The sermon from Malachi chapter 3 emphasizes the importance of having oil in our lamps, symbolizing the need for spiritual readiness in a darkening world. It warns against the seductive power of false theology, urging believers to discern who truly speaks for God and to prioritize living for Christ and others. The message calls for a return to the truth of God's Word, preparing for the storm ahead and seeking the anointing of the Holy Spirit to burn brightly in the midst of increasing darkness.

Today I want to talk to you from Malachi chapter 3, that's the last book in the Old Testament, a message called the Steak and Snake, Steak and Snake. Now Father I thank you God with all my heart for the anointing of your Holy Spirit. Thank you Lord that you are speaking to us clearly in this final hour of history. God give us hearts to hear, give us ears to hear. Jesus son of God I pray for an anointing Lord to make your word live. Your word is just knowledge if you don't make it live. You've got to make it live inside of us. I pray God with all my heart for the touch of heaven. You're already visiting us in a powerful way today and so I ask will God that this word would be written on our hearts and it would become part of us from this day till the day we go to be with you. Father I thank you for this in Jesus name. Malachi chapter 3 beginning at verse 15. Now I'm reading from the New King James Version and Malachi is writing about at a time where the spiritual condition of God's people. Now keep in mind this is written to the people of God. This is not written to the people of God of that time. It's not written to the heathen. It's not written to a perishing society outside of the people of God but this is written to God's people and it's talking about the spiritual condition of God's people just prior to the coming and the return of the Lord. Now most who study this passage of scripture believe as I do that when Jesus speaks sometimes he can speak of two events as if they're one. It's a duality. He talks about the coming of the day of the Lord. Now we know that he physically came 2,000 years ago and the prophet Malachi said I'll send you Elijah the prophet to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children the children to their fathers and scripture identifies that moment as of course Christ's coming and John the Baptist being the forerunner or that voice that Elijah voice that turned the people back to righteousness again created a clear path that they might understand who God is but most agree that this also speaks of our day another day perhaps a day that you and I are very close to a day in verse 4 it says this that will burn like an oven and all the proud who do wickedly and will stumble and the day which is coming shall burn them up and leave them neither root nor branch. A day that Peter the apostle said when the heavens are going to be on fire you and Peter would have no way of knowing that what he was describing was most likely some kind of a nuclear moment in the earth we don't know the exact boundaries of that but he saw something he saw fire coming on the earth and some of the prophets said who will dwell with this devouring fire a day of trial turmoil difficulty coming on the earth and the scripture says beginning in verse 15 so now this is a theological focus this is what had happened to the people of God now we call the proud blessed and those who do wickedness are raised up and they even tempt God go free so in other words here's a people completely outside of the text of scripture but yet they have reformulated their own theology and the proud are not blessed the wicked are raised up and those who test God are pronounced to be free but then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord listened and heard them and so a book of remembrance was written before him for those who fear the Lord and meditate on his name those who are really concerned about the honor of God I hope you are today my brother my sister I hope you are concerned about the honor of the name of Jesus and what it really means to be called by his name and to belong to him and his kingdom they shall be mine says the Lord of hosts on the day that I make them my jewels and I will spare them as a man serves his own son who serves him then you shall again discern between the righteous and the wicked between the one who serves God and the one who does not serve him now remember Jesus said in the last days that false prophets are going to abound and many are going to come and say I am Christ now that's an obvious thing if somebody comes and says I'm the messiah you can pretty well write that person off but I don't believe that's just exactly fully what it means I said many are going to come and say if you're looking at my life you're looking at what a Christian is you're looking what at what Christ inside of a person is supposed to look like many will come and say this is Christ this is Christ if you're looking at my life you're looking at a life that is given to God that God is in is inhabiting this physical temple and and safe to say you know if you look at my life you'll see Christ for behold the day is coming burning like an oven and all the proud and all who do wickedly will be stubble and the day which is coming shall burn them up says the Lord of hosts that will leave them neither root nor branch but to you who fear my name the son of righteousness will rise with healing in his wings and you shall go out and grow fat like stall fed calves you will trample the wicked for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day that I do this says the Lord now the King James Version says in the last days there'll be a returning to discernment if ever we needed something in this nation today that's what we need we need a returning to discernment because we have as a church age largely fallen prey to voices that don't speak for God they have