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Ranger SDA Church

Prepare to Meet thy God

Dwayne Lemon

1- What Is the Church?

Father in heaven, it is truly a privilege to once again hear your words of truth, even as they are about to be spoken.

And Lord, I'm praying and thanking you so much for taking us safely through another week.

Thank you so much for your tender watch care and your loving mercy.

Father, I thank you for the opportunity that we can draw a little closer to heaven and that our minds can be fixed to another time.

Father, we're praying in the name of Jesus, please forgive us of our sins.

Please cleanse us Lord from all unrighteousness and help us to behold Jesus tonight and by beholding help us all to become changed into the same image.

And Lord I pray that as you will bless so many please don't pass me by I ask for a fresh revelation of your word even as I give it to others and may we all leave here as stated earlier higher upon Jacob's ladder is our prayer that we ask in Jesus name amen I would like to invite you to turn your Bibles with me to the book of Matthew the 16th chapter.

We're going to the book of Matthew the 16th chapter and I want you to see what the Bible says as we consider Matthew the 16th chapter and when you get there please say amen.

Jesus was having a dialogue with the disciples and I love to talk about it because the Word of God is inexhaustible.

You cannot get tired of the Word of God especially when you love the 1 who inspired it all.

When you think about God and how He worked through His Holy Spirit to bring these words to us, and I can look back at my life and I can remember being a very, very ignorant man.

In fact, 1 who had no interest in the Word of God at all.

I was interested in being famous and all these other things and here it is that the Lord could actually get a person to a place where he loves so much the things of the world.

But God has a way of revealing himself to us that all of the things of this world, when we rightly behold Christ, all the things of this world become strangely dim and you begin to behold the 1 who is altogether lovely.

And I pray that you will see Jesus just as that, altogether lovely, because it's only when we see Christ as altogether lovely, we will see ourselves as altogether ugly, and we will no longer put trust in self.

The Bible tells us something beautiful in the book of Matthew, the 16th chapter.

Jesus was asking a question to his disciples in verse 13.

And the Bible says in Matthew 16 in verse 13, when Jesus came into the coast of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples saying, whom do men say that I the son of man am?

And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist, some Elias, and others Jeremiah, so 1 of the prophets.

And he saith unto them, well whom say he that I am forget about what everybody else thinks tell me what you think and therefore Jesus asked him that direct question and notice what Simon says in verse 16 and Simon Peter answered and said thou art the Christ the Son of the Living God And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona, for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father, which is in heaven.

And I say also unto thee that thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build what I will build my church and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it this is the first time the word church appears in all the Bible the first time is the first mention if you will This is the first time the word church appears in the Bible, certainly not the last, but it's the first.

And when Jesus was making this point here, he was basically acknowledging Peter's statements that he was the rock upon which the church would be built.

We know that it was not Peter, it was none other than Christ that was being confessed and when Jesus heard Peter acknowledge him as the Son of the Living God he said truly flesh and blood have not revealed this unto thee.

You see the Bible lets us know in 1st Corinthians 12 the reality of how anyone can confess Christ and I want you to see what it says keep your finger on Matthew 16 but go to 1st Corinthians 12 it was not just you know happenstance that Jesus was saying to Peter that flesh and blood have not revealed it unto thee because the Bible says in 1st Corinthians the 12th chapter and I want you to see how anyone can ultimately truly confess Christ.

The Bible says in 1st Corinthians chapter 12 if you're there please say amen.

The Bible says in 1st Corinthians 12 starting at verse 1, now concerning spiritual gifts brethren I would not have you ignorant.

Ye know that you were Gentiles carried away unto these dumb idols even as you were led Wherefore I give you to understand that how many men it says that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus a curse and that how many men and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost Peter was not being led by his own flesh Peter was being led by none other than the Holy Spirit and The Bible makes it known to you and I that when Peter made this confession, it was because God was illuminating his mind and helping him to understand spiritual things.

We need to understand that we cannot read this book and think that we can walk away with a clear understanding except it be led by God's Spirit.

