September 24, 2017
Call to Worship: Mark 1:15 “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”
Songs: The Solid Rock Nicol Sponberg
That's Why We Praise Him The Maranatha! Singers
Agnus Dei Michael W. Smith
Scripture: Psalm 51
Song: At Your Feet Casting Crowns
Sermon: “Repent and Save Yourself from this Corrupt Generation!”
Closing Song: Give Us Clean Hands Mark Schultz
Read Together
Benediction: Psalm 85:4 “Restore us again, God our Savior, and put away your displeasure toward us. 5 Will you be angry with us forever? Will you prolong your anger through all generations? 6 Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you? 7 Show us your unfailing love, Lord, and grant us Your salvation.”
Sermon Repent! Save yourself from this corrupt generation
So another week has come and gone and yes another series of events have too. The Rev 12 sign came and went. The year 5777 with all its prophecies came and went. The rapture must have come secretly and tribulation has already started. False prophets dropping like flies yet they don’t seem to know it. False teachers back pedaling, yet continue to spread their lies. I was humored and at the same time saddened by this one vlogger. His eyes told the story. Some of the comments went like this before the event happened. The host said very adamantly “I agree, the rapture isn't on September 23, 2017... It's most likely September 22, 2017. Noah's birthday on the Feast of Trumpets... the birthday of the world.” As it got closer one person commented, “My emotions have been all over the place and it's not hormonal. Overjoyed, excited, anxious, worried, sad, and then periods of thinking the rapture won't happen. All in the span of 30 minutes. The anticipation is wearing me out.” Then the vlogger started backpedaling. One said, “Sounds like you're throwing in the towel early... I would expect a video like this on the 24th” Another said “Don't worry man there is a reason God put the alignment on Sep. 23!!! We are down to the wire don't lose heart! I have never seen so much insanity in my life over this, which makes this it man! We are going home in hours!!!” “Anyone with Doubt? Read Revelation 12 and receive soothing comfort. It's on. Sit tight and..... Buckle up!” Then someone posted “WHY are you seeming doubtful!??” “Then his prediction passed and he said, “Such a blessing the tribulation didn't happen when we thought it might according to the feasts and signs. This gives these scoffers time to repent.” “The scoffers and mockers will be out in force if it does not happen today, but our ways are not God's ways and our thoughts are not God's thoughts, He is so far above us, but I have no doubt that it will happen, so we need to stay vigilant at all times, even though he said the rapture would take place on the 22. Most recently he said, “Don't start making stuff up because you want the rapture to happen... but rather this is a chance for you to stand on God's word and develop your own relationship with Him.” Yet this is what they do they have to make the bible say what they believe it should according to their doctrines and theology. Will they repent and change? No they just keep going. David Meade is also backtracking. I like what one writer said, “The end is still nigh -- just not as nigh as it was earlier this week, a Doomsday writer says. David Meade, who claimed the world is ending Saturday when a mysterious planet collides with Earth, is now backtracking on the calamitous claim. Meade said the world won't end on Sept. 23 after all, but instead Saturday will only mark the beginning of a series of catastrophic events to occur over several weeks. “The world is not ending, but the world as we know it is ending,” he told the Washington Post. “A major part of the world will not be the same the beginning of October.”
So for years these false prophets have predicted events like this Revelation 12 sign on September 23, the asteroids and comets, In 1806, a hen in Leeds, England laid began laying eggs inscribed with the words “Christ is coming.” Turns out to be a hoax, the Mayan Calendar etc. Pat Robertson 1982 judgment, Harold Camping, Y2K and on and on it goes. I like how one person worded it. “As ridiculous as this—very true—story sounds, we’ve been falling for the same scenario for thousands of years. Except, in place of an egg, we’ve looked to comets, visions, UFOs, enigmatic numerology, and a host of other equally arbitrary signs. The human brain is made to recognize patterns—it is, quite literally, the best pattern-finder in the known universe. Sometimes, however, this works to our detriment. In our search for higher meaning, sometimes we see patterns that aren’t really there. We latch on to a meaningless event—a rogue thought, the movements of a celestial body, or perhaps a chance encounter with an oddly shaped egg.”
