much we can bend and God always keeps us 19:45 when we trust him from breaking. 19:47 Can you say Amen? Amen. But the young 19:48 people now a days they have this new 19:50 term in the context of that modern vernacular, 19:52 I must say every dog has his day. 19:59 Verse 6 of Job chapter 1, 20:02 now there was day, Hum! 20:06 You remember your day I said, 20:08 you remember you day? Let me assure do you 20:11 remember your day when you're trial came? 20:15 There was a day did you make it through? 20:19 Can you say, Amen? Amen. 20:21 There was a day when the sons of God 20:25 came to present themselves before the Lord, 20:29 and Satan also came among them. 20:32 Why is it that the devil always tries to break up 20:35 the good times we have? 20:38 Always in the middle of our stuff, 20:43 always in the middle of our celebrations, 20:46 trying to find the way to turn our good 20:48 times into bad times, the devil came also 20:50 but the Bible didn't tell where the meeting place was. 20:56 But according the Bible it couldn't have been 20:57 in the heaven because revelation 12 21:00 and verse 7 says, war broke out in heaven. 21:03 Michael and his angels fought with a dragon 21:05 and the dragon and its angels fought back, 21:07 but they did not prevail, Praise the Lord. 21:10 They didn't make it. They did not win. 21:12 But it says nor was a place found 21:15 for them in heaven any longer. 21:16 So, the great dragon was cast out, 21:19 that serpent of old called the Devil and Satan, 21:21 who deceived the whole world: 21:23 he was cast to the earth and his angles 21:26 were cast out with him. 21:29 This meeting did not take place in heaven. 21:32 According to the subtangent we call it the LXX. 21:36 Some Bible writers say that the sons of God 21:38 could refer to angles, so when the sons of God 21:41 came to present themselves some writers say 21:44 that could have been the angels. 21:46 Other translators suggest that 21:48 it was representatives of other unfallen worlds 21:51 that came to present themselves, 21:52 but either case the meeting did not 21:55 take place in heaven. 21:58 But notice Satan's own testimony 22:01 verse 7 and verse 8, 22:05 and the Lord said to Satan, 22:08 "from where did you come?" 22:10 So, Satan answered the Lord and said, 22:12 "from going to in and fro on the earth 22:16 and from walking back and forth on it". 22:22 He was spending his time in the earth looking 22:24 for someone and does the same thing today. 22:27 The Bible says he is as a roaring lion doing what, 22:31 walking about, like a roaring lion seeking 22:35 whom he may about, what he did then 22:37 he still does today, walking around, 22:40 ringing peoples bell late at night, 22:43 showing up at their hospital bed, 22:45 showing up at their Job before they get to work, 22:48 getting them fired, car breaking down 22:51 in middle of the highway, children acting up 22:53 when you think they gonna do well, 22:54 come on can you give me an Amen? Amen. 22:56 The devil shows up and he shows up unscheduled, 23:00 but the beauty of this is wherever he shows up, 23:02 you have to know and remember that God 23:05 is ever present. Amen. 23:07 The Lord is there before the devil gets there, 23:10 back and forth in the earth, but I like this, 23:13 you see verse 8 is amazing to me because verse 8 23:16 didn't say that Satan asked about Job. 23:18 It says that the Lord said. 23:26 The Lord said to Satan, 23:28 "have you considered my servant Job, 23:35 that there is none like him on the earth, 23:38 a blameless and upright man one who fears 23:41 God and shuns evil. Let me suggest you 23:46 God would have never given Job 23:51 as a reference to the devil 23:55 unless he knew that Job was a man that trusted God. 24:00 You see God does not lend us to the devil, 24:02 Amen. Amen. God doesn't say, well, 24:05 I am going to lend to the devil on Friday, 24:06 but I want you back on Sabbath morning. 24:10 He brought up Job's name because 24:12 he understood that Job was a man 24:14 that could not be bought, he could not be sold, 24:17 he could not be compromised, 24:19 he didn't turn his back on God, 24:20 he was one that feared God and shunned evil. 24:23 It is so good to know that if you trust God, 24:25 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 24:28 God has the freedom to bring up your name 24:30 and know that when he does, 24:31 you won't fail him, Amen. Amen. 24:34 So, the question is now whether or not God 24:36 is going to fail us. The question is whether 24:37 or not we are going to fail God, 24:38 what do you do when difficulty come? 24:40 Does God get the blame? 