I want to speak to you about the
mark of the beast this morning, the mark
of the beast.
Revelation 13, beginning at verse 15.
And he had power to give life unto
the image of the beast, that the image
of the beast should both speak and cause
that as many as would not worship the
image of the beast should be killed.
And he causes all, both small and great,
rich and poor, free and bond, to receive
a mark in their right hand or in
their foreheads, and that no man might buy
or sell save he had the mark or
the name of the beast or the number
of his name.
Here is wisdom.
Let him that has understanding count the number
of the beast, for it is the number
of a man, and his number is six
hundred three score or sixty and six.
Now this is talking about an end time
event.
When all of the world as we know
it today begins to spiral out of control,
I don't know if it begins with a
financial meltdown, a military confrontation, whatever it is,
men's hearts so begin to fail them that
a cry comes for a one world government.
We must have a one world government.
There's no other way that peace and prosperity
can return to the world, but there must
be a single government.
Consider it something like a federal government over
the world, and there must be a leader.
We have to have a leader that leads
this government.
Now the scripture tells us that a man
will arise and will lead this world government,
and this person is known in the scriptures
as the antichrist.
You come on the scenes as a peaceful
man, but inside he's not peaceful.
There is a demonic power that ultimately will
be Satan himself will indwell him.
He will cause people on the earth to
receive a mark in their forehead or their
right hand.
In other words, you either comply to our
system or you starve to death, and no
one will be able to buy or sell
without this mark on their right hand or
on their forehead.
Now a lot of Christian people have spent
a lot of time over the years worrying
about this mark.
Now may I just begin this morning by
telling you that you don't need to be
worried, and you'll understand why when we get
to the end or close to the end
of this message.
In order to understand what this is all
about, you have to go back to the
beginning.
Again, we need to see that Satan exalted
himself against God and thought that he could
be as God, and subsequently was deposed coming
down into the garden of Eden.
He took that which God had created in
his own image, mankind, Adam and Eve, our
father and our mother, every one of us
that are here are all traced back to
Adam and Eve, and he sowed in them
that seed which they partook of that you
can be as God.
You don't have to be under God.
You don't have to listen to God.
You don't have to acknowledge God, but you
can be God.
You can chart your own destiny, and you
can even add religion to it if you
want, but you can be God.
It can be your mind that determines what
is good and what is evil, and you
can chart your own course, and you can
be God.
That is the besetting sin.
That's the original sin of humankind.
That's what's in our nature.
That's what's called the fallen nature, that which
within us wants to be God and wants
to be as God, wants to literally live
any way we want and not suffer any
consequences, and in our minds at least concoct
some kind of an eternal euphoria that we're
going to live in, in spite of the
fact that we have declared ourselves to be
God.
Now, 666, most numerologists, biblical numerologists, ascribe the
number six to man, and they ascribe a
different number to God—three to God, seven to
God's perfection.
I'm not going to get into all that,
but 666 is a trinity, and realistically, it's
man and his body, his soul, and his
spirit indwelt by Satan himself.
It's finally when Satan—the rebellion that began in
Eden finally reaches its climax, where man declares
himself—a man indwelt by Satan declares himself to
be God.
He will actually go into Israel, go into
the temple, and he will declare himself physically
to be God.
That's been Satan's goal right from the beginning,
and he will finally have created an unholy
trinity as it is.
And all of humanity that agrees with that,
all of humanity that agrees that man can
be God, it will be nothing to these
people to receive a mark on their forehead
or their hand, because they've already agreed with
it long before the mark ever comes.
They've already agreed with this fallen thinking, this
fallen theology.
In their minds, they've been given to this
fallen condition that man can be as God
in the right hand, which always represents the
hand of power.
Remember, Jesus is at the right hand of
the Father.
Christ stands at the right hand of the
poor, or the Scripture says, to strengthen him
and to lift him up.
And the right hand is the hand of
strength.
It's where we're reaching.
It's what we're ascribing to be and to
attain.
It's what we've set our hand to do.
So it will be just natural to receive
that mark as it is on the right
hand, because the pursuit has already been in
line with the thinking of Satan himself.
Jesus himself told us in Matthew 24 and
verse 38 that, as in the days that
were before the flood, they were eating and
drinking and marrying and giving in marriage until
the day that Noah entered into the ark.