Most of these are easy to disregard as false prophecies from false prophets and teachers. In fact you may not have even heard of the Revelation 12 Sign or the egg laying hen. They are so absurd they can be set aside easily enough. But false teaching doesn’t stop there. You have all the isms named after men and their ideas of the bible, you have things like ceasationism (God no longer empowers the church like Acts) and just as bad no one talking about the powerless church even if they don’t believe in ceasationism, new age teachings that have infiltrated the church, power hungry men and women and in all of these the church is deceived by the teachings of man because the word of God as been set aside and there is no discernment in the teacher and the listener yet they teach and people love it that way but what will they do in the end when Jesus says I don’t know you.
It is really important to point out the massive number of false prophets there are in the church today and in the past. Like our friend stated don’t make stuff up to prove your theories even though he was doing that. To the Ephesian church Revelations 2:2 I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. 3 You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. 4 Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first. 5 Consider how far you have fallen! Repent and do the things you did at first. If you do not repent, I will come to you and remove your lampstand from its place.” Now for us we must go back to the beginning and start over. But today most people absolutely refuse to repent of their wicked ways. But here is the perfect example of what they do on the day they have been predicting from God September 23 and now it is the 24th. Another video the man just refused to repent for leading people astray he even said their hearts were evil for questioning. He said he would not go on an apology tour. He then proceeded to quote scripture against anyone who questions. Basically he states I will not repent for being wrong. These kinds of things have been happening since Jesus walked the earth, they are not new. This kind of thing will continue to happen year after year as it has up until now. God told me this. God revealed to me. God put in my heart. The word of the Lord saith. Jeremiah 23:38 “Although you claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ this is what the Lord says: You used the words, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ even though I told you that you must not claim, ‘This is a message from the Lord.’ 39 Therefore, I will surely forget you and cast you out of my presence along with the city I gave to you and your ancestors. 40 I will bring on you everlasting disgrace—everlasting shame that will not be forgotten.” They think they can figure out God’s intellectually. They say they can know the time and date but God continues to prove them to be fools. Isaiah 44:24 “I am the Lord, the Maker of all things, who stretches out the heavens, who spreads out the earth by myself, 25 who foils the signs of false prophets and makes fools of diviners, who overthrows the learning of the wise and turns it into nonsense, 26 who carries out the words of his servants and fulfills the predictions of his messengers.” 1 Corinthians 1:19 “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” God says Jeremiah 23:25 “I have heard what the prophets say who prophesy lies in my name. They say, ‘I had a dream! I had a dream!’ 26 How long will this continue in the hearts of these lying prophets, who prophesy the delusions of their own minds? 27 They think the dreams they tell one another will make my people forget my name, just as their ancestors forgot my name through Baal worship. 30 “Therefore,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who steal from one another words supposedly from me. 31 Yes,” declares the Lord, “I am against the prophets who wag their own tongues and yet declare, ‘The Lord declares.’ 32 Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them. They do not benefit these people in the least,” declares the Lord and on and on they go.” Later God says Jeremiah 23:34 “If a prophet or a priest or anyone else claims, ‘This is a message from the Lord,’ I will punish them and their household.” No they won’t get away from it.