24:41 Well, the Bible continues, 24:43 God said there is none like him. 24:45 He fears me and he avoids evil. 24:48 But on any given day, at any given time 24:51 without any prior notice for no apparent reason 24:54 you will be faced with the challenge of your life, 24:57 and when your day comes there are not detours, 25:00 no preventive measures, no side stepping, 25:03 one day God will have a conversation 25:05 with Satan about you. 25:08 I want you to be afraid that because 25:10 before we get any further, we have to rejoice that 25:13 God identifies with Job, what you say? 25:20 Job is God's child. God is Job's Lord. 25:32 Just so that you can get it, you are God's child. 25:35 Amen. God is your Lord, 25:39 and if God before us come on, 25:41 now who can be against us. 25:44 You see, I don't know if you get that, 25:45 you've got to get that, that sounds religious 25:47 but let me just break that down from religiosity 25:50 to everyday practical application. 25:52 Listen up very carefully, wake the person 25:54 of sitting next to you, 25:55 they don't want to miss this 25:56 because they are going to need this statement, 25:58 you've got to know that when trials come 26:00 you are not just another person, 26:02 if God is your Lord you're his child, 26:04 what do you say? Amen. 26:06 You are not just some obituary individual 26:08 on the planet of seven billon plus people 26:11 wondering how things are going to workout 26:13 because the Bible says every good 26:15 and every perfect gift comes down 26:18 from the father of enlighten in which there 26:20 is no shadow of turning and if God makes 26:22 a promise to you God is able to 26:24 carry that promise through, Amen. Amen. 26:26 God doesn't say your life is an accident 26:28 and by the way on that very note, 26:30 stop saying good luck. 26:34 You know, some folks say well good luck 26:35 and they are Christians. 26:37 My life is not the roll of a dice, 26:39 my life is will of God, what do you say? Amen. 26:41 So, don't live your life like you are wondering 26:43 what's going to happen. God knows what is 26:45 going to happen that's what the Bible says, 26:46 trust in the Lord your God with all your heart 26:50 and lean not on your own understanding 26:54 and all your ways acknowledge him and 26:57 he will direct your paths. 26:59 I think the problem comes when we try to direct 27:01 our paths that's why I saw card the other day, 27:05 I say the other day could have been 20 years ago 27:06 I don't remember when, you know, when you pass 50, 27:10 the other day just starts be any day you pick, 27:16 am I telling the truth? Yes. 27:19 You know, you have a hard time remembering 27:21 folk's names. You look by the mere eyes, umm, umm, 27:25 and you say you are tired but you know, 27:27 we know, it is something else. 27:32 But you know, I saw a sticker with somebody 27:34 had God is my co-pilot, you know, 27:37 let me suggest you that person is in trouble. 27:39 They better give God the steering wheel, 27:41 what do you say? 27:43 We don't need God as our co-pilot. 27:45 We need the Lord driving that car. 27:47 My wife and I just came back from London, 27:49 England. We were there for couple of weeks 27:51 and I told some of my friends about 27:54 my experience there. I had the nerve 27:57 you've got to be brave or you got to be 27:59 out of your mind, to rent a vehicle in England 28:05 with a right side steering wheel, 28:08 left hands stick shift and everything 28:11 is on the opposite side. 28:12 But I want to say when they said, 28:15 now do you realize that the steering 28:17 wheel on the other side, yeah I do, 28:21 or do you realize that the stick shift, 28:23 can you drive a stick shift from the, 28:24 see and here we go in out then you go for out to in 28:27 and you got remember when you make a ride 28:29 you turn into the other lane not this other lane. 28:31 I told somebody then he said, 28:32 well, I had some friends that 28:33 did they are dead now. 28:38 What I did is when I got to England 28:40 there was a sewage, you know, 28:41 some days you just got to think 28:43 completely differently, am I telling the truth? 