Now, obviously, eating and drinking are not a
bad thing.
And marrying and giving in marriage, even the
Scripture says it's a good thing.
But it implies a preoccupation with security and
pretending that all is well.
Convincing ourselves that there is no God, no
judgment, no everlasting peril just ahead of us.
And even if there is some acknowledgment of
God, it comes with an inner scorning.
Peter said in 2 Peter 3, verses 3
and 4, knowing this first, that there shall
come in the last days scoffers walking after
their own lusts, given to this pursuit of
self as it is, and saying, where's the
promise of his coming?
Now, it implies, doesn't it imply to you,
it does to me, that there is some
knowledge of the Scriptures here.
These, there are people out there that have
never even considered this, so they're not really
included in this.
These have to be people that at least
at some point had some knowledge of the
Word of God, knowing that Jesus was crucified
for sin, died, rose again the third day,
and is promised to come back to rule
and reign on the earth with those that
are his own.
But there's a scorning in those who walk
after their own lusts, not given to the
things of God.
Their minds are not fixed on the things
of heaven.
Their hands are not reaching out to what
is legitimately in the Scriptures the work of
God.
And so a scoffing comes into the heart,
and they said, where is the promise of
his coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things
continue as they were from the beginning of
creation.
It's the type of person who sits here
today and says, oh no, not another message
about the coming of Christ.
They've been preaching that for 2,000 years.
You know, my father used to tell me,
he said, son, live every day like it's
going to be your last, because one day
you're going to be right.
Paul says in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 and
verse 3, he said, that day, that's the
day of Christ, will not come except there
come a falling away first.
Falling away.
In order to fall away, you have to
have been somewhere to fall away.
A falling away.
A falling away of people who sat in
church but never embraced the work of God.
Never really had, didn't want to go to
hell, but didn't want to live for heaven
either.
Didn't really want the cross for redemption, but
did not want the cross for a lifestyle.
Didn't want to really go any deeper than
just a superficial reading, sing a few songs,
feel good in church.
And that was, in a sense, the extent
of it.
But folks, that won't keep you in a
storm.
When things got tough in these last days,
according to this, they fell away to a
secondary, another reasoning.
It's important to understand what it is they
fell away to.
Joel, the prophet in chapter 3 verse 14,
he clearly speaks of multitudes in the valley
of decision.
Actually, the word for decision is threshing.
As the time leading to the Lord's final
judgment on this world draws to a close.
Now Joel's speaking of God leading armies as
it is around the world into this valley
where there's going to be a reckoning with
a holy God.
And multitudes are in a place of deciding
something.
And maybe that's you this morning.
Maybe you are one of the multitude.
The world is being gathered to a point.
It's being gathered divinely by God.
Nothing is happening that the Lord has not
foretold us of.
Everything is unfolding exactly as he planned it
from before the foundation of the world.
It's all been about a bride, a church,
his son, and eternity with him.
And the world is going to be folded
away.
And leaders and kings are all in the
hand of God.
There's nobody can form a plan that is
outside of the will of God.
And when you and I finally understand that
we're being brought to this, I think the
culmination of the world as we know it
is very, very close.
And there are multitudes in a place of
decision now.
How deep am I going to go with
God?
How far am I going to go?
How much am I going to let him
rule my life?
How willing am I to let his value
system become mine?
His plan for my feet become the plan
of my life as opposed to my own
plan, which really does make me the God
of my own life, doesn't it?
If you're bringing in here some plan today
and you're asking God to bless it, aren't
you God in your own?
Haven't you fallen into the trap of Satan
himself?
As I read the scriptures, I'm not called
to bring my plan to God.
I'm called to come to him and get
his plan for me.
And he promises me power to walk in
that plan.
He promises me life.
He promises me that I will bear fruit
for his kingdom.
He promises me supernatural empowerment and change.
He promises that I'll have a joy in
the midst of sorrow.
I'll be able to, there'll be a firmness
in my mind and in my heart, no
matter what happens.
Like the Psalmist David, he said, even if
the seas roar and the mountains fall into
the midst of the sea, I'll not be
afraid because God is with me.
God is the God of my strength.
It's not about now, it's about forever.
And now forever is just beginning for me
today.