Now when Jesus acknowledges this he then commends him and tells him this same rock that you have confessed He says will be the foundation of the church I looked up the word church and the word church is a very interesting word in the Greek.

Whenever you think of the word church, you have to remember the word ecclesia.

So when Jesus was saying, I will establish or build my church, he was saying I'm gonna establish and build a group of called out ones.

This is what God's view was when he was thinking of church.

A lot of people today think of church as simply a building that you show up to and that you go ahead and have some type of worship and do a few spiritual things, and then that is it in the name of church.

But in God's mind, when he thought of the word church, it was something much deeper.

In the mind of Christ he was thinking when I think of this word church I think of the called out ones and the question is called out of what?

The Bible says in the book of first Peter, we're going to consider chapter 2.

What is it that the church, the people have been called out of?

Because you and I, if somebody came to you tonight and said, excuse me, do you go to a church or are you part of a church?

More than likely, the grand sweeping majority of us are going to say yes I am part of a church yes I am a member of the church but we're understanding that the word church means the called out ones and the question is called out of what first Peter chapter 2 The Bible says in the book of 1st Peter, we're now considering chapter 2 and I want you to see what it says as we look at verse 9.

The Bible says in 1st Peter chapter 2 right there in verse 9 it says, but ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, and holy nation, and a Peculiar people that we should show forth the praises of him who have called us out of something What do we get called out?

Darkness into his marvelous light So whenever you think of the word church, you're thinking about the called out ones.

And we've been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

Now, that means we need to understand darkness because if you and I say that we are the church, we are members of the church, we often attend the church, if we're using these terms we need to understand that the word church means the called out ones and we've been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

So whenever you think of this term darkness, it's very simple.

For God commanded the light to shine out of darkness.

Whenever you think of darkness, you're thinking the absence of light.

If somebody came to you and said, listen, are you part of the church?

If we were to say in the affirmative, yes I'm part of the church, yes I'm a member of the church, yes I represent, I'm 1 of the representatives of God's church, then what we're saying is that we are representatives of individuals who have been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

And the word darkness is that which is absence of light.

So I believe it becomes imperative for us to understand what does the Bible call light?

Because the Bible says the church is made up of people that have been called out of darkness.

So then we need to find out what light is and if we don't have that in our lives then we could be in darkness and if we're in darkness are we really representatives of God's church?

No, we're not fulfilling the desire of God.

Fundamental text, but it's good to rehearse them.

It's good to review them and to think about them, to consider them.

When you look at Psalms 119th division, notice what the Bible says as we consider Psalms 119, and now we're gonna look at verse 105.

Psalm 119, and now we're looking at verse 105 because we just want to understand what constitutes light because darkness is the absence of light.

The Bible says in Psalm 119, 105 it says if you're there say amen.

Thy word is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path.

So 1 of the things the Bible calls light is none other than God's Word.

If a man or if a woman professes to be part of God's church, they represent themselves as a member of God's church, then they're representing themselves as the called out ones.

And they have been called out of darkness into God's marvelous light.

And the Bible says 1 of the things that's called light is God's word when an individual says I am a representative of God's church But they do not live by the word they choose to live by their opinions.

They choose to live by their traditions They choose to live by their own ideologies and idiosyncrasies When an individual chooses to live outside of God's word, they're testifying they are not in light, they're still in darkness.

And that becomes a very serious issue when we begin to profess ourselves as God's church.

If we are truly God's church, then that means that we do not live by what we think is right.

We don't even live by what we perceive is right.

You know, sometimes perception can be very dangerous.

There was a time that a man by the name of Saul, he was going around practicing abomination and he decided to go ahead and counsel with a witch.

And as he went to counsel with that witch in 1st Samuel 28 And when he went to counsel with that witch here it is that as he was counseling with them all of a sudden there was This ground that was opening and they saw something coming up and down out of the ground and as they saw it It says he perceived that it was Samuel That was a bad and dangerous perception because he was not consulting with Samuel, he was consulting with demons.