28:45 Yeah. Some days Lord just changes the way you think. 28:48 I have submitted myself, clint I said, 28:50 Lord this is your time I am going to drive around 28:52 and I want to say a hearty Amen to my family 28:55 for seven family members putting their 28:57 lives in my hand. Amen. 28:59 You got to really trust somebody to get in a van 29:02 with somebody who does not live in England 29:04 and drive around that whole 29:05 country for two weeks, 29:07 but I want to say I didn't have an almost 29:09 accident to God be the glory. 29:10 Praise the God. The point of matter is 29:13 there is not so much what you can do, 29:15 but when you commit your ways into the Lord, 29:17 God can do anything. I believe those kinds of 29:20 verses when it says I can do all things 29:22 through Christ who strengthen me. 29:23 I believe that. Amen. 29:24 I don't believe that just another good Bible verse 29:26 in the book of Philippians I believe it's true. 29:29 I believe with men it's impossible 29:31 but with God how many things, 29:32 All, All things are possible, 29:34 that's why you've got come to the place 29:36 when you understand that when we belong to the Lord 29:39 he will not leads us out to the devil 29:41 when God identifies with us, 29:44 Satan cannot do to us as he pleases. 29:51 When we know that we are God's children 29:53 we may go through trials but brethren it's not 29:56 what you going through, but it's who is 29:58 with you when you are going through it. 29:59 Amen. The Lord is my shepherd. 30:06 Satan suggested that Job served God for selfish 30:09 reason look at verse 9. 30:11 So, Satan answered the Lord and said, 30:13 does God, does Job fear God for nothing, 30:17 and then verse 10, Satan tried to get God 30:20 to remove the protection that Job enjoyed 30:22 and I want to say this, 30:23 I praise God from his protection. 30:24 Can you say Amen to that? Amen. I was on airplane 30:26 coming back from Miami, South West airline 737, 30:33 a 737 is not a plane to be on when there 30:35 is a lot of bad turbulence. 30:37 It seems really small. Anybody know what 30:39 I am talking about? So, we were coming 30:41 into the Midwest from the nice, 30:43 calm breezes of Miami, Florida, 30:45 descending in the Midwest 30:46 and the winds began to blow. 30:51 There was a lady sitting to my right. 30:53 She began to panic so much so that 30:55 she began to cry in her husband's armpits. 30:58 I didn't know if it wasn't her husband's armpits 31:00 making her cry or if it was the plane 31:02 that was making her cry. She buried her head 31:05 in her husband's armpits, and I am thinking 31:08 which one is this? And I was listening to 31:11 a song that I was practicing my lyrics 31:16 because I was just about to join back up 31:17 with the group that is here to sing. 31:19 I am singing with them for number of years 31:20 and I was relearning my lyrics because not long 31:23 after that I was going to the Philippians 31:24 earlier this year to sing with them 31:27 and I was listening to that song, 31:29 I know the peace speaker, I know him by name, 31:33 and I tapped that letting on her shoulder I said, 31:35 ma'm let me encourage you. 31:38 I have traveled all over the world 31:42 and I want to encourage you, 31:44 I am on a mission from God, 31:46 this plane is going to be just fine. Amen. 31:49 Praise the Lord. Amen. 31:50 Ellen White says that because a child of God 31:55 was on some mode of transportation 31:58 all of the other passengers were spared 32:00 because God's man, God's child was there 32:03 and I believe that. Amen. 32:05 When I traveled I was that promised with me, 32:07 I said, ma'm it may be rough but we are going 32:09 to land just fine. And by the way, 32:11 I had a song I think you need to listen 32:12 to while this plane is being tossed around, 32:14 all you got do is tighten your seat belt 32:16 and that the Lord do the rest. Amen. 32:18 So, I gave her the headset to listen to the song 32:20 and as she was listening we were descending 32:23 and that plane was dancing with all the high winds 32:25 in the Midwest right there in St. Louis 32:26 and I was thinking Lord 32:27 don't make me into a liar today. 32:33 I just testified about your delivering hands 32:36 showing God. You know what I am saying? 