Luke 21, 26, Jesus says, men's hearts will
fail them for fear and for looking after
the things which are coming on the earth.
Things that, you notice how suddenly everything just
started to spiral out of control.
Just a few years ago, there were more
millionaires than ever in the history of America.
And now all of a sudden we're seeing
riots in France and we're seeing instability in
Greece and Japan is on the brink of
collapse again.
And there's talk everywhere that the almighty American
dollar is losing its strength and its value.
And there's a concern which you should rightly
have in your heart.
If your value system is in these things,
you really should be concerned.
And just like Esau did, many who still
have access to the promises of God are
going to have to make a choice.
Now, Esau was one of the sons of,
let me not just go into all the
history, but he had access to the promise
that God gave to Abraham.
The promise of life, the promise of supernatural
empowerment, the promise that he would be a
blessing in the earth and it was going
to flow through him.
Just like you have that promise, I have
that promise, but he had a choice to
make.
And one day he walked in and he
was hungry and he saw he had a
choice between what is promised tomorrow and will
be eternal or what is here today and
won't last for long.
And it's almost inconceivable that he traded off
the life of Christ that could have flowed
through him for stew, for a bowl of
stew.
But you see, he held no value to
the life of Christ and it became the
natural thing to trade it off.
Why will people fall away?
Well, because they've been part of the family,
but never really internally embraced what that means.
Never really came to a place of awe
and saying, God, you promised me life.
You promised to come and dwell within this
earth and body.
You promised Lord to make me much more
than I could ever be in myself.
You promised to lead me on a path
through this earth and then into eternity where
I'll rule and reign with you.
And much of that is promise.
You may not see the fulfillment of all
of it on this side of eternity.
And Esau was a man who just said,
no, I just want it now.
Just like the prodigal son, give me my
inheritance now.
I want the kingdom now.
I don't want to wait until this physical
life is over.
I want it all right here.
And I want it all right now.
I want to be wealthy now.
I want a mansion now.
I want to rule now.
I want it all now.
And so he sold off what really is
God and took the inheritance and headed in
the wrong direction.
Esau headed in the wrong direction and the
prodigal son headed in the wrong direction.
Malachi 1.3, the Lord said, I hated
Esau and I laid his mountains and his
heritage waste.
God says, I hated the testimony of that
man in the earth, walking out and maybe
professing, yeah, Abraham is my grandfather.
I mean, the promise is mine.
But God said, I hated that image of
God that this man portrayed in the earth.
This self-focused, selfish, carnal man who claimed
to be in the lineage of God.
The Lord says, I hated this image of
God in this man Esau.
And you could say that the mark of
owning neither the presence nor the promise of
God was on him.
He was marked.
Philippians 3.18 and 19, Paul says, many
walk of whom I've told you often and
tell you now even weeping that are the
enemies of the cross of Christ, whose end
is destruction, whose God is their belly, whose
glory is in their shame, who mind earthly
things.
Their mind is on the things of the
earth instead of the things of God, instead
of the things of Christ.
They live every day focused on the things
of this world.
Now the Bible shows us in Genesis 4
.15 that the first marked man in the
Bible was Cain.
And the scripture says, and the Lord set
a mark upon Cain.
Now he was a man who willfully brought
to God less than he knew that God
required of him.
He willfully did so.
I can't help but plead for some here
today that you're coming in even to a
place where the glory of God is as
strong as it is here, but you're bringing
willfully, willfully is the word, into God less
than he requires of you.
There are things that you know that God
is asking of you, but you're not willing.
You're looking to be God in your own
life and somehow circumvent God's will and God's
word in your life.
You're trying to justify practices, relationships, whatever it
is that you're involved in.
You're trying to make what is wrong, right.
You're trying to change the truth of God
in your heart and bringing to God less
than you know in your heart that he
requires.
And God put a mark on Cain and
Cain became an unsatisfied wanderer.
In a sense, he was marked to a
life of endless searching and never finding that
which satisfies.
And I can't help but wonder why Christian
people in the last two decades have been
running all over the world looking for Jesus
Christ.
Is it possible there's a mark there?
Is it possible that they're individually not bringing
to God that which is known to them
that he requires?
And so subsequently, because there's nothing where they
are, there's no living relationship, there's no prayer
life, there's no revelation.