It is dangerous to even live by perception when we have the privilege to know the word of God.

I read a little book called Great Controversy.

In the book Great Controversy, we're told in page 598, it says we have a chart that points out every way mark on the heavenward journey, and we ought not guess at anything.

You don't have to guess what the word says when God has given us the word that we can understand it.

And we need to learn how to live and be the people of light.

2- The Experience We Need Through Prophecy

Father in heaven, we truly praise you and thank you.

Father, it's a privilege just to understand where we are in time so that by your grace we can know exactly what we need to do.

I pray that you will do something special in these few moments we have together, that you will pour out your spirit upon us as your people.

Please forgive us, we pray, of our sins and help us Lord to receive even the mind of Christ so that we can go forward and do a work that we know heaven has ordained and I thank you that you have heard this prayer and I pray that you'll please take my life and let it be consecrated Lord to thee This is our prayer that we do ask.

You know, ever so often, Jesus does make startling statements.

He does not make the statement too startle for the purpose of simply startling, but God understands that all the virgins were sleeping.

And there is a level of alertness that we should have before we get the ultimate awakening midnight cry call that is soon to come in a second application and God wants us to be a people prepared to meet our God.

It is for this reason that the Lord will have us at times to review prophecy again and again that we may understand it faithfully and then by his grace we can give it to others.

Jesus made a very startling statement in Matthew the seventh chapter.

It's not only a startling statement but it's a prophetic statement and I want you to see what the Bible says in Matthew the seventh chapter.

I would imagine this is a text of scripture the grand majority of us have heard at some point or read at some point, but it's always solemn to consider it again and again.

The Bible says in the book of Matthew, the seventh chapter, and when you get there, just please let me know by saying amen.

The Bible says in the book of Matthew, the seventh chapter, starting at verse 21, the Bible says, not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven.

But he that doeth the will of my Father, which is in heaven.

Many will say unto me in that day, Lord, Lord have we not prophesied in thy name?

And in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works.

And verse 23 is the most startling point.

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you, depart from me ye that work iniquity.

Jesus, the Bible declares, is God and God knows everything.

So for 1 who is God himself to say, depart from me, I never knew you, that is a very deep and profound statement.

God wanted us to understand that there was a disconnect.

You see, knowing God has a lot more to do than just simply being aware of his existence.

The Bible uses this term, know, sometimes in a very intimate way.

In fact, you remember in Genesis that the Bible says that Adam knew his wife Eve.

And as a result of knowing his wife, they conceived and brought forth a child.

In other words, that term, know, means an intimate connection, not just an awareness.

These people are lost, not because they were not aware about God.

So they were aware but the problem was is that there was no intimacy.

There was no true love between the Creator and the creation.

And as a result of that Jesus I would imagine with tears in his voice is going to have to say these extremely sad words 1 day.

Not to a minority, but to a majority, depart from me.

I know it to be a majority because if you look just a few verses up in verses 13 and 14, we can see that it's a majority.

Because the Bible says, enter ye in at the straight gate, for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.

But then it says in verse 14, Because straight is the gate and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." Anytime you compare many with few, many is always the majority.

And Jesus is making it clear that the majority of those who profess to know him, who profess to love him, who profess to serve him, who profess to be part of his called out ones.

The majority of these people are going to be lost.

And I believe that that is a very solemn statement that should alert God's people to pay attention.

It should make us really think about our walk with God.

There's a lot of people talking about they're saved.

A lot of people talking about they're in Christ.

There's a lot of talk about being followers of Jesus by using this term that has become absolutely mutilated in this world today, which is called Christian.

It seems like people can live any way, practice anything, and have the nerve to still call themselves Christians.

I marvel at how entertainers who literally promote fornication, They literally go to concerts, curse and swear.

They will literally forget their value and begin to wear the garments of harlotry, breasts showing, backside out, legs out and everything and they will actually say, I am a child of the king at the same time.

There are people today that will even marry 2 men in the name of Christ.

