Sermon

  Job and prophet Jeremiah were men very close to the heart of God. Job was a perfect man in his generation, while Jeremiah was a weeping prophet, an intercessor who could pray a city out of quagmire. But these men had one similarity - they both cursed the day they were born, wishing that they had died in the womb rather than to have entered the world to encounter such dreadful things. Though they were righteous, upright, holy, pure, and desperate to live for God, yet the Devil never spared them, in that he made them go through untold hard times in their lifetimes.

Several prophesies were written of the prophet, John the Baptist. Through Isaiah, he was prophesied to be the Voice crying in the wilderness for the preparation of the way for the Savior of the world; Malachi foresaw him as Elijah, the prophet who turned the hearts of Israel from Baal to the living God, for in such a way will be turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and vice versa; and his father prophesied him to be "...the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways. Luke 1:63-80. John was a bridge between the Old and New Testament.

The Kingdom of God is not only in word, but even in Power.

God had just finished creating the earth and everything there on in five days and they all seemed to compliment each other so well. He looked and said, "It is good." But who would tend to them? Who would keep everything in balance as created? Who would rule over all? Then the Lord desired to make a creature who would, just as He, care and tend to those things created. He wanted to make an exact copy of Himself. But none of those things created looked like His image.

What is a mystery?

Oh, the lamentation of a slave and captive of sin! ...the cry of a man or woman under the bondage of sin, unregenerated and unconverted. The weeping of the uncrucified is so loud and clear. Paul of Tarsus, before he became a servant of the Lord, was a man who readily enforced the law. He was ready to give up everything in life and die just for this cause. Being religious bigotry, he was fleshy and carnal. Yet, he was unfulfilled. Though he followed the law, there always seemed to be a fault in his life. This is what we see today, even in the House of God.

Many, over the years, have defined love in different languages, from different revelations as dictated by different societies, norms and religions. But, LOVE IS A PERSON. 1 John 4:16 says, "God is Love." That is, love is not an organization, a system, or a slogan. Many define love as sacrifice, agape, friendship or sexual intimacy. These are human understanding of this term. But in Truth, Love is a Living Organism. Love is a person. Love is God. When God came to create man, in the beginning, He made him for fellowship, intimacy, and companionship.

The first condition for enjoying the benevolence of God is Purity of Heart. Matthew 5:8 says, "Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God." This promise is not only to be fulfilled in Heaven but even here on earth, as we fellowship with Him. The heart is the engine room of man's activity and the headquarters of human existence. The reason Satan so desires the heart of man is that it is that which controls a man, like a car's steering, driving his daily activity in paths either good or bad. Thus, every action originates from the heart, be it, love, goodness, hate or evil.

The Holy Ghost, through Paul, gave the Churches at Thessalonica, Ephesus and Corinth a divine alarm: and all have the same warning sound - 'flee!' 'Flee/abstain/run from all appearance of evil', 'Flee all youthful lusts...', and 'Flee fornication...' Why is it necessary to flee? The life of a man is in his blood; and every sexual activity (legal or illegal) has something to do with blood - Leviticus 17:11. Therefore, when you are involved in any sexual activity, your life, destiny, generations to come and eternity are also involved.

Hope is a live wire that sustains men in their sojourn on the earth. It is the solid foundation upon which every man progresses to eternity. It is the foundation upon which our faith is built. The Bible says , '...without faith, it is impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that He is, and that He is a Rewarder of them that diligently seek Him." Hope and faith can never be separated.