Then suddenly there's some manifestation somewhere in the
world and they're on by the scores, they're
on airplanes and flying all over the place
looking for Jesus Christ.
But didn't Jesus himself say, if they say
he's over here, he's in the desert, don't
go there.
Don't believe it.
He's everywhere.
He's omnipresent.
He's in the text of scripture.
And if you're a believer, he's inside of
you.
You don't have to look very far from
him.
He's right here.
That's why you'll cry out to the Lord
and say, here I am.
If we begin to do the work of
God, according to Isaiah, Isaiah says, and then
you'll say, Lord, where are you?
And you'll hear an inner voice saying, I'm
right here.
Here I am.
What is it that you want me to
do?
Because you're actually walking in unison.
You're walking in link step with me.
An unsatisfied wanderer marked to a life of
endless searching and never finding that which satisfies
the Lord.
Give me a picture of somebody inside the
Titanic after it hit the iceberg.
And most everybody has fled the ship or
in the process of trying to flee it
at least.
And you see a poor hapless soul down
on the second or third deck, examining the
cabins, looking for a comfortable place, all excited
about all that is here that everybody has
left behind and say, wow, look at this
one.
This one has gold faucets in it.
And the clothing that just like Akin, when
he went into Jericho, thinking no harm is
going to come to them.
And the insanity of it all, of looking
for comfort, looking for security in a ship
that is going down to the bottom of
the ocean.
And folks, it's the same for a Christian
who's looking for fulfillment as it is.
And things that last in the things of
this world.
Now, I'm not suggesting you can't enjoy a
walk in the park on a sunny day.
I'm not suggesting we walk around mournful, hanging
our heads all day.
No, that's not it.
It's our identity, our satisfaction, who we are,
what we're becoming is not in the things
of this world, but in the things of
God.
The world passes away, John says in 1
John 2, 15 to 17.
And the lust of this world is passing
away.
That means everything that satisfies the flesh, that
which delights the eyes, that which gives pride
to the human heart.
But he that does the will of God
abides forever.
The man or woman who chooses to say,
not my will, but thine, the promise of
God is you will abide.
You will survive.
You will live.
You'll have a future.
You'll have strength where there is no strength.
Doesn't the scripture say, thou will keep him
in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed upon
thee.
Though there be roaring on this side, though
there'd be violence on this side, the minds
of those, the lives of those who belong
to Christ, there's a promise of peace.
There's a promise of strength and security to
the believer.
The people of the opening text received the
mark because that's where their minds were.
That's where their strength was given to, as
I said earlier.
They failed to understand the seductive power of
human reasoning that creates a path that it
truly believes leads to safety, but it doesn't.
Human mind is a seductive thing.
And when you combine it with the power
of evil and its reasoning, people can be
led almost anywhere.
There's a way that seems right unto a
man, the scripture says, but the end thereof
are the ways of death.
And Jesus said in Matthew 24, 39, they
knew not until the flood came and took
them all away.
They knew not.
I think of the multitudes that must've passed
by the ark that God was building at
that time on their way into the city
to do whatever it was they were doing
in the city.
And I'm not suggesting all the activity was
evil, but I am suggesting it fell short
of the glory of God.
And they, they knew where it was and
they passed by.
And scripture tells us that Noah was a
preacher of righteousness.
And he would have been standing before the
multitude saying, there's a day of justice coming
folks.
You've got to get right with God.
You, you need to get into that place
of safety, which he is preparing clearly visibly
before you.
It's not hidden.
It's not a secret.
It's not something you can honestly ever say
when you stand before God.
I didn't know it was there.
I didn't know what it implied.
You see it implied a leaving of the
pursuits as it is the full pursuits of
the things of this world and the beginning
of the building of something that was being
ridiculed by fallen man.
They knew not until the floods came and
took them all away.
Revelation chapter 12 tells us that Satan was
cast down to the earth knowing his time
is short and he cast out of his
mouth water as a flood.
They knew not until the flood came and
took them all away.
Satan is one day physically, this scripture and
revelation will be fulfilled where this water comes.
It's a combination of threat, promise, and deception.
This, this dirty water comes out of this
vessel that claims himself to be God and
deceives multitudes by this flood that are on
the face of the earth.