a theology as Malachi said that the proud are blessed and the wicked are raised up in other words the wicked are told it shall be well with you even if you walk after the imagination of your own heart be your best you it will be a great day nothing but grace and glory ahead of you in the natural sense as far as the physical world is concerned but the people will return and we have to ask ourselves the question what will cause the people to return I know in my heart what that is it will be the darkness and difficulty of the day that will cause many to realize that whatever I have embraced is insufficient what I have in my life is not giving me strength it's not taking the fear out of my heart it's not giving me an assurance of tomorrow I have embraced something I have allowed something to to germinate within me I've received something that purports itself to be of God but there's no life in it and the darkness will reveal it for what it is folks it's when it gets dark that you find out whether or not you've got light everybody can profess to have light in the daytime but when it turns night you find out who has light and who doesn't have light it's the darkness that will procure it in the days of Christ's first coming the Roman Empire had dominated that whole area where the testimony of God had once been established they considered their culture superior they dominated by might they marginalized the people of God and even you remember in Bethlehem they killed their children at will and there were no repercussions for it it was a dark day it was a difficult day but it's in that day that the voice of God through John the Baptist began to announce the coming of the Savior we're living in a dark day and if you're going to pray for anything you pray God raise up voices again in this nation raise up men and women of God who will stand fearlessly and speak it as it is written in the text of scripture and stop all this foolishness that is simply filling people with a substance that will not give light it will not give hope it will not give direction in the days ahead I happen to believe as the scripture has shown us that remember the prodigal son got up and went home because of the famine there was a famine came into the land Naomi and Ruth came back to Bethlehem because there was a famine the people in Elijah's day came to the top of Mount Carmel for that incredible confrontation with spiritual wickedness because there was a famine in the nation difficult times darkness will always cause the people of God to rethink their theology again especially when it's leaving the cupboard bare and when there seems to be no hope in it Naomi said I went out full and I came home empty but she was so wrong she went out full of herself and came home empty of herself she was now ready to be filled with God I thank God for this moment I know the hand of God is on this nation for good I know God is calling his church back to himself again I know it with all my heart Matthew chapter 25 Jesus talked about a day like ours in the last days because he's talking in the context of the last days that's his whole discourse after Matthew 24 is answering the question what will the days be like of your coming again he's he's answering this and he said those days will be like this it'll be like those who said they belong to the bridegroom and were part of his entourage as it family and at midnight in a darkened time a cry was made behold the bridegroom go out to meet him I feel that cry in my heart I don't know about you but I feel the cry of Christ coming I do with everything in me Jesus is coming for his church folks it's not going to be as long as we think it is he's coming for his church go out to meet him then all the virgins got up all those who belong to this bridegroom and trimmed their lamps but then the the wise had oil in the lamps but the foolish said to the wise give us of your oil for our lamps are gone out now I was thinking about this I don't know necessarily the scripture doesn't say this I'm going to take a little bit of license please forgive me for this but I don't I don't I don't think personally that most of them were foolish enough to take empty lamps with them everybody knows an empty lamp is not going to light I believe it's more that whatever was in their lamps wouldn't light when it became dark they said give us of your oil doesn't say their lamps were empty whatever was in those lamps wouldn't light and I suppose you could say that that moment they began to realize that what had been poured into them by the prophets they've been listening to wasn't of God because if you're being poured into by God I promise you your lamp will light in the dark in time your lamp is lit already you have in Christ you don't have just a little bit that lasts for a little while you have an inexhaustible supply of God within you if you are listening to God if the voice that is speaking to you is speaking for God there's a supply of faith and hope and life and virtue the ability to change light to see into the future you have a mind that is focused on eternity and not just on time and you see a day coming just as the early church fathers did the scripture tells us they they dwelt in tents like Abraham Isaac and Jacob they saw a day far off and they moved towards it they saw something that people outside of the kingdom of God don't see outside of the kingdom of God all people can see is the here and the now and maybe half of tomorrow that's all they can see but those who belong to God have vision remember Jesus said I came to give sight to those that are blind I came to open your eyes to the realities of the kingdom of God and where you're headed now why you would say is what you're saying so important to me today and here's the answer it's because some here some you love the meat of God's word you do that's the truth you love churches like this one and you will go