Closer Than We Think

romans chapter 13. a message by paul to another church the church at rome thankful that the lord has brought all of us together that are here in this sanctuary today and thankful that those who are joining us online have connected to us and god god's spirit is for us all and he has a message for us all romans 13 and beginning with verse 11 and that knowing the time that now it is high time to awake out of sleep for now is our salvation he's talking about the ultimate salvation being saved out of this world what we commonly call the rapture of the church the coming of the lord he said that salvation is nearer than when we believed the night is far spent the day that day that rapture day that coming day is right at hand let us therefore cast off the works of darkness let us put on the armor or the weapons of light let us walk honestly as in the light in the day not in rioting and drunkenness not in chambering and wantedness all of that has to do with perversion and immorality not in strife or envying but put you on the lord jesus christ and make not provision for the flesh to fulfill the lust of that flesh i'm going to preach for the next little bit on this subject closer than we think closer than we think i ask for your prayers now for the message for every one of us in receiving those that are online those that are here that we will all just yield to the presence and the word of god

now lord i thank you for your word there's no doubt about it it's your word and it's definite there's no no need to pray as to whether or not it is effective or true we know it is we thank you for we just pray for ourselves now that you would help us to be receptive and to accept and then to live out the promises that you have given to us and also the prophecies that you have made help us now lord we thank you for the help you're going to give us today in your help that's already here in jesus name amen and you may be seated i'd like to hear a verbal response today how many have experienced the presence of the lord in this service today and that glory goes to god and we're telling the truth it's not some church question closer than we think

you've probably had times when there was an appointment a doctor's appointment or a business appointment or an assignment and you said is that this week oh i thought i had another week i thought i had some more time it was just simply closer than we thought that it was it can sneak up on us you know it's a helpful thing to write it down for for most of us it's a helpful thing younger minds can remember that but it's a helpful thing to write it down but after i've written it down there's been times i didn't access where i had written it i put it on the calendar i put it on the google calendar but you need to go back and hopefully before an hour before the event just check it out so i've tried to make a practice i was going to do it this morning i need to do it this afternoon just look at this week say make sure and just make a another little short list so you got a calendar and you got a list and even sometimes you end up saying oh man i is that already here it just gets closer than we can think

paul is addressing that and tells us by the inspiration of the holy ghost that that can happen to us even about the coming of the lord i mean who could count how many sermons or how many songs we have sung that has dealt with or how many times we've thought about it as we read a devotion or just in our thinking thought about the coming of the lord we have had repeated listings of it but somehow it seems to just stay out in the distance paul said in verse 11 he talked about the time that they were living in and we can transfer it to the time that we are living in and by the way this word time here didn't mean like 9 30 or 10 o'clock or 11 o'clock it was a reference to a season of time a significant critical strategic period of time paul used a particular word there he was he was saying we need to be aware of the season that we are in so that that great day of salvation doesn't come upon us and we have to say oh i missed it or oh is that already here

he was talking about a time of importance and a critical time having a character of its own and does this age ever have a character of its own in fact when you start reading in verse 12. you can see the parallels of the time that you and i are living i'm preaching a current events message here this morning this is the time the high time that you and i are living in i want to go back and say this i it would probably been good for me to have hash mark through the years how many sermons i have heard pastor branding pastor black pastor greene and then many others preach about the coming of the lord he they have told us and taught us and you have had those men and others to who have spoken into your life about the coming of the lord a reminder that jesus is coming and then everything that we must do to be ready for it when paul was describing the time that they were living in in verse 12 he uses the terminology the night is far spent

the night is symbolic of darkness the darkness of evil and i want i won't list all of them today but as i go down these these check marks of the time that we're living in you could probably take a current event and put it in parenthesis behind these descriptions the darkness of evil you know there is just pure evil that is around us and thankfully that's not all that's around us but i want to address what is really going on and what is around there's violence there the darkness means wickedness and really just outright cruelty we have thought in our minds how can someone be that cruel there is disrespect for god and authority and humanity that's what he meant by the night there but he said and i thought of it as the song was going on there's no mountain that can stand before it and demons have to flee the word from god is that this the night is far spent far spent in other words