It speaks of a specific time yet to
come, yet this progression of lawlessness and deception
according to Paul in 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2
and verse 7 is already at work.
It's already here.
There's already confusion at every turn.
This is, this society is getting confused folks.
There's, there's doesn't even seem to be a
quest for truth anymore.
In Matthew 24, Jesus said there'll be two
in a field.
One will be taken and one will be
left.
There'll be two working at a mill.
One will be taken and one will be
left.
But and we ask ourselves taken where?
I just say they're taken into the protective
hand of God.
That's where I need to be.
That's where you need to be in this
generation.
Take, just take it in whatever form, whether
you believe that's the rapture of the church
or whatever.
The fact remains it's God reaching down and
saying, this one is mine and nothing is
taking this one out of my hand.
And I'm going to take you through the
promises I make to you are going to
be yay and amen.
You're not going to be left to the
fears and the reasonings of others around you
because you have made a choice and you've,
you've been working in the field.
You've been working at the mill, but you
made an inner choice.
And let me read to you that inner
choice that has been made by these that
will be taken into the hand of God.
In Hebrews chapter 11 and verse 13, it
says, these all died in faith, not having
received the promises, but having seen them afar
off and were persuaded of them and embrace
them and confess that they were strangers and
pilgrims on the earth.
For they that say such things declare plainly
that they seek a country.
And truly, if they had been mindful of
that country from whence they came out, they
might have had opportunity to have returned.
But now they desire a better country.
That is a heavenly one where God is
not ashamed to be called their God for
he has prepared for them a city.
You see, it's people like you and me
working at the same mill, working in the
same field, but just like Cain and Abel,
one is bringing a sacrifice that is acceptable,
another is not.
Like Esau and Jacob, one really values the
inheritance of God in Christ, and another one
holds it in his or her hands very,
very lightly.
In one of these people that Jesus speaks
about, there was an inner longing for God.
This longing was so intense that they had
in their hearts become strangers to this world.
This message began a few weeks ago in
my heart.
Every day I have to go out and
do some things in the city, and I'd
take my dog once in a while and
go for a walk.
And lately, there's just been this inner groaning
in me.
I said, God, I don't like what this
place has become.
I don't like the needs and wants.
I don't like the evil conversation.
I don't like the fact that everybody's yelling
in their cell phones now in every corner,
screaming at somebody.
Everybody's screaming at somebody.
Everybody's angry.
I don't like coming out of my apartment
and seeing all the vomit this morning from
last night.
There's vomit on the street.
There's vomit around the corner.
I took my dog for a walk this
morning and all the way down the street,
eighth and all the way down one of
the side streets, there's just piles of vomit
everywhere where people have been coming out of
bars and clubs have been throwing up in
the streets.
And there's just something inside of me that,
although I love my family beyond words, and
I love my grandsons desperately, there's something inside
of me just wants to go home.
This is not my home, folks.
This is not my home.
I'm left here for your sake.
And Paul said, I'm not Paul, but I
can understand what he was saying.
Paul said, I would love to go home,
but it's more expedient for me to stay
here.
See, Paul had a revelation of God.
He had a revelation of the cross.
He had a revelation of the purposes of
God.
And Paul was saying, I stay here just
for that.
That's the reason I'm here.
Now Paul made tents.
He had an occupation.
Paul traveled.
Paul had times of joy.
I'm sure Paul had times of laughter with
some of his good friends.
And we're not called to walk around mournful
and not to enjoy life as God has
given it to us.
But Paul was here for a specific reason
that God had left him here.
Just as you and I are.
This whole planet is going to perish as
it presently exists.
And men and women who don't know Jesus
Christ are going into hell, a place called
hell, which is the absence of God.
And all that means they're going there forever.
They're going there into all eternity.
And you and I are left here to
warn people about this, to reach the poor
man who has nobody, to tell them that
God loves him, to go to the prostitute,
to go to the lame, to go to
the leper, to go into prisons, to go
into places where people are sick, whether it's
physically sick or sin sick, and tell them,
not just tell them, but show them that
God loves them.
That's the kingdom.
How do I show people that God loves
them?
Let's say I was a trader on the
trade floor and I'm yelling and screaming and
scribbling on papers just like everybody else and
frantic and fretting and chewing my nails and
running outside and smoking on my break.