where meat is because instinctively you know this is true you know that when you come here and there's other churches like it in the city and in other places that you're going to hear from God you're going to hear a word from God that word's going to cause you sometimes to tremble sometimes it's going to bring you to your knees sometimes it's going to bring unspeakable joy into your heart but you know instinctively that it's God that's speaking because the text of scripture is what is being used and it's coming into your heart and so you love the meat of God's word the problem is you like a little bit of snake on the side as well that's the problem it's like somebody goes into a restaurant and says to the waiter I would love that I'd love that ribeye I'd love that ribeye steak that you're famous for in this restaurant it's it's delicious it's good and would you give me a little bit of snake on the side and the waiter says but sir but ma'am the the meat is inspected the meat is proven the meat brings health we know it brings health it has a long history of being proven but the snake has not been inspected the snake has not been proven and there's there's sometimes still measures of poison in it but you say but it's only a little snake look how big a cow is and I'd probably eat a cow in my lifetime and the snake's only a little one how could it possibly hurt me besides it goes down so smoothly and the waiter says but sir but ma'am we can't verify that the poison has been taken out of it and your response is well so far so good I've eaten a little snake for quite a while now and it hasn't thus far done me any harm but folks there is a documentary out there and I'd suggest if you can go online that you watch it and it's about how the venom of a snake kills keep in mind it's only a couple of drops that gets into your bloodstream how many here weren't aware that venom actually multiplies inside it gets inside of you and the venom attaches itself to your vital organs to your heart to your lungs attaches itself to your kidneys to the those things that are essentially necessary for you to survive and then once it's attached it begins to multiply and then it begins to squeeze the life right out like a snake would do it wraps itself around it squeezes it's actually quite terrifying when you see it how people die from the poison of a serpent the devil doesn't need to get a lot of error in you just enough to kill you it stays inside you begin thinking about it begins multiplying and before you know it you're you're sitting under a message that says those who are proud are blessed and those who are wicked are going to do are going to prosper and those who tempt God are free and you have no idea that you're sitting under something that has been sent to kill you now i could tell you names today i could stand this pulpit and i could list names high profile public names of those that are their mouth is the mouth of the serpent speaking to the body of christ i could do that but unless you yourself know it would be pointless because you'll put away maybe the ones that i say to you and then you'll be caught by another next week because they're constantly rising up you have to return and discern yourself that's the that's the issue you and i have to come back and know who speaks for God and who is not speaking for God so how then do i know if it's God's voice speaking to me or the voice of another how do i know well in order to answer this question i don't have to go there i'll just read it to you i went right back to the garden of Eden the serpent theology began in that garden the serpent came in he was more subtle than any other beast of the field and he came in to even to Adam and he says the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made and he said to the woman has God indeed said you shall not eat of every tree of the garden in other words he was sowing the seed that you are not complete in fellowship with God and obedience to God and his word alone there's something outside of God's word there's something outside of fellowship with him and just being in right relationship with him there's something that you are being denied there's something better there's something greater i shudder when i hear and i've heard it preachers say put away your bible God is doing a new thing where have i heard that before put away your bible God is doing a new thing God is not bound by the text of scripture oh no he's an ever present ever creating God to think that God could be limited to these 66 books of the bible is to lack knowledge oh no there's much more for you than you're going to find in the bible where where where have we heard that before where did that come from it's right from the mouth of satan himself telling you and i that we are not complete in fellowship with Jesus Christ in obedience to God and to his word alone the serpent said to the woman verse 4 you shall not surely die in other words there's no harm in straying from truth there's no harm in extra biblical revelation there's no harm in stepping outside of the word of God in verses 5 and 6 he says for God knows in that day that you eat of it your eyes will be open and you'll be like God knowing good and evil so when the woman saw that the tree was good for food that it was pleasant to the eyes and the tree desired to make one wise she took of its fruit and ate and she gave also to her husband with her and he ate and so here's the essence of serpent theology it's all about you everything's about you your eyes will be open to your own wonderful future the inherent godness that you have in yourself will guide you from this day forward you don't need to live in the confines of this word you have a godness inside of you and that godness will guide you you know you will be just like God is you'll be able to tell yourself what is good and what is evil you don't have to go into the text of scripture