satan hear me now satan demons evil and sinful men and women whoever they are have spent about as much as they're going to be able to spend this thing's just about over and and i know there's more to be spent but a word of hope from the lord said the night is far spent it's been going on a long time disrespect sinfulness flaunting it in the face of god flowing it in the face of god's people i feel a righteous indignation growing up in me when individuals and laws and people try to flaunt in our face that you need to be godly or you you need to be ungodly or you're out of sync if you're trying to walk righteously i just declare on the authority of verse 12 today evil satan demons have spent about as much as they're going to be able to spend and spend whatever you want to evil greater is he that is in every person in this room that is filled with the holy ghost creator is he that is in us the night is far spent we do not rejoice i want to try to help open eyes again we do not rejoice in the judgment of sinful and wicked people but we believe his word psalm 145 and 20 the lord will keep and preserve all who love him but all the wicked will he destroy please understand me now we do not i'm not rejoicing about that i'm not rejoicing about that but i'm not going to step back off of it either sometimes it looks like they're always going to get away with it and they may throughout your lifetime and mine but that's not mine to judge that's god to take care of here's what you can trust the lord's gonna preserve you if you love him come on i need a heartier amen than that from your spirit not necessarily from your voice the lord's gonna take care of you if you live right if you live according to scripture if you live according if you let the holy ghost it's not been in vain all this righteous living that you have been doing isaiah 11 and verse 4 the last part of that verse he talks about what he's going to do with his righteousness in the last part the bible says he shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips he shall slay the wicked i'll just i'll just say it how i feel it sometimes it feels like it's just being thrown in your face the sw the evil and the sinfulness just swaggering and just boasting and and all of that but i'm gonna tell you what all it takes is just a i'm not happy they're wicked i'm not happy about that but i do know this be as powerful as you want to be evil one with just a whoo that's what can take care of a school problem that's what can take care of a family problem that's what can take care of an attack just with the breath of his lips isaiah 10 and verse 4 for all this the previous judgment that he's already done i've read several sections of scripture that dealt with this and it caught my attention god talks about all the judgment that he's going to pour out and then he has his man to write in 11 or 10 and verse 4. he says for all of that previous judgments that have come his anger is still not turned away his anger is still not done his anger is still stretched out it's not turned away one translation says this way but even then the lord's anger is not satisfied his fist is still poised to strike now i would rather preach about the nail-scarred open hands of the lord inviting you and i and anybody else but i can't take that out of the book and nobody can take it out of the book we need to be aware lest we wander into some of those situations the scripture says and god's well i've read that three four five six seven ten times i read it over and it's it's just hard for me to wrap my brain around it but but he said i'm not done with this god's fist you see there's no respect for the hand or the fist of god anymore sinful think they're always going to be able to get by with it that's why if there's any sin in anybody's life there's an altar and a cross of repentance today don't you put it off we're closer than we think jude verse 15 says god's coming with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon all and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their godly deeds peter writes in ii peter chapter 2 god is just underlining for us how he is going to handle wickedness and sinfulness verses 4 through 8 tell us that god didn't spare sinning angels you think of anybody would get a break heaven would get a break but righteousness is righteousness unrighteousness is unrighteousness there's no gray area the world has grayscaled it blended it together oh there's not all that much wrong with it but he spared not sending angels he flooded noah's ungodly world is what he said he talked about the immorality of the people of sodom and gomorrah and he talked about in that verses of in those verses of scripture how righteous lot was vexed that means to tire down or to wear down i'm preaching to weariness today i know you are faithful i know you are standing in doctrine and truth i'm not questioning your status and the infilling of the holy ghost in your life but i'm going to tell you we're weary and and i'm not giving in to the enemy on that because when we are weary his strength is made perfect and we're going to bear up with wings like eagles but i'm going to tell you we're vexed because there's a wearing down there's a continual and i'll