And then I go back in to try,
Hey, by the way, did you know God
loves you?
Do you see the idiocy of it?
It's an Esau that completely, completely embracing a
wrong value system, but the men or women
of God, I'm not saying you can't work
in the trading floor, but would you please
keep it in perspective?
Would you please understand that all you're doing
is rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic?
Keep it in its right perspective.
Don't tell, try to say that I'm suggesting
you shouldn't enjoy life or have a job,
not suggesting that, but keep everything you do
and what you're given, keep it in the
right perspective.
Don't let your mind, don't stretch out your
hand to that which is perishing and let
it become your value system.
Let the work of God be what you
value.
Go to Ezekiel chapter nine, please.
We're going to close with this, this morning.
Ezekiel chapter nine, it was a time where
God was about to judge his own city,
Jerusalem.
It was going to be a hard judgment.
It was going to be thorough.
It's society and it's religion.
We're both going to go down and it
was going to happen suddenly.
And in a moment of time that people
were not aware of it, most had chosen
to put off that day.
Most never believed.
It's not possible that God would ever judge
us.
It's not possible he'd ever judge his temple.
I mean, the history here, the prayers that
have been prayed here, surely God could never
do this.
You see, when we start to believe that,
we've substituted our own thoughts for the word
of God.
In Ezekiel nine and verse three, it says,
the glory of the God of Israel was
gone up from the cherub and whereupon he
was to the threshold of the house.
And he called to the man clothed with
linen and he had a writer's inkhorn by
his side.
And the Lord said to him, go through
the midst of the city, through the midst
of Jerusalem and set a mark.
Can I substitute New York there?
Would you mind?
And the Lord said to him, go through
the midst of the city, through the midst
of New York and set a mark upon
the foreheads of the men that sigh and
cry for all the abominations that be done
in the midst thereof.
And to the others, he said, in my
hearing, go after him throughout the city and
smite, let not your eyes spare, neither have
pity.
Slay utterly old and young, both maids and
little children and women, but come not near
any man upon whom is the mark and
begin at my sanctuary.
Then they were, they began at the ancient
men, which were before the house.
And he said to them, defile the house,
fill the courts with the slain, go forth.
And they went forth and slew in the
city.
And it came to pass while they were
slaying and I was left, I fell upon
my face and cried and said, oh Lord
God, will you destroy all the residue of
Israel and pouring out of your fury upon
Jerusalem?
Then he said to me, the iniquity of
the house of Israel and Judah is exceeding
great.
And the land is full of blood and
the city is full of perverseness.
For they say the Lord has forsaken the
earth and the Lord seeth not, or the
Lord is not aware of what we're doing.
And as for me also, mine eye shall
not spare, neither will I have pity, but
I will recompense their way upon their head.
And behold, the man clothed with linen, which
had the inkhorn by his side reported the
matter saying, I've done as thou has commanded
me.
Now God was about to Jerusalem, but he
had a man with a pen and ink
horn and a certain type of ink.
And he said, go and set a mark,
set it on the foreheads.
Remember the marking revelation was on the forehead
and the right hand, set it on the
forehead of all the men that sigh and
cry for all the abominations that be done
in the midst thereof.
Set a mark upon those whose value system
is in line with God.
Set a mark upon those who feel what
God feels, who are walking in a way
that if Christ himself were on the streets
of New York, that he would be thinking
and feeling.
Set a mark upon those whose value system
is not so intertwined that they just walk
down the streets singing, New York, New York,
what a wonderful place this is.
And they have no spiritual eyes.
They don't see what's going on here.
They don't understand the day we're living in.
They're not aware of the peril.
They're not even concerned about the plight of
the eternity of those who are vomiting in
the streets in the evening.
They don't care because their forehead, their mind
and their hands are in with the same
value system like lot was of the society
that they're part of.
They really don't have the value system of
Christ.
Set a mark upon them.
If you are walking the streets of this
city, if you're sitting on the subway, single
moms with your kids, and everybody's here today,
if there's a sign in your heart, you
can be thankful for that today.
If you're walking around the city and it's
not that you're morose, but there's this inward
awareness that I don't belong here.
This is not my home.
My satisfaction is not here.
I don't care if they gave me the
tallest building in Manhattan.
What would it do for me?
I don't care about these things.