32:39 God, that plane touched down like me, 32:41 we are landing on butter, Praise the Lord, 32:44 and the song lasted until we touched down, 32:48 and when she gave me back the headset, 32:49 you know, what she said to me 32:50 and I gave the God glory for that, 32:52 she says thank you for allowing me 32:54 to travel with you. 32:56 Amen. To God be the glory. Amen. 32:59 You see, brothers and sisters 33:01 we are God's children, 33:02 so yes, we serve God for some reasons 33:04 but let me make this very clear don't serve God 33:07 for the benefits, serve God because he is God. 33:09 Amen. The devil said, 33:11 Lord you are just serving him because he has got 33:13 all that stuff look at verse 10, 33:16 :have you not made a head around him, 33:17 around his household and around all that 33:19 he has on every side. 33:21 You have blessed the work of his hand 33:23 and his possessions have increased in the land", 33:26 and that's true when God blesses you nobody 33:29 can bless you like God can. Amen. 33:32 Every time we go to bed at night we always pray Lord, 33:34 guard the windows, guard the doors, 33:36 send an angles to surround this house 33:38 and we wake up the next day 33:39 and we don't know until we get to heaven 33:41 and there is an angel who is going to say 33:43 I know where you live. 33:45 Can you give us our address? 33:47 I was there God kept sending me there 33:49 because you kept asking me to come back, 33:53 Amen. Amen. Then when you get to 33:55 heaven there is going to be an angel that said, 33:57 when you prayed I was the guy sitting right 33:59 next to you in the airplane, 34:00 you didn't even know it was me. 34:03 God delivers and works in mysterious ways. 34:06 But it is true sometimes we serve God because 34:08 of how God blessing us but that was not the case. 34:11 Look at verse 11, look at the conversation, 34:14 look at how Satan is jostling, 34:16 he is trying to find Job's weak point, 34:18 but now he says to God, stretch out your hand 34:20 and touch all that he has he and will surely 34:22 curse you to your face. Satan suggested that 34:26 there is a sight of Job that God is hiding 34:28 by protecting him in another words, 34:29 remove your blessings and the real Job would be seen. 34:36 Now you know, how true that sometimes is people 34:39 agree until something happens, 34:42 and then they blame God for it, 34:43 so the question is how far apart is your praise 34:46 from your blame? How much distance 34:49 is the between your pray and you blame? 34:51 How close is your worship to your worry? 34:53 How easy is it for you to go from commending God 34:56 to criticizing God? How close is that? 35:01 People do that flip of a switch. 35:04 Some Christian are blaming God. 35:06 I want to say very clearly God is consistent. 35:09 God can be trusted. He is the same yesterday 35:12 come on now today, and forever. Amen. 35:17 All those questions how far part 35:18 of your blame from your, your praise those 35:21 unanswered questions until your day 35:23 comes because lot of folk say, 35:25 I will never disappoint God. Oh! 35:27 Wait till your time comes. 35:28 You never know who you are until hour comes. 35:33 Look at the hour that came for Job, verse 12, 35:38 and Lord said to Satan "Behold, 35:39 all that he has is in your power, only do 35:42 not put lay your hand on his presence. 35:43 So, Job when out from the presence of Lord 35:45 and look at how the story unfold. 35:47 It is amazing. Job unveiled the predator of all evil. 35:50 The perpetuator of all evil verse 13, 35:53 now there was a day when his sons 35:54 and daughters were eating and drinking wine 35:56 in their oldest brother's house 35:57 and by the way they were not drinking alcohol, 35:59 they were drinking grape juice. 36:00 Can you say, Amen? Amen. 36:02 Not drunk children. These were godly children. 