So once again false prophecies like the blood moons came and went. Some will say you can know the exact time even though scripture says otherwise. False prophets like Scott Clarke gives an entertaining teaching on this all the while his Revelation 12 Sign came and went. Oh by the way on the September 23 after 6.5 years of saying the 23 he changed it to the 24. But he said you could know when. Oops can’t know. It is funny how they have all these charts that point to an exact date then say we don’t know for sure. Yes some are smart and don’t get into saying an exact date so they say in the next forty years or the year of or this generation which is still date setting and falsely getting the hopes of their followers boosted, yet like Lamentations 2:14 “The visions of your prophets were false and worthless; they did not expose your sin to ward off your captivity. The prophecies they gave you were false and misleading.” You see they get people looking at signs and teachings like the rapture tribulation and millennium away from scripture. Now remember we are not talking signs and wonders here, we are talking about the stars the moon etc. This takes peoples eyes off of scripture and makes them susceptible to deception because they have turned away from the truth. They fail to see the deception behind the teaching they receive. It is amazing the deception as people still say keep on saying teach it brother even though they were wrong. Please understand this is not just about prophets and their presumptuous prophecies but teachers teaching a different gospel.
Last week during the message the word repent came up several times. If people would just stop and repent things would be different. We would actually see the kingdom, power and glory but since the church refuses to repent of their wicked ways, we remain in captivity. Jeremiah 5:3 “Lord, do not your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain; you crushed them, but they refused correction. They made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.” Hosea 11:5 “Will they not return to Egypt and will not Assyria rule over them because they refuse to repent?” Revelation 16:9 “They were seared by the intense heat and they cursed the name of God, who had control over these plagues, but they refused to repent and glorify him.” 11 and cursed the God of heaven because of their pains and their sores, but they refused to repent of what they had done.12 The sixth angel poured out his bowl on the great river Euphrates, and its water was dried up to prepare the way for the kings from the East. 13 Then I saw three impure spirits that looked like frogs; they came out of the mouth of the dragon, out of the mouth of the beast and out of the mouth of the false prophet. 14 They are demonic spirits that perform signs, and they go out to the kings of the whole world, to gather them for the battle on the great day of God Almighty. 15 “Look, I come like a thief! Blessed is the one who stays awake and remains clothed, so as not to go naked and be shamefully exposed.” The church of Laodicea was warned Revelation 3:16 “So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 You say, ‘I am rich; I have acquired wealth and do not need a thing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind and naked. 18 I counsel you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. 19 Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. 20 Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me.” This is the church he’s is talking to.
This refusal to repent leaves the church desolate and powerless and susceptible to lies. Jeremiah 5:31 “The prophets prophesy lies, the priests rule by their own authority, and my people love it this way. But what will you do in the end?” If the church does not repent, we will die defeated. You will stand before God and you will not be known be him. We are given a choice of life and prosperity or death and destruction. Joshua was told when he was to take the land. Joshua 1:2 “get ready to cross the Jordan River into the land I am about to give to them—to the Israelites. 3 I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses. 4 Your territory will extend from the desert to Lebanon, and from the great river, the Euphrates—all the Hittite country—to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. 5 No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you. 6 Be strong and courageous, because you will lead these people to inherit the land I swore to their ancestors to give them. 7 “Be strong and very courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful wherever you go. 8 Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. 9 Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” If we do not keep the book before us, we loose and will remain powerless as it is now in the church. One video I heard yesterday gave their view of the rapture but said we just agree to disagree with all the other views of which there are many. This is not being led into truth. Again this chaos shows us we are void of the Holy Spirit as God has turned his face to shine upon us.
Unfortunately many are caught up on being raptured and continue to look for signs all the while missing the ones God has already given. Yes they teach God wants us to find the hidden messages, the numbers, codes etc or as I call it false gospels. They teach other gospels which turn you away from the truth. Jeremiah 23:21 “I did not send these prophets, yet they have run with their message; I did not speak to them, yet they have prophesied.” Jeremiah 23:32 “Indeed, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” declares the Lord. “They tell them and lead my people astray with their reckless lies, yet I did not send or appoint them.” Last week we read Deuteronomy 13:2 “If you hear it said about one of the towns the Lord your God is giving you to live in 13 that troublemakers have arisen among you and have led the people of their town astray, saying, “Let us go and worship other gods” (gods you have not known), 14 then you must inquire, probe and investigate it thoroughly. And if it is true and it has been proved that this detestable thing has been done among you, 15 you must certainly put to the sword all who live in that town. You must destroy it completely, both its people and its livestock. 16 You are to gather all the plunder of the town into the middle of the public square and completely burn the town and all its plunder as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. That town is to remain a ruin forever, never to be rebuilt, 17 and none of the condemned things are to be found in your hands. Then the Lord will turn from his fierce anger, will show you mercy, and will have compassion on you. He will increase your numbers, as he promised on oath to your ancestors— 18 because you obey the Lord your God by keeping all his commands that I am giving you today and doing what is right in his eyes.” People must turn from their wicked ways. Unfortunately the deception is so prevalent, people don’t even know they have been deceived into following a false gospel so they continue down a path of destruction that leads to death. They do this by following the wrong people. Even when the prophet is proved wrong they still follow.