These things don't matter.
I have a mention in heaven.
I have a promise of God.
I have a promise of the life of
Christ.
God knows the scripture says those that are
his.
He said, set a mark on them.
God knows those that are his.
God knows who you are out there.
They're sealed, Jesus said in the father's hand.
That settles it to me, folks.
Sealed in the hand of the father.
Let hell throw what it may.
Let the devil send it flat out of
his mouth.
Let society get confused as it want to
get.
Those who belong to I am, you are
sealed in the hand of almighty God and
nobody, nobody can take you out of the
hand of God.
Nobody, no flood, no fire, no army, no
demonic power, no height, no depth, no battle,
no evil, no situation, no poverty, no trial,
nothing, nothing can take you out of the
hand of God.
Nothing.
And Paul said, I know whom I've believed
and I am persuaded he's able to keep
that, that I've entrusted to him against that
day.
Paul said, if I have to face flood
trial, if I have to be shipwrecked, if
I have to swim to shore, if I
have to snake, shake off a snake off
my hand into the fire, if I have
to be chained to people in prison, if
all I have left is a pen and
a piece of paper, I am persuaded.
The scripture tells us the new weapon formed
against you will prosper.
No weapon.
I want you to go into this scenario
with me for a moment.
As Satan sends a demonic horde into New
York city and says, go down and convince
these people they should receive a mark.
I can see this devil coming back to
his captain saying, well, I went down there
and I, I tried to place a mark
on this person, but there was no place
to put it because there's already a covering
there and it takes up the whole space.
There's not even a corner.
There's not even a little place I could
put a mark.
The covering takes up the whole space and
Satan says, well, why didn't you write over
the top of it?
He said, well, I tried, but whatever it's
made up when I tried to write your
pen, wouldn't right there.
Hallelujah.
Joel says that even though these things may
come on the earth, the Lord will be
the hope of his people.
The Lord will keep his people.
You don't need to worry about these things.
You're probably going to hear a lot about
it.
You turn on the television.
Everybody's going to be talking about these things
in our generation, but God sent me to
tell you this morning that you don't have
to worry about any of these things.
You're already marked.
The space is taken.
Hallelujah.
Nothing else can be put there.
You're already marked.
Hallelujah.
And what God has cleansed, nobody, nobody can
touch.
Nobody can declare it unclean.
Nobody, nobody can touch the children of the
living God.
Nobody, nobody go throughout the city.
The command was in Ezekiel, but do not
touch those upon whom is the mark of
God.
Hallelujah.
I don't know about you, but I know
I have the mark of God upon my
heart.
Mothers with children, you don't have to be
afraid of the future.
God's going to be faithful to you.
His covenant applies to you and it applies
to your children.
You're going to be surprised soon as they
start coming home and say, mom, would you
tell me one more time what it is
that you've been trying to tell me all
these years?
Fathers with families, don't be afraid to provision.
Don't be afraid of the future.
God is going to provide.
You say, pastor, how's he going to provide?
I don't know.
Look in the scriptures.
One time it just rained bread out of
heaven.
Other times, just jars, just miraculously filled up
with oil.
And when they poured it out, it just
never went away.
How's he going to provide?
One time he took a few fish and
a couple of loaves and he fed 10
,000 people with it.
Hallelujah.
How's he going to provide?
I read in the scriptures.
One time he brought 3 million people out
of captivity and for 40 years, their shoes
didn't wear out.
For 40 years, their clothes never got old.
How's he going to provide?
Praise God.
The same way he's always provided.
We're not going to need any help from
the devil to get bread in our cupboard
or get clothes on our back folks.
Praise be to God.
What a day this is going to be.
The Lord is miraculously going to help his
people.
Glory to God.
Thousands and thousands are going to come into
the house of the Lord because there's going
to be bread in Bethlehem again.
Teens and young people don't worry about your
future.
Don't sit there wringing your hands saying, what
is in this for me?
And, oh, woe is me.
Jobs are disappearing and nations are in distress.
And what is my future going to hold?
Your future, you're going to be in heaven
with God.
You're going to be ruling cities according to
what I read.
You're going to have an explosion of knowledge
in your mind.
The scripture says, you're going to even know
as you are known.
You're going to be in the presence of
God.
You're going to acknowledge him as God.