you don't have to listen to those shrill harsh voiced preachers that tell you don't do this don't turn there no no no you can determine what is good and what is evil it's good for you it presents to you the future you've always longed for in your heart it's so restrictive just to live for God in this place isn't it just to meet with God just to have God speaking to you just to have God telling you that these are the boundaries of where life is oh no there's so much more outside it's so good for you and you can have a future that you always long for it will bring you to where you will be your best you that you can be you will dream your own dreams and somehow God will be obliged to come alongside of you and make it happen you'll chart your own destiny and God will be with you and you will not spiritually die come to me the serpent says let me fill you with that which flows from my mouth let me fill your lamp with a substance that won't light when it gets dark let me make you promises about the here and now that one day will just fail and fade and suddenly you'll be in a spiritual tailspin not knowing which end is up anymore oh no let me just fill you let me fill you with that which won't light when the days gets dark I think of Ahab and Jehoshaphat Ahab was the king of Israel in second chronicles chapter 18 Jehoshaphat the king of Judah and they were about to go into a battle in which they were going to suffer defeat and before Ahab were 400 prophets telling him Ahab go and prosper Zedekiah the son of Tenanah it says he made a he made a horns of iron and he went and he said by these you're going to push the Syrians into the sea oh it can be so exciting in these meetings can't it it can be exciting there's 400 voices saying go and prosper go and prosper do what's in your heart to do they told him he was about a day from death he was being led into a trap he was going to be defeated there was only one voice left in that whole backslidden man's kingdom that could stop him from his death the voice of Micaiah Micaiah said I see something I see into the future these men can only see the now these men are just around your throne because all they want to do is enamor themselves to your heart they're not bringing you to the heart of God Micaiah said I see you dead a day from today basically that's what he told him I see all of Israel running to their tents because they have no king they have no shepherd in Proverbs chapter 5 Solomon wrote about the seductive power of religion now there's again it's God speaking a duality because when you read the the writings of Solomon it actually causes me to tremble because when Solomon wrote this God was speaking to him but he couldn't hear it he wrote it but he couldn't hear it and when you read when you realize that it's a it's a phenomenal read when he begins to speak to him and he warns him about the seductive power of women that was a that was a weakness in Solomon's life without any doubt but yet there's a secondary seduction that parallels along with it it's it's the religious seduction that would speak through these women to him otherwise how would you how would you say that he arrived at the point where he was building heathen temples the men who had once known the presence of God the glory of God so thick in the temple that that people couldn't stand to minister that place where they sang God is good in his mercy endures forever that that house that housed the physical literal manifestation of the presence of God on the earth at that time that house that was called a house of prayer how could this man move away from this house and end up building temples to chemosh gods that were people were called to sacrifice their children abominations how could he do it well there's a duality in what God was he was warning him really about that which was coming his way in his case it was women and that would seduce him spiritually to walk away from God to weaken the nation which is what he did he did he passed on a nation of Israel to a very weak son who divided the nation and paved the way where eventually the northern kingdom was swallowed by the Assyrian nation and the southern kingdom by Babylon Solomon did this because he couldn't hear what God was speaking to him listen to these words Proverbs chapter 5 beginning at verse 1 my son this is God speaking to him he's writing it because God's speaking to Solomon my son pay attention to my wisdom lend your ear to my understanding that you may preserve discretion and your lips may keep knowledge for the lips of an immoral woman drip honey and her mouth is smoother than oil but in the end she's as bitter as wormwood sharp as a two-edged sword her feet go down to death her steps lay hold on hell unless you ponder the path of life her ways are unstable that you do not know them in the King James it says her ways are movable I was listening to a preacher one time who's got quite a reputation in this country and it's a master of speech the scripture says they have men's persons in admiration because they have an intellectual and an advantage in speech amazing and he moved like a serpent through his message and if you don't know the scriptures you wouldn't pick up the error in it but he would move he'd make a point you'd stop and you'd think wow that doesn't sound right this before you have time to think he's moving to this side then he moves to this side then he moves to this side all the way through his message 50 truth 50 error just enough to spiritually kill you just enough to put poison and it all sounds so good it all sounds so positive it all sounds like it is is going to give you an assured future therefore hear me now my children verse 7 of chapter 5 proverbs 5 and do not depart from the words in my mouth remove your way far from her and do not go near the door of her house lest you give your honor to others in your years to the lest aliens be filled with