So this is why Jesus says there's gonna be a lot of people that's talking about names and terms and all these other things But at the end of the day, he says the problem is you and I never had a connection The question is do you have it?

Oh, no, you might not be as bad as some others But the question is are you do you still have bad in you?

You see, brothers and sisters, Jesus came to do 1 thing and 1 thing only when he came to this earth, and it's found in Matthew 1 in verse 21.

Jesus came to do 1 thing, and the only way we go home with Jesus is when this 1 thing is accomplished.

The Bible says very clearly in Matthew the first chapter he came to do 1 thing So let us not think that because we have something we call minor sins while other people have major sins that somehow We're gonna have some advantage know my brothers and sisters The Bible says in Matthew chapter 1 right there in verse 21 and she shall bring forth a son, and thou shall call his name Jesus.

Because he's going to save his people what?

So It doesn't matter if you can look over the street and you can say, look at those sinners and doing all those base things, while we have nice suits, nice dresses, and everything else, but maybe we have covetousness still in our hearts.

While we still have bitterness, anger, resentment, and unforgiveness Still in our hearts.

We might look good on the outside But we can be like those Pharisees that were whitewash sepulchers and we can literally on the inside be dead men's bones This is not a time for finger-pointing This is the time like never before that we need to claim those words of Psalms 139, 23 and 24 that says, search me, oh God, and know my heart.

Try me and know my thoughts and see if there be any wicked way in me and lead me in the way everlasting.

We are living in the very final closing scenes of Earth's history.

Not so that we can skimp over it, not so that we can get to a place where we think we know it so well that we can ignore it, but brothers and sisters, Christ gives us these messages that we might do 1 thing that Jesus often says in his word, take heed, take heed.

But at the same time we must make sure that the prophetic realities that are happening in our world do not become, watch my words very carefully, they cannot become our pure motive for following Jesus.

Because we see prophetic revelations taking place, because we see all the events that Bible prophecy has shown us that they are coming to pass in rapid pace at the same time we cannot and we should not allow this to become our pure motive of why we follow God.

I can remember years back, brothers and sisters, when I used to listen to some of God's delegated men.

And they would go ahead and they would talk about Bible prophecy and they would believe that certain things were gonna happen under certain presidents and under certain popes.

And they would preach that thing so hard and they would say if Sunday Law is coming, the crisis is gonna come and it's gonna come under this president and this Pope and the next thing you know that president is gone and that Pope is dead.

And a lot of God's people, you know what they do?

They start to spiritually yawn and they go back to sleep because they allow the crisis to become the motive for getting ready.

You and I were never requested by God to let the crisis become the great or pure motive for getting ready.

And therefore the question is then, what does motivate the people to get ready?

Well, I believe it's in a verse that we all know, but sometimes we don't consider.

You see, when you go to Revelation 14, not only do we understand the pure motive, but we even understand how, in fact, we can get this experience.

And notice what the Bible says in Revelation, the 14th chapter, a popular text of Scripture, verse 12.

In Revelation 14 and verse 12, after John the Revelator is making it clear about these 3 angels' messages, he summarizes the experience of the third angel by saying, here is the patience of the saints.

Here are they that Keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Question, are these people trying to keep the commandments of God or are they keeping the commandments of God, which 1?

They are keeping, John is making a very, what we call, definite statement.

They are keeping the commandments of God.

Now, if they are keeping the commandments of God now if they are keeping the commandments of God then that means something must be their reality and you know what it is it's in John 14 in John the 14th chapter you find that this must be the reality of these people then if they are in fact keeping the commandments of God and I want you to notice what the Bible says in John the 14th chapter in John chapter 14 I want you to watch another popular verse that we need to consider it the Bible says in John 14 right there in verse 15 The Bible says in John 14 right there in verse 15 the Bible says in John 14 in verse 15 Is you what?

Keep my commandments John the revelator says he saw a group of people that keep God's commandments.

Love motivated them to preach when everybody else stayed silent.

3- The Counter Attack

Father in heaven, we thank you so much Lord.

Our minds were fixed on heavenly things and truly Lord you promised us an eternity of even in higher experience than what we've had today.