And it's just going to be an ever
increasing glory and joy.
And until that day, God says, just occupy
where you are.
Just take one day at a time.
Just put one foot in front of the
other.
It's not about here.
It's about eternity.
You don't have to be afraid.
The one thing I can say, I don't
necessarily like walking the streets, but I'm not
afraid.
I live to see people come to Christ.
To see you strengthened.
To see the glory of God and the
grace of God in your soul.
To see and hear what we hear this
morning.
This faith arising in the heart.
Well, what we hear except for that.
Faith arising in your heart.
My only call that the Lord gave me
to give this morning is very simple.
You don't have to be afraid of tomorrow.
And don't let any biblical worry mongers.
You have Christ in you.
You have an honest heart.
You are as secure as you could ever
be in this world.
The Lord will be faithful to you and
to your children and to your family.
You have absolutely nothing to be worried about
in the coming days.
I would like to give an altar call
for those that are afraid.
Those that are dealing with fear.
Would you come today and just let God
bless you.
It's that simple.
I felt the Lord said just call for
people who are afraid.
Young people who are afraid.
Older people are afraid.
You're afraid of losing your job.
You're afraid of your kids and what's going
to happen in the future.
You're just afraid.
You're afraid of the city.
You're afraid of the violence that could break
out here as it is happening in Paris
or in France at the moment.
You're just afraid of it.
God says, would you just call those to
me that are afraid and pray together.
And I think the Lord will just supernaturally
bless you.
And as he blesses you, it'll give you
courage to say, God is true.
What he said he's going to do for
me.
He's going to do for me.
He's going to keep me no matter what
comes my way.
Let's all stand together in the annex.
If you could step between the screens and
here in the main sanctuary, just come, please
step out of wherever you are.
For those who are afraid, you're just afraid
and come.
We'll pray together.
We'll worship together for a few moments and
believe God together.
Jesus said to his church, he said, fear
not little flock.
It is your father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom.
And when the storm came and they were
trying to cross the lake and they thought
they were going down, Jesus stood up and
said, why were you so fearful?
Where is your faith?
I told you, I told you we're going
to the other side.
I told you that's the word of the
Lord to you today.
I told you, I told you we're going
to the other side.
That means we're going to the other side.
I told you, I know whom I have
believed.
I am Paul saying I'm, I'm intimately acquainted
with him.
I know him.
May I encourage you to just spend some
quality time in the new Testament and read
the promises of God and ask the Holy
spirit to make them so real that you
can stand and say, I know, I know
whom I believe and I am persuaded that
he's able to keep everything I put into
his hand until that day I'm home with
him.
I'm persuaded.
I'm persuaded that nothing that comes against me
is going to stop the work of God
in my life.
Father, I ask you in Jesus name to
bless those who have come to this altar
in body and in heart today with peace.
You appeared in the upper room and you
said, peace, peace.
I give to you my peace, not as
the world gives.
I give you peace, bring our hearts to
rest.
Lord, no matter what we are looking at
ahead or our own situation, just give us
peace.
Keep our testimony, Lord, that when we get
to heaven, we can sing forever that what
I believed God for, he was faithful to
me.
He never failed me, never forsook me.
Just as he said, that's the way it
was.
We resist every lie of the evil one.
We resist all the pressure of darkness.
We stand against you with the only weapon
we need.
All we need is the name of Jesus.
And father, we thank you for that today.
God, thank you that you're going to bring
us through.
We're all going to the other side and
we're going to go through with a shout.
We're going with a song and we're not
going alone.
We're bringing others with us.
Father, we thank you for this.
We praise you.
We bless you.
Can you lift your hands and just bless
the Lord?
Lift your hands and just thank him.
Hallelujah.
We bless you, Lord.
We bless your Holy name.
Oh God, thank you for your faithfulness, Lord.
Thank you that you even said in your
word, if a child asks for bread, that's
what you're going to give him, father.
God almighty, thank you for meeting our needs
and doing it supernaturally, Lord, that we can
look back and see the hand of God
all the way with us.
Every step, every time we turned a corner,
God was there.
Father, we just thank you for it, Lord.
We praise you.
We bless you in the mighty and Holy
name of Jesus.
God, we thank you in Jesus' mighty name.
Hallelujah.