36:04 And a messenger came to Job and said the oxen 36:07 were plowing and the donkeys feeding beside them. 36:09 When the Sabeans raided them and took them away 36:12 indeed they have killed the servants 36:13 with the edge of the sword 36:15 and I alone have escaped to tell you it continues, 36:17 verse 16, while he was still speaking 36:20 another also came and said, 36:21 the fire of God fell from heaven 36:23 and burned up the sheep and the servants 36:24 and consumed them and I alone have escaped 36:27 to tell them while he was still speaking another 36:30 also came and said that Chaldeans 36:32 formed three bands, 36:33 raided the camel and took them away, yes, 36:35 and killed the servants with the edge 36:37 of the sword and I alone have escaped to tell you 36:40 and while he was still speaking 36:41 another also came and said, your sons 36:43 and daughters were eating and drinking wine 36:44 in their oldest brother's house 36:47 and suddenly a great wind came from across 36:49 the wilderness and struck the four corners 36:51 of the house and it fell on the young people, 36:53 and they are dead and I alone 36:56 have escaped to tell you. 37:00 The devil always has somebody to bring bad news. 37:04 I alone have escaped. You didn't escape. 37:07 The devil employed you to bring the bad news. 37:11 I will say to people if you have bad 37:12 news don't tell me. 37:15 Unless you want me to pray for you, 37:17 but if you just want to go ahead 37:19 and spread bad news, tell the bad news to Jesus. 37:22 Only he can handle that, Amen. Amen. 37:24 Tell it to Jesus, but you know 37:27 what I want you to understand this. 37:28 We can easily get consumed with the 37:30 details of what happened, 37:31 but that's not the focus of the story. 37:33 The focus of this story get me now listen carefully, 37:36 are you ready, the focus of this story 37:39 is Job's response to what happened, 37:45 not what happened. 37:49 Job's response to what happened. 37:52 Look at verse 12, what do Job did? 37:56 Then Job arose, tore his robe, 38:02 shaved his head and fell down, verse 20, 38:07 verse 20, fell to the ground 38:10 and what did he do, church say it together, 38:13 he worshiped. You see brethren true worship, 38:16 will hold you up and everything 38:18 else let's you down. Amen. 38:21 Praise the Lord for the true worth, 38:22 when you worship God, when you worship God. 38:27 He will keep you up when everything 38:29 and everybody let you down. 38:30 You can't trust folk, 38:31 no matter how sincere they are, 38:33 the only one that you can really trust is God, 38:35 Amen. Amen. Now I trust my wife 38:37 and she trusts me, but the Bible says, 38:38 trust in the Lord your God with how much of your heart, 38:41 all you heart. When you do 38:43 that your heart is secure. 38:47 He fell down and worshipped God 38:49 and then he discovered in the moment of 38:52 the greatest trial, his worship to God 38:54 is the very thing that held him up 38:56 when everything else had let him down, 38:58 his finances, his fame, his fortune, his notoriety, 39:02 his health, his family, when everything let him 39:05 down the Lord never lets us down. Amen. 39:12 One of those coin phrases of Christianity is this 39:15 and I want to straighten this one out, 39:16 the Lord give it and the Lord take it away, 39:19 that is not true. 39:26 I am waiting for an Amen from somebody. Amen. 39:28 You heard that so much you think that, 39:30 that's true. Did God take anything from Job? 39:33 Absolutely not. Job's humanity 39:36 came to the point of discombobulation. 39:38 He didn't understand why this was happening 39:40 and he blamed the day he was born and he said, 39:43 well it's God's stuff, if He want it back 39:44 He can have it back. God didn't take it. 39:49 God does not gift you and then rob you, Amen. Amen. 39:56 God does not set the table 39:58 and then yank the chair from under you. 40:01 God does not give you the Job and say, 40:04 ah I made a mistake, 40:07 no shadow of turning every good 40:10 and every perfect gift 40:13 and Job is demanding Lord give us 40:15 and Lord takes it away, that statement is not true 40:17 the Lord does not take anything away 40:19 from those who love him, no good thing he says 40:22 will he withhold from those who walk up 40:25 rightly Psalms 84:11, no good thing 40:30 that's why people now a days, 40:31 they got to get that right, 40:32 you see because God allows it, 40:33 are you hearing me, because God allows it 40:36 does not mean that God did it. Amen. 40:40 I am tired of people when people die 40:42 they blame it on God. God took my mother away 40:44 he needed her in heaven. 40:45 God doesn't need your mother in heaven. 40:47 Your mother needs God on earth. 40:49 Your mother needs God on earth. 