your wealth and your labors go to the house of a foreigner when you realize that god was speaking to solomon how much it should make you tremble and you mourn at last which he did when your flesh and body are consumed which they were and you say how i have hated instruction which he did and if not and my heart despised correction which was true and i've not obeyed the voice of my teachers which did happen nor inclined my ear to those who instructed me i was on the verge of total ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation which is exactly where solomon ended up a bitter disillusion disaffected disjointed dark old man that's how he finished the man who was who god appeared to twice the man who knelt on a brazen scaffold and the glory of god came into the temple the man who had david the king is his father the man who was given a pattern to build a house that would bring glory to god at the end of his days is a bitter disillusion disaffected distressed dark old man that's how he finished his life i was on the verge of total ruin in the midst of the assembly and congregation god was speaking to him but he wouldn't listen oh folks don't set your judgment above the word of god don't do it don't fall into the trap of thinking you're so smart that you can pull it off it has affected others but it won't affect you he was the wisest man that has ever lived on the earth and he didn't make it through his wisdom wasn't good enough because he didn't have a heart to obey what god was speaking to him in chapter 7 verse 10 here's god speaking to solomon again it says there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot and a crafty heart she was loud and rebellious her feet would not stay at home at times she was outside at times in the open square lurking at every corner so she caught him and kissed him with an impudent face she said to him i have peace offerings with me today i've paid my vows in other words i'm a god god accepts my offerings i've made promises to god too so i came out to meet you diligently to seek your face and i have found you and i've spread my bed with tapestry colored coverings of egyptian linen i've perfumed my bed with myrrh aloes and cinnamon in other words there's worship here too it feels like the presence of god it offers the rest that jesus christ said that he alone could give oh come let us take our fill of love until the morning let us delight ourselves with love for my husband is not at home he's gone on a long journey and he's taking a bag of money with him and he will come home on the appointed day you see in the mouth of the serpent the imminency of christ's return is taken away and the focus turns to be on being personally gratified now that's how you can always know it oh the good man is king james says he's gone on a long journey he's not coming back soon don't have to worry about him in fact though jesus said the good man of the house is coming as a thief in the night when you don't expect it and he's going to come and he's going to receive that which is his own and if if those who claim to know him has had really known that and believe that they would have prepared their house so it would not be broken up with her enticing speech verse 21 she caused him to yield and with flattering lips she seduced him and immediately goes after her as an ox goes to the slaughter or as a fool to the correction of the stocks till an arrow strikes his liver as a bird hastens to the snare he did not know it would cost his life now listen to me my children pay attention to the words of my mouth do not let your heart turn aside to her ways do not stray into her paths for she has cast down many wounded and all who were slain by her were strong men her house is the way to hell descending to the chambers of death if ever there was an hour that you and i need to be aware of the seductive power of religion it's now if ever there was a time where we need to draw near to the meat of god and put away the snake it's now i know it's fun to watch and i know you get bored at home and i know you like surfing the internet and the television i know these gentlemen or ladies are on the television but you better understand what they're doing to you what kind of a dullness is coming into your heart because of it you need to be able to discern who speaks for god and who doesn't does your heart burn for christ are you becoming more and more aware that the day and the hour is coming of his return does listening to this person give you a burden for the lost does it produce in you something for others or is it just all about yourself remember when the serpent came into the garden the whole focus was about themselves not about the will of god not about the work of god not about the purposes of god there's nothing in it about the mission field or the denying of oneself or taking up the cross of christ that's all eliminated from that theology it's just about you be your best you dream your dream find your destiny live outside of the boundaries of what jesus said he said not everybody that says lord will enter the kingdom of heaven but he who does the will of my father that's what he said and you can't know the will of god apart from the word of god he does not separate himself from his word now for those who take serious those of us who take seriously this charge today i'm telling you a storm is coming a storm of unprecedented proportions you've been warned in this church about this for years now it's here it's coming this war in the middle east is only the beginning of what you and i are going to live to see in our generation jesus said wars a sudden rise in wars this you shall be hated of all nations this sudden anti-christ sentiment that seems to be spreading worldwide almost overnight where it's becoming a crime now to be a believer in jesus christ and even have an opinion about what truth is and truth is not dark dark days