just tell you in the last year or so it seems like it's accelerated like a snowball rolling down a hill vexed mixed i don't want you to be vexed i don't want to be vexed myself but we won't be able to stop it in the culture that we are living in the only thing for this weariness is the strength of god when you get weary don't stay out of church when you get weary don't stop praying when you get weary don't stop fasting when you get weary don't stop reading the word of god the enemy wants to wear you down the enemy wants to keep you out of one more service the enemy wants to shut down your reading and your prayer life he's trying to shut it down there's weariness that's happening in our world and in our life but verse 9. the lord knows how whoo hallelujah god you're gonna deliver us god you know how i'm just going to start praying that i'm going to try to do it every morning god you know how you know how you know what i just came through you know the attack i just came through god you know how here's what he what he knows how to do to deliver my god i feel his anointing all over this it's on you he knows how to deliver the godly out of the temptation out of the testing out of the trial he's got it figured out you're in it and you don't know how you're getting out he does he's saying just stay faithful just stand still stand still and see the salvation of god just stand still don't waver don't go back don't stop believing what you've always believed it's still one god it's still new birth it's still repentance it's still water baptism in jesus name it's still in filling of the holy ghost it's still holiness the lord knows how but that last part said he also knows how he's reserving now i'm down here saying god you don't have to hit him with your fist just flick him a little bit his timing ain't my timing news flash it ain't your timing either right god just get him but that book says he's reserved them people are making reservations for judgment by their actions somebody here today are watching why don't you cancel those reservations you didn't think what you were doing was all that wrong that bad and things had changed but you're walking out of alignment with the scripture whether it's what you're saying what you're doing who you're with whatever the unjust have a reservation god's reserved them and what he's going to have to do to be punished in that final day i'm going to tell you what now this gets a hold of me and i think it's getting a hold of you because if we know anybody righteous unrighteous we don't need to be going and taking them and if if they're listening or watching this message this this is the way god wanted to present it but i want to say again we do not rejoice because somebody is going to go to hell but the unrighteous are going to hell sinfulness is going to hell disobedience and rebellion is going to hell and that needs to get a hold of us and that's what will make praying for the lost praying for our field witnessing connect groups anything else that we can do that that'll wake us up say what can i do what can i do there will be a prayer time at the close of this service and in that prayer time i know what's going to happen there's going to be intercession because we all have loved ones that have made the wrong reservations that day of punishment damn punishment

i'm going to stop right here for a moment i want us all over this building i want us to pray i'm catching a little bit off guard but i think the spirit's been touching intercession here somebody that you feel to pray for right now right now there will be a name quickened to you perhaps and if you can't think of a name just just pray it generally for the lost let's pray church right now lord lord oh i thank you i thank you first for your mercy it's how we all got here lord it's how we all got here your grace god if you have to god just lay yourself spiritually in their pathway whether it's a song they hear or a word they hear or a phrase they hear or a conversation they have god lay yourself in that pathway that at least at least if they choose to walk around or walk over it and walk past it at least i'm praying i'm i'm praying lord oh go ahead church pray there needs to be a release of this right here hallelujah don't let there be any lost person that i can't talk to god don't let there be anybody that's lost that i refuse to talk to be it somebody i know clean our hearts god clean our hearts help us help us help us help us help us help us help us to be and to be open but to stand in the gap be the intercessors with the intercessors who they're either lost or they're saved jesus jesus oh jesus god's instructing us to yield to the spirit of intercession and the burden of intercession and so i just instruct you whatever you need to do to yield to that yield to that don't worry don't worry on that day we aren't going to worry about what somebody has thought or what somebody may say oh oh god you're saving somebody right now no they may not actually be praying right now but this is the link this is the link that you wanted us to provide to connect them to you and your salvation god god's pouring out compassion on us right now be accepting be accepting open oh it's right open the cup of your life god pour it in pour it in compassion and sensitivity who god that's right call that son's name out got a son that's lost a daughter that's lost a parent that's lost who a grandson or a granddaughter or grandparent a special friend a neighbor

we're going to continue in prayer because there's another veil of prayer and another aspect and dimension of prayer the lord wants to lead us in this would be for those that we're praying for but i want those of you that are viewing or here in this service i want you to understand fully we are in time and in relation to the coming of the lord the poster ethan's holding just simply says his it's coming and there's always been a gap between where we're living and that day and so we'll go into monday september 13th and then tuesday the 14th and then a week we'll go and another month will go