40:52 Can you imagine God's, well I need one more 40:54 worker to finish these houses, 40:55 let me kill somebody in a car accident, 40:57 that's not the way God works, amen. Amen 40:59 Blame God all the time for steps that God never does. 41:01 When sickness comes God is accused of making me sick. 41:06 God is not in the life taking business. 41:08 God does not separate children 41:10 from their parents by death. 41:12 God does not wipe out babies in the backseat 41:15 of your car because he needs 41:16 little angels in heaven. 41:19 But that's what the devil wants us to think. 41:22 God does not send trials. 41:26 God does not send pain. 41:33 But, there are four components to the story 41:35 that you need to get it very, very carefully. 41:36 See what happened is that we need to stop blaming 41:41 the one who is really responsible. Amen. 41:44 Look at the four components, 41:45 this has really amazed me. 41:47 There are four components in the story 41:48 that teaches a valuable lesson, 41:50 how many components, four, how many, 41:53 four, first there is God. 41:57 God is Job's advocate. 42:00 God never stands against us. 42:06 I will be back. 42:09 The God never stands against us. Amen. 42:13 That's God, he is our advocate, 42:15 but there is Satan our adversary, 42:16 he never stands with us. Right. 42:20 He is always against us. 42:23 Then, there is your spouse. 42:24 I am a tiptoe on this one. Job's adversity, 42:31 your spouse won't always stand with you, 42:37 don't say amen to that one you have to go 42:39 home after camp meeting. 42:42 And your friends, your associates, 42:47 won't always understand what you are going through. 42:52 God the advocate, Satan the adversary, 42:54 your spouse could be adversity, 42:57 and your friends could be the associates, 42:58 but I want to give you the promise today 43:00 because God says I will never curse you, 43:03 come on say amen Amen 43:04 Satan says I will always curse you. 43:07 His wife said curse God and his friends 43:10 said this curse is from God, 43:13 whole lot of cursing, 43:14 but God had nothing to do with any of it. 43:15 What do you say? Amen. God is not a God 43:18 that curses us. When you stand with God, 43:20 God does not curse you. You see, 43:22 the story of that Job and his God, 43:24 42 chapters are dedicated to one man's test, 43:27 one man's trail, one man's triumphs 43:30 and the reason why the record indicates 43:32 that Job had friends, as this friends, 43:34 if all you have left are friends 43:35 you should at least be able to count on them. 43:38 Amen. But, if you can't count on your wife 43:42 or your husband, 43:43 are you going to count on your friends. 43:45 It always amazes me how the devil 43:48 didn't take Job's wife. 43:51 Don't get too happy about that, 43:53 somebody trying to figure how to get 43:54 rid of your wife, you better behave yourself. 44:00 The Lord allowed Job's wife to stay 44:05 because sometimes there is no adversity 44:07 as close as your spouse. 44:12 Say it under your breath, that's right, 44:16 that's why you better make sure you marry somebody 44:18 who knows the God you know. Amen 44:21 Serve the God you serve. Amen 44:23 Because you think trials are bad in the world, 44:25 wait till you come home 44:26 and there they are waiting for you. 44:30 Job didn't know it, but Satan kept Job's wife 44:33 as an ace in the hole and there she is, 44:35 instead of bending her knee to pray 44:37 with her husband cursed God and died. 44:39 What is God up to? When people talk like that, 44:42 just look at them and say are you foolish, 44:45 and ignore them and pray for them 44:51 because if I am following the story correctly 44:53 Job's wife was there to see that 44:55 trial and the triumph. 44:59 Am I right? Amen. 45:01 Her testimony was quite different 45:02 at the end of those 42 chapters. 45:05 Only time you heard about her was when 45:06 she was cursing God on the beginning telling Job 45:08 because God didn't say much about 45:10 her in the very end and said, 45:11 God did all for Job. But, look at verse 19 to 25, 45:15 Job had the assurance he needed he looked beyond 45:17 the trials sometimes we've got to look beyond 45:20 the trials and look to the one 45:21 who was delivering us from that trail. 