are coming folks don't deceive yourself don't let these silver tongue prophets deceive you dark days are coming it's time to get oil it's time to know who god is it's time to walk with god with all of your heart the next chapter 27 the people of that particular day embarked on a journey and they put away the word of god paul was there in the beginning as the ambassador of god and he told them you shouldn't take this journey i perceive it will be a journey that will bring much hurt not only of you but of the loss of the ship the loss of the vessel as well but they wouldn't listen there were other voices there smooth voices saying no this is the way to go we're gonna we're gonna lift our sail we're going to prosper it's going to be a grand journey and suddenly a storm came do you know the storm is the mercy of god do you realize that it's the mercy of god that's creating a storm now in this generation for the sake of having his church come home and have the people of the land perhaps one more time being willing to listen be willing to receive the truth of god be willing to consider their eternity and in the midst of the storm suddenly all the voices began to fade all the opinions began to die people began to lose heart they began to lose hope which is rapidly now coming into our time that we're living in they were throwing tackling overboard they were doing everything they could to try to survive and then eventually they began to realize that things as they were were not going to survive in the midst of this all suddenly one man who had oil in his lap is called from the bowels of the ship to the deck of the ship i've wrote a chapter on this in a book called the 180 degree christian that suddenly he went from captive to captain in a moment of time he's captivated nobody wants to hear him everybody thinks he's a joke nobody's listening but suddenly when everything is falling apart i believe the captain said where is that man that said we shouldn't go on this journey that day's coming oh thank god that day's coming to this nation where are those voices sons and daughters are going to come back home and say mom dad you told me not to undertake this journey people are going to come back your neighbors are going to come to you people in your workplace who have mocked you and marginalized you will suddenly say where do you get the strength to sing the song you do where do you get the light that's in your eye why do you seem to have such optimism and hope for the future when you know as we do that everything around you is failing and falling and it will be your opportunity to tell them well around you it's failing and falling but around me it's not around me it's growing around me faith is building around me i have a vision and hope and a word from god for the future and so paul stepped out on the deck of that ship and he began to give the instructions for safety and he told them he said i urge you to take some nourishment actually in the king james it says wherefore i tell you to take take some meat hallelujah take some meat this is for your survival since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you take some meat my friend take some meat my sister take some meat my brother don't be afraid of this book it's your life don't be afraid of what's written in this book to the hungry soul solomon wrote also that even the bitter things are sweet to those that are hungry this is life this is eternal this gives guidance this gives hope this gives us a future he said take some meat don't be afraid of the meat of the lord stop just looking for smooth things out there that go down smoothly and make you feel good take some meat put away that which led you paul would say on this journey where you're falling apart now and when he had said these things he took bread and gave thanks to god in the presence of them all and when he had broken it before them he began to eat paul was the type of those of us who will be standing in these days taking that bread of communion with god and saying lord thank you so much that you have allowed my life to count for something for your kingdom thank you so much that i have not bought the theology of the serpent and live my life for my own gain my own betterment my own comfort my own self-image my own bigger slice of the pie for the me myself and i theology oh thank you you see paul's life was being lived for the sake of others paul lived for two things that jesus christ would be glorified in the earth and that other people might find him as lord and savior paul had an eternal destiny in mind an eternal home he had the heart of god written inside of him and that communion service was something like these people on this ship had never seen anything like this in their life and you and i are going to be given this opportunity to break bread with god this is the bread that we break this is the this is the loaf that we open and we lift it up to god and say thank you lord thank you god thank you god that you you have nourished me you've kept me you've strengthened me even when i was in the belly of hell i prayed and you gave me words and you told me that i have you have a plan for my life that i'm not going to die here in chains that i'm going to be taken before caesar and i'm going to be stand before an insane ruler who thinks he's god and i'm going to be there for one purpose to tell him you are not god sir there is a god there is one who rules the in the earth paul knew that paul knew there was a divine purpose in his life and when you begin to hear from god that's the very first thing that begins to happen you become aware of a divine purpose you're not just a happenstance on the earth you're not just a statistic in the church you're not just a head to be counted you have a divine purpose in the kingdom of god everyone that's here you have something in your life that only you can fulfill nobody else can do this you're