This desire for signs and ignoring scripture will lead to death. Yes I know they all use scripture. Remember there are wolves with the sheep. As I watched these false prophets manipulate the word of God, it was very disheartening I have to admit. They are very good at it. They skip over verses that contradict their teaching, they change verses to fit their doctrine and on and on it goes. They absolutely refuse to repent of their ways. They are blind guides who continue to lead people away from the truth. So these blind guides continue to look for signs while they decimate scripture to make them happen. These signs are used to perpetuate their false and demonic doctrines. This Revelation 12 sign, which came and went with the four blood moons are signs in the sky of God’s creation. Look at the money they made from these false predictions. They refuse to accept the word of God and continue to take these yes rare events and make them the start of the tribulation or rapture. Jesus said no one knows but they even deny the words of Jesus himself and say they do. Matthew 16:1 talks about the demand for a sign. 16 The Pharisees and Sadducees came to Jesus and tested him by asking him to show them a sign from heaven. 2 He replied, “When evening comes, you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red,’ 3 and in the morning, ‘Today it will be stormy, for the sky is red and overcast.’ You know how to interpret the appearance of the sky, but you cannot interpret the signs of the times. 4 A wicked and adulterous generation looks for a sign, but none will be given it except the sign of Jonah.” Jesus then left them and went away.” We live in a wicked and adulterous generation. Little does the church know the magnitude of the deception upon us? Eschatology is just the tip of the deception iceberg. Earlier Jesus talked about the sign of Jonah. Matthew 12:38 “Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you.” 39 He answered, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for a sign! But none will be given it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of a huge fish, so the Son of Man will be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and now something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The Queen of the South will rise at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for she came from the ends of the earth to listen to Solomon’s wisdom, and now something greater than Solomon is here. 43 “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. 44 Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. 45 Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.” The church is filled with wickedness because it refuses to repent. Solomon said in his prayer of dedication 1 Kings 8:46 “When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; 47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’; 48 and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to you toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and the temple I have built for your Name; 49 then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. 50 And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy; 51 for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace.