45:23 You may not know the date of your delivery 45:25 but you know the Lord that delivers 45:26 you stay with the Lord and he will give you 45:28 the date Amen. Amen. 45:30 Look at verse 19 to verse 25, Job Chapter 19 45:33 verse 25, Job Chapter 19 verse 25, 45:38 amazing how the Lord works. 45:44 Job said I don't know about all the stuff 45:46 that's happening, 45:48 but I know that my redeemer lives, 45:49 come on and say Amen Amen. 45:51 All that I know is my redeemer lives 45:53 and brethren he still lives today, 45:55 what do you say, I know that my redeemer lives 45:58 he shall stand that last on the earth 46:01 and after my skin is destroyed this I know 46:04 that in my flesh I shall see God 46:07 whom I shall see for my sins. 46:09 God is not goanna send you through trials 46:11 and deny you the privilege of standing before 46:14 him to see his awesome glory 46:15 and my eyes shall behold not another, 46:18 how my heart yearns within me 46:20 when you are going through trials brothers and sisters 46:22 your heart yearns for deliverance, 46:24 but even more than that your heart yearns 46:25 to see God stand up and do something 46:27 to give you the boast about. Amen. 46:29 Every now and then God does something so great, 46:31 we can't stop telling about. 46:34 That's why James, the apostle says 46:36 we have to look to the end to understand the Lord. 46:38 I will read this to you James 5:11. 46:41 Indeed brethren we count them blessed to endure. 46:45 You have heard of the perseverance of Job 46:48 and seen the end intended by the Lord 46:50 that the Lord is very compassionate 46:52 and merciful God is compassionate 46:54 and God is merciful. Amen. 46:58 But, when you go on through trials 47:00 it's hard to remember that. 47:02 Why is this happening to me? 47:04 But, here is where the story winds up. 47:07 You see this story ends in a an amazing way. 47:10 It reveals one of the greatest hurdles that 47:12 we have to overcome before God 47:14 can fully restore us. Go back to Job 47:16 and we are goanna go to last chapter 47:17 you thought I was going to peach on 42 chapters. 47:21 I am going to the end of the story right now 47:23 because you know the end is always 47:24 with a good stuffs; right in the end of the story, 47:28 look at Job chapter 42 and I am going to read 47:31 just a portion of verse 12. 47:32 I am goanna read a portion of verse 12 47:34 and I want you to hold on to that when you go 47:35 through your trials, 47:36 you got to have fun reading verse 12 47:39 Job chapter 42, the Bible says now the Lord 47:42 blessed the later days of Job more than the 47:44 beginning can somebody say amen. Amen 47:47 And we also prove some other words halleluiah. 47:50 That's right. Thank you, Jesus. 47:53 God blessed him more, 47:55 but here is the key to the story. 47:57 I told you last night, there is a key to 47:59 why God turned it around, look at verse 16, 48:01 look at verse 16, there is a reason why God 48:04 turned it around and this is what helps us 48:06 to understand where we are in our trials. 48:09 It says in verse 16 of chapter 42 48:12 what are the first two words, 48:14 'after this', what are the first two words, 48:17 'after this', let's say it together 'after this', 48:19 what are the first two words, 'after this'. 48:25 We have never gone through what Job went through, 48:28 but in all of our lives there is an after this, 48:31 come on say amen. Amen. 48:33 There is an after this when you sit down and wipe 48:36 your tears away and say to your friends 48:37 let me tell you what I just went through. Amen. 48:42 'After this', Job lived 140 years 48:49 and let me suggest to you not by guessing 48:52 but by affirmation those next 140 years 48:55 were the time where Job rejoiced about God's 48:57 deliverance, can you say, Amen! 48:58 Amen. Praise God. Let me tell you what 48:59 happened a couple of years ago. Now, 49:00 when you are 100 years from 49:01 that deliverance Job says, 49:03 if you only know what happened 49:04 to me a 100 years ago. 49:06 When we get to heaven we are goanna say 49:07 you know what happened before 4,000 years ago. 49:10 It's goanna be so minimal in heaven 49:11 we are not even going to remember 49:12 can you say Amen to that. Praise God. 49:14 The former things will not be remembered nor even 49:16 come to mind. God is goanna wipe away 49:18 all the junk we go through down here and all 49:20 we are goanna do through eternity is give God 49:21 the glory, praise God for that, 49:23 'after this', Job lived a 140 years 49:26 and he saw his children and grandchildren 49:28 for four generations. So, Job died old 49:32 and full of days, but that's not the key to the story. 