the only one that can do this this is a divine purpose on your life and it's the same as paul when you read the scriptures that jesus christ would be made known and that men and women find him as lord and savior what else matters what else matters your career you're not taking your career with you when you die you're not taking your house you're not taking your car you're not taking your degrees on the wall what else matters but you will take your sons and daughter you will take your grandchildren you will take your family you will take your wife you will take your husband you will take your co-workers you will take the people that you lead to god that's all that will go with you and i into eternity so i say today let the devil be damned in all of his theology that he has that he has poured on the church of god in this generation let him be damned with his shifted focus to the here and now to material wealth to self aggrandization all about you all about me myself and i let the devil be damned and all of his theology i'm going back to the cross of jesus christ and that's where i'm going to stay paul said i would know nothing among you but christ in him crucified oh that you could see what i see he said to the church of ephesus i see christ sitting at the right hand of god i see him above all power principality every name that is named everything that ever will come against us he's already conquered it and we are seated with him in heavenly places he is the head we are the body he is the one who fills us he is all in all to us as his church oh that you could see what i see see when you and i begin to line up with the text of scripture the first thing that comes is spiritual vision we begin to understand who speaks for god and who doesn't speak for god those who don't speak for god their whole focus is on the earth folks it's that simple those who speak for god their focus is in heaven the intensity of the storm and the light was in paul the light that was in paul to face those days encouraged them to move towards he was it says they were all encouraged there was 276 of them on that ship and they took food themselves in other words they moved to where paul was and i see a moment coming a moment of mercy i don't believe personally that the nation as we've known it is going to be saved but i see a moment of mercy where multitudes multitudes multitudes who might be in the valley of decision now are going to move towards where you are if you are a bonafide believer in jesus christ in other words if you have oil if you really have a living relationship with god if that which is inside really has been planted there by the word of god and the spirit of god as it gets darker you will burn brighter you'll have a song everybody else will be wringing their hands and wondering where is god i thought i was supposed to be rich and i've just lost my job where's god i thought i was supposed to get a bigger slice of the pie and all i got was a pie in the face but paul had oil and by god's grace you and i will have oil folks listen to me this nation is in deep trouble it's an incredible peril at the moment we have to get oil now you and i have to have oil it's only the spirit of god that will give us the power to stand we will not be given the power to stand because we become our best ourselves no we die to ourselves and we let the one who was raised from the dead live inside of us and his value system becomes our value system his work becomes our work his mind becomes our mind his heart becomes our heart and we move into this mountain of perishing humanity believing that god will put a light within us to say to people this way this way to safety this way into the harbor this way as paul said the ship is going to perish but there's going to be lots of wood to go around thank god the cross still floats in its in this generation as it always had in every generation you can lay hold of that cross of jesus christ and everything that he bought for you on that cross and you will not drown you will not sink you'll make it to the distant shore that we're heading to you might say the people on that ship returned and discerned for paul it wasn't about living for himself that message had no appeal to him if you want to know who speaks for god take their theology today and just superimpose it on the book of acts and see how it measures up can you if you can't imagine paul speaking it or peter or james or john or jesus then god is not in it it's not difficult to do just take it take what they're saying and just compare it to scripture compare it to the church compare it to what god says you and i are supposed to be paul didn't live for himself that message had no appeal to him but he lived so that christ might be glorified and others find jesus as lord and savior oh god give us the power to live in truth and to live for others lord is bringing us to a place where we're going to need oil a little kid's song we used to sing in sunday school give me oil in my lamp keep me burning how much more today do you and i need that we need oil in our lamp oh god help us give us oil give us life give us vision give us faith give us joy for the work of god give us passion and power to live for the benefit of others and not for ourselves give us discernment to know who serves god and who doesn't so that we'll not be caught with a substance in us that doesn't light when it gets dark while the call is so simple today give me oil oh god almighty give me the oil that jesus spoke about in matthew chapter 25 and help me to turn away from everything every voice that is diluting that and putting something in me that will not get me through and cause my life to be so much less than what god has destined it to be jesus give me oil let that be the cry of your heart today and if that really means something to you because it does to me it's the cry of my heart lord help me help me to turn and