When you follow the teachings of Jesus you will join in his sufferings and the things that happened to him. Mark tells us Mark 3:21 “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, “He is out of his mind.31 Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. 32 A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, “Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.” Matthew 12 continued 46 While Jesus was still talking to the crowd, his mother and brothers stood outside, wanting to speak to him. 47 Someone told him, “Your mother and brothers are standing outside, wanting to speak to you.” 48 He replied to him, “Who is my mother, and who are my brothers?” 49 Pointing to his disciples, he said, “Here are my mother and my brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.” Everything changes when we repent. We will not see the kingdom presently or the kingdom to come if we refuse to repent. If we follow the teachings of these false prophets we will join them in blackest darkness. You see they are not only wrong with the prophecies they are wrong because they prophecy to prove something true that is false like the rapture of the church. Matthew 8:10 “When Jesus heard this, he was amazed and said to those following him, “Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith. 11 I say to you that many will come from the east and the west, and will take their places at the feast with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. 12 But the subjects of the kingdom will be thrown outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” Jeremiah 8:6 “I have listened attentively, but they do not say what is right. None of them repent of their wickedness, saying, “What have I done?” Each pursues their own course like a horse charging into battle. 2 Kings 17:14 “But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. 15 They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”
Most of the church has settled either for no power or false power. None are seeking truth. Jeremiah 5:1 “Go up and down the streets of Jerusalem, look around and consider, search through her squares. If you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth, I will forgive this city.” We have all been infected by this deception and repentance is the only answer to this abomination that has left the church desolate. If the power of the Holy Spirit is to return, then we are to return to God. Hosea 14:1 “Return, Israel, to the Lord your God. Your sins have been your downfall! 2 Take words with you and return to the Lord. Say to him: “Forgive all our sins and receive us graciously, that we may offer the fruit of our lips. 3 Assyria cannot save us; we will not mount warhorses. We will never again say ‘Our gods’ to what our own hands have made, for in you the fatherless find compassion.” Malachi 3:7 “Ever since the time of your ancestors you have turned away from my decrees and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you,” says the Lord Almighty.” Isaiah 10:20 “In that day the remnant of Israel, the survivors of Jacob, will no longer rely on him who struck them down but will truly rely on the Lord, the Holy One of Israel. 21 A remnant will return, a remnant of Jacob will return to the Mighty God. 22 Though your people be like the sand by the sea, Israel, only a remnant will return.”
So we praise God for his promise to David and we wait. We start over by turning away from our wicked ways as Chronicles tells us. 2 Chronicles 7:13 “When I shut up the heavens so that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people, 14 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land. 15 Now my eyes will be open and my ears attentive to the prayers offered in this place. 16 I have chosen and consecrated this temple so that my Name may be there forever. My eyes and my heart will always be there.” These wicked ways are following mans ways. Our wicked ways have left us in captivity and powerless. There is so much ignorance that they even teach it is okay to be powerless. We must go back to the beginning and expect the same. We should be filled with hope and expectation of God shining his face on us once again. So we repent as we read earlier 1 Kings 8:47 and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly.” Isaiah 59:20 “The Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who repent of their sins,” declares the Lord. Then Acts 2:38 “Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” 40 With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.”
The church has been corrupted with all the false prophets and teachers who have turned away from the word of God. It is not just prophecies and signs but theological teaching and doctrines that have become the foundation of the church that are not founded on the word of God but mans ideas about them. This just isn’t about false prophecies but the church has built on sand and has built a flimsy wall. Ezekiel 13:8 “‘Therefore this is what the Sovereign Lord says: Because of your false words and lying visions, I am against you, declares the Sovereign Lord. 9 My hand will be against the prophets who see false visions and utter lying divinations. They will not belong to the council of my people or be listed in the records of Israel, nor will they enter the land of Israel. Then you will know that I am the Sovereign Lord. 10 “‘Because they lead my people astray, saying, “Peace,” when there is no peace, and because, when a flimsy wall is built, they cover it with whitewash, 11 therefore tell those who cover it with whitewash that it is going to fall. Rain will come in torrents, and I will send hailstones hurtling down, and violent winds will burst forth. 12 When the wall collapses, will people not ask you, “Where is the whitewash you covered it with?” 2 Kings 22:13 “Great is the Lord’s anger that burns against us because those who have gone before us have not obeyed the words of this book; they have not acted in accordance with all that is written there concerning us.”1 Chronicles 15:13 “It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the Lord our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.”
Jesus said I am the way. Because the church has not been built in accordance with God’s word in the prescribed way, the church is powerless as God has turned his face from shining on us. Don’t be content with the powerless church. Don’t be content agreeing to disagree. A false prophet is not a brother in Christ but and enemy of God, they are not his friend. This is not the church but other gospels therefore not the church of Jesus Christ. Today the church lies in desolation with each group going their own way teaching their own truth and living life however they want but this is not the church. We must not be content with the desolate church. Next week we will talk about the power available to all who believe. 1 Samuel 16:13 “So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came powerfully upon David.” The Holy Spirit will guide powerfully into all truth.