49:35 The key is in verse 10. The key is in verse 10. 49:39 You see complete restoration comes 49:41 when we can do a verse 10 and the Lord 49:45 restored Job's loses or turned the captivity of Job 49:49 when he prayed for his friends. 49:54 Indeed the Lord gave Job twice as much 49:57 as he had before 49:59 and I am goanna end with the questions because 50:00 I must do it now. I want you to think of 50:03 these if you don't get it you can get the recording. 50:08 Do you have any former friends 50:10 that you need to pray for, amen, 50:12 so that you can be restored? 50:13 Do you have people that have let you down? 50:17 Are there people that you just can't stand? 50:24 Are there acquaintances that at the mention 50:25 of their names you get sick? 50:30 Can you think of someone that has so deeply 50:32 hurt you that you are not over it yet? 50:35 Is there someone that you just can't forgive 50:37 because the pain is so deep? 50:39 Well, brothers let me just say to you this, 50:40 sisters let me remind you as I sing this song. 50:45 It's not about us, not about our position or job, 50:48 our oppositions or status or education. 50:50 It's about the God we serve. It's not who Job is, 50:55 but it's who God is. Amen. 50:57 Listen to the message of who God is 51:19 When I think of how He came so far from glory 51:29 Not just for Job for me to rather 51:32 Came to dwell among the lowly such as I 51:46 To suffer shame and such disgrace 51:54 On Mount Calvary take my place 52:02 Then I ask myself this question Who am I? 52:11 This, I have to be honest. 52:15 Who am I that The King would bleed and die for 52:30 Who am I that He would pray not my will, Thy Lord 52:43 The answer I may never know 52:51 Why He ever loved me so 52:59 But to that old rugged cross He'd go 53:06 For who am I? 53:21 When I'm reminded of those words 53:28 I'll leave Him never 53:30 Can you say it back friends 53:34 If you'll be true I'll give to you life forever 53:49 Oh I wonder what I could have done 53:55 To deserve God's only Son 54:04 To fight my battles until they're won 54:10 For who am I? 54:17 Who am I that The King would bleed and die for 54:32 Who am I that He would pray not my will, Thy Lord 54:46 The answer I may never know 54:53 Why He ever loved me so 55:01 But to that old rugged cross He'd go 55:09 But to an old rugged cross He'd go for, who am I? 55:45 Praise the Lord. Brothers and sisters, 55:48 it's not who we are. It's who Jesus is. Amen. 55:52 It's not what we have; 55:53 it's what he has for us. Amen. 55:57 There those of you watching and listening 55:59 to this program that we are going 56:00 through trials today, 56:01 I want to recommend you to Jesus. 56:03 Amen. The one who would never leave you 56:05 and never forsake you. 56:06 The one who would never ever let you down. 56:08 The one who will not lease you out to the devil, 56:11 would bless you and take those blessings away. 56:13 The one who is there 24 hours a day, 56:17 send ups and down you can trust 56:18 the Lord that is reliable. 56:21 I want us to bow our heads right now 56:22 and just thank the Lord for his goodness 56:24 to us let's pray. 56:26 Our heavenly father we thank you so much 56:29 that in the amidst of our trials 56:30 and tribulations, there is a friend 56:33 that sticks closer than a brother. 56:38 Lord you promised to walk through us 56:40 through the valleys, 56:41 to assist us as we climb the mountains, 56:45 to carry us when our feet are too weary, 56:48 and to open doors that have been 56:51 slammed on our faces. 56:53 You promised to wipe away every tear from our eye. 56:55 There will be no more death and sorrow, 56:57 no crying or pain, and we pray that father 57:00 we can hold on to that faithfulness 57:01 this of yours and trust you and give you glory 57:05 until the trials are forever done. 57:07 Thank you for your faithfulness 57:09 in Jesus name we pray. Amen! 57:12 Continue trusting the Lord and friends 57:14 we can say he will never let you down. 57:17 May God be the God you serve 57:19 until we see you again. |
Revised 2014-12-17