but what's wrong with this picture is the gap has stayed the same in our minds and in our commitments and in our dedication it's always out there there's a gap but here's what's really happening monday tuesday next week next month folks the gap is narrowing we've been fooled because it hasn't happened it's like those people that peter wrote about they said it's all it's been this way since the beginning and we're being fooled now sure we should always give ourselves to the lord no matter what period of our history we are in but i'm just saying today it's closer than we think this is not the day the gap is not widening the commitment that's being called for is not lessening the dedication to holiness and godliness if we ever lived right looked right dressed right spoke right involved ourselves in the right thing now is the time it's narrowing we need to take advantage of every bit of that gap from here to there to get ourselves ready and to help get somebody else ready that's why it it's on this congregation today it it it's in your heart and in your mind you know that gap is narrowing that's why what hit us a while ago that intercession and so i'm calling us by the authority of the lord i'm calling us how much could it take it i don't think it was ever all right but for the sake of of carnal mindset maybe we could get by was oh man but i got to check it out i got to go to the car it's altar service or i'm not going to the altar i don't want anybody thinking it's closer than you think and we could find ourselves guys

i want you to roll that video there were folks in afghanistan and kabul at the airport that we're so desperate so desperate to get out that's how desperate they were and that thing took off with those people clinging to the side of that plane because they were so desperate to get saved out of kabul it may be lethargy now it may be nonchalance now but on that day now i i also know i also know that there's going to be much insolence in that day and people are going to talk their way out of it but it would not surprise me at all i don't want to be here to check it out but it would not surprise me at all if those front glass doors are not busted through somebody's sold this give me a hammer get me to that altar but here we set today we think it's still out there alter service just another altar service just pastor all stirred up folks it is more serious than somebody just being all stirred up we need to get ourselves right we need to fall on our faces we need to get before the lord and say god cleanse me and help me

i'm calling for an altar call right now i'm calling for a time on our faces before the lord it's not just me calling it god's calling it's time to make some turnarounds it's time to make the changes that we need to make it's time to make the commitment it's time to quit fooling around it's time it's time it's time oh god oh god oh yes if you've got anything you need to repent of go ahead god's gonna forgive you if you need anything any i don't care what it is just a little bit of bitterness in your heart just a little bit of separation isolation hard feelings oh god cleanse us today cleanse us today give me a burden lord for my field around this church in my neighborhood that's right just continue in prayer we need to let a season of prayer happen right here oh don't get up too quickly stay in stay in his vein right now that's right that's right that's right you

you've spoken to me deeper than from your voice but you have reached to the depths of your soul heart and spirit and your words and your prayer have been rich with meaning and burden i have heard every word every name i love every person that has been named and even more than those i love this world so i am ready to partner with you i instruct you do not leave at all to me i can save and i alone cleanse regenerate but you must be my extended voice and my extended hand to speak to and reach to would you span the gap between me and that soul and with that bridge built they will be able to walk into salvation presently and permanently saith the lord hallelujah

help us to be the connection god help us to be the link help us oh jesus we receive it lord thank you for opening our hearts today so that we can speak from the depths oh jesus i'm going to ask everyone everyone that's here and those of you that are viewing online i'm going to ask every one of you to get at least one person in your focus soul focus the salvation focus and i want them to be just in your focus right now and then you can live out and do whatever needs to be done in the coming days ultimately there will be some kind of contact made some kind of conversation about i don't know what it might entail all i'm asking for right now in these next few days and as god directs you the soul at least one and there may be others come to you and just focus on that and don't let up and we all know the human tendency so somehow we're going to have to remind ourselves that when a moment such as this passes by it's not because we don't love that person it's not because we don't care but just life gets busy and we just start living from day to day day to day and i ask you to do whatever you can to discipline yourself to keep focusing on that person and and then begin to reach out and be those hands the lord spoke about and the voice that the lord spoke about to be that bridge and that link that can help them to make the connection that they need to make with god

and here's what we know the holy ghost will help us because he's he's all for this the salvation of people he's all for it and so we may be sitting here standing here today and said i don't know how i'm going to approach that person that has come or that will come to my mind but god will lead us and it takes it does take prayerfulness it does take sensitivity but god is wrapping this thing up and we are sensing it as his people and he wants whosoever will he wants whosoever will whatever name that you've been praying for today whatever name that comes to your mind there is without question this truth god loves them would you just thank god for his love today thank you jesus thank you that's it that's it really we thank you lord we thank you o lord thank you jesus