But Lord, we have to first make it through these dark scenes here on this earth.

And there's an experience that you want us to have that can enable us to make it through these closing scenes.

And so dear God, I'm praying that you will please grant me the power of your Holy Spirit.

Please forgive us, we pray of our sins, and grant the articulation of your truth in such a way that it will not simply reach the mind but it will reach the very being and that truly mental, physical, spiritual all will be uplifted as we receive your truth in our hearts and climb upon higher ground.

Lord I thank you so much for the privilege to share your word with others and I pray that while you'll bless them please don't pass me by.

Help me to get a fresh revelation of Jesus and his truth as we seek to understand it from your Holy Word.

And so truly grant us your spirit and open our eyes and help us behold wondrous things out of your law.

It is our prayer that we ask in Jesus name.

Let's turn our Bibles to the book of Revelation, the 14th chapter.

In Revelation, the 14th chapter, we find the blessed herald of the 3 angels.

And we learned last night that this is the mighty cleaver of truth that God has given to us as a body of believers that if we receive it in our hearts it has power to sanctify the soul as well as to prepare a people to meet their God.

And so it is that when we look at Revelation 14, we will notice that the Bible says something about the third angel's message that I want us to look at because we learn that last night, our whole purpose of existence is to fulfill 2 words.

The 2 words that sums up the movement of Seven-Day Adventist.

And we learned that that is exactly why we exist.

We exist to prophesy again and we learned that that word again can mean to repeat the message once more, but also furthermore.

And we know that the once more was that we had to repeat the what angels messages?

But when we repeat the first angels message, we are going to do it with the correct what?

And then when we repeat the second angel's message we are going to highlight the corruptions that was taking place in Babylon and unite it with the third angel's message.

Now when we understand these points this is why when we started to look at the third angel which was the furthermore we started to look at it and notice that we had to not only preach it and understand it but also demonstrate it.

And in that demonstration I want you to see how the Bible articulates it in Revelation 14, 9 through 12.

So we're in Revelation 14, verses 9 through 12, and the Bible says, And the third angel followed them, saying with a loud voice, If any man worship the beast in his image and receive his mark in his forehead or in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out without mixture into the cup of his indignation.

And he shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb.

And the smoke of their torment descendeth up forever and ever, and they have no rest day or night who worship the beast in his image and whosoever receives the mark of his name." Verses 9 to 11 of Revelation 14 constitutes what we call the warning.

When you think of the third angel's message, there is a portion of the message that literally is summed up as a warning.

If you do this, this is what will happen.

If any man worship the beast in his image, receive his mark and his forwarder in his hand, the same shall drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out.

So when you think of the third angel's message, it is a message of warning.

And we are to give that message with very clear tones It is not to be confused It is to be very straight so that it can be understood even by a child God wants us to give The warning but brothers and sisters it is imperative that we have more than just a warning a Warning in and of itself does not save people you can warn people about a lot of things, but if you don't point out the refuge then after a while that warning can become sounding brass and tinkling cymbal and this is not what God wants he doesn't want the warning to lose power and that's why we need verse 12 verse 12 points out the experience that we need based on the warning.

So in Revelation 14 in verse 12 the Bible says, here is the patience of the saints.

You and I must understand that we need to learn to become patient people.

And if you know that you are very impatient, you are already forfeiting the experience of the third angel's message.

Because these people are very long suffering.

And they do it without murmuring or without complaining.

Don't ever forget first Corinthians 10 literally the Bible shows that when we begin to murmur and complain it can literally cause our destruction.

The Bible says thousands of the children of Israel were destroyed as a result of murmuring.

So 1 of the things that I love about the experience of the third angel is that it calls us to be patient people.

But in addition to that, it goes on, doesn't it?

It says, here is the patience of the Saints, here are they that do what?

Keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.

Now that's another portion of the verses we need to understand.

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Series

Prepare to Meet thy God

4- The Plan of Salvation

Transcript

Parent Series

Sponsor

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