if i pray as david the king did search me if there'd be something in me that will weaken me then show it to me and give me the courage to turn from it help me god to finish well i've only got i'm guessing maybe 15 years left to preach i'll be 76 in 15 years folks you're going for 30 okay praise god do i hear 20 do i hear 20 i'm a realist i'm not physically strong i might still be here but i'll be sitting there my hair will be all gray and i'll probably just wave at you once in a while but i want to finish well with all my heart i want to finish well so my my prayer is the same as yours give me oil oh god oh jesus help me not to draw back help me to finish well i want to finish running i want to finish strong i want to finish with light in my soul if that's the cry of your heart i've not brought this message today to condemn anybody it's simply to warn you you are what you eat think about it so be careful be careful my father i just thank you for this lord for this moment thank you god for lord you are preparing us just like you did for 9-11 you interrupted our whole program and you prepared us for a day of terror in the streets and now you're preparing us again i ask you god for the grace lord that we would open our hearts to truth and walk in that truth and love truth that we would be found with lamps burning in that dark day when the cry comes behold the bridegroom help us to make a difference in our cities our towns our families our neighborhoods help us god jesus christ i pray even as the call on the radio across this nation goes out to return to prayer that you would put something in us in our prayer meetings even on tuesday night that that would be light to be light be life protect us god from ingesting anything that would dilute or weaken your life within us give us grace give us strength to love you to love people father we thank you in jesus name we're going to stand in just a moment and north jersey and the annex here and those that are at home and in the main sanctuary and if that's the cry of your heart god protect me give me light cause me to burn in this darkened hour to give light to those that are around me i'm supposed to be a city set on a hill that cannot be hidden and that's what i'm asking you to make my life into if you love truth i promise you your light your lamp of light and you'll be amazed at what god will do through your life if that's you as we stand please just come to the front of the sanctuary or between the screens in the annex same thing in north jersey and we're going to pray together we're just going to believe god together god bless you please stand the balcony go to either exit the main sanctuary just slip out of where you are and just come down join these that are already coming god bless you now a baby dedication is appropriate today because this is what we fight for this is what we fight this is why we need oil now in this darkened time we need courage that can only come from god we're living in a generation where these little ones are not even allowed to say the name of god in school anymore christian clubs are being banned from our school system and children like this are being laughed at if they believe in god called irrelevant and it's going to get worse and so the future for these ones is going to be determined by what you and i choose to do today if we live for ourselves it will be very hard for them in the days ahead if we live for god and for others then who knows what god will do who knows like esther said i go into the king and if i die i die but who knows mordecai said but that you were born for a moment such as this i'm not willing to let these children be beaten up in this society i'm going to live the best i can no matter what it costs that they might be free and that's always been the history of the church we're going to pray that our homes be remember nehemiah said to the people he said you're not just building for yourself fight for your children fight for your neighbors fight for your sons and daughters yes it's a very very dark time and godlessness seems to have the upper hand but god is still alive but god is still on the throne there'll always be somebody that has to be willing to pay the price father i thank you lord jesus christ for these little ones i praise you god with all my heart i ask you lord that our homes might be sanctuaries god give us the grace to fight for these children the grace to see their future lord a place where they can sing the praises of god even in the school system i pray lord jesus christ that you'd push back the powers of darkness and let life and liberty come into this nation one more time god bless their homes lord that they would find nurture there and be able to turn to you at a young age as lord and savior father i thank you for this god with all my heart bless the mothers and fathers the aunts and uncles brothers and sisters in the body of christ god let this house and our homes be places of joy where there are no harsh words but words of life and encouragement god may they grow up in that environment and say it's good to live for god give us courage that they may find courage in the days ahead of us lord father we thank you for this we praise you for it we bless you for it in jesus mighty name amen father give us oil just give us oil that's all we ask lord give us oil fill us with your holy spirit your holy spirit god that's what the early church prayed i said lord consider the threatenings of darkness against the testimony of jesus christ and grant oh god that with all boldness we may speak your words and we ask you to stretch out your hand and do mighty healings in the name of jesus christ the son of god and so that's our prayer for this time that we live in oh god stretch out your hand again give us boldness cause us to stand lord we believe this we thank you for it and we praise you for it in jesus mighty name amen and amen praise god