Preparing To Live Off The Grid

Just to be here, you forget if you're getting a little older like I am, you forget you're old when you're in a sanctuary full of young people. And you saw this wonderful orchestra today that how much they love God and how much they're growing in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. And I thank God for you today that have taken the time to join us in this prayer meeting this evening. And we are now in receiving prayer requests from up to 210 different countries and dependencies. We're only 26 countries short now of this prayer meeting actually being completely worldwide. And that's something really to celebrate. So you pray with me that whoever those people are in those 26 countries or dependencies that are left will start texting in their prayer requests. And we will be the first ever in history worldwide prayer meeting. It's amazing what God's doing at this time. There is a move of God afoot in this world, no matter how dark it looks, the Lord is doing something. And it shouldn't surprise us. This is the Lord's doing, and is it marvelous in our eyes what God is doing. And I'm going to believe God for you today. Those that are listening online are going to believe God as these young people are and our staff here at our Bible school. We're believing for God to do the miraculous in your life and through your life. So Father, I do pray God with all my heart today for miracles. We heard about a lady who was just at a communion altar and somebody put their hand on her and she was set free from cancer and healed. We heard a testimony of a young lady who's received the healing touch of God, a young man who was delivered from sexual addiction. Father, we thank you, Lord, that another young man's sorrow could have overwhelmed him and the circumstances could have literally buried him. But God Almighty, here he is studying your word and preparing to make a difference everywhere and anywhere you choose to send him. And so, Lord, we thank you that you truly are the one who takes beauty out of ashes. You give joy out of sorrow. You give purpose, Lord. When our world has gone dark, your world never goes dark. You are the light of the world, Lord Jesus Christ. Thank you, God. Would you help people tonight who are listening to this online, who just have not yet seen who you are? They don't yet fully understand what you can do. God, help them to get up out of their place of struggle or trial or difficulty or sorrow and to recognize you as the healer, the savior, the deliverer. You're the beginning. You're the ending of all things. You make all things new. That's what your word says about you, and that's what we've come to experience. And so, Lord, we're fighting tonight for those online who just don't believe for themselves. We will believe for them. And we ask you, God, to stretch your hand out through the internet and do the miraculous. Do it with power, do it with grace, and do it in such a way that only your name could be glorified. And Father, we thank you, God. Would you help me today to speak these words into people's lives and to help us to prepare for the days that are just ahead of us? Give us the grace to pray and to believe you. And in the belief of what you speak to our hearts to stand, oh God, and to go forward and make a difference in our time. And God, we thank you and praise you in Jesus' name. I'd like to speak to you today for a few moments just before we go to the communion table. So, we always have communion on Tuesday night together. So, if you're at home, take a moment to get some bread or crackers or juice of any kind, and then we're going to partake together and celebrate this incredible victory that belongs to us through our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. I want to talk to you about preparing to live off the grid, preparing to live off the grid, 1 John chapter 5 beginning at verse 11. That's 1 John chapter 5 beginning at verse 11. Now, here's what the Bible says, and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. He who has the Son has life. He who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life and that you may continue to believe in the name of the Son of God. Now, this is the confidence that we have in Him that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we have asked of Him. Now, I want to talk to you first before we get into the Scripture about this principle of preparing to live off of the grid. Now, essentially, that means coming to a place where people literally disengage or at least prepare to power their homes by another supply in the event that the power supply of this world fails. Now, even our military generals are very, very concerned about this in America today. We are very vulnerable when it comes to this world's power grid. If there was some kind of an attack, whether it comes through the internet, comes through computer, or whether it's some kind of a space explosion or whatever can be produced by another nation, we are extremely vulnerable. As a matter of fact, our power could literally go out in a moment of time, and everything would shut down. We are very, very dependent as a country on the power supply of this world. But it's become fashionable in the last several years, maybe the last couple of decades, that there are people who believe that a better way to live is to get off of the power grid. So, they have established solar panels, wind turbines, all kinds of different things, preparing in a sense that if the power grid of this world ever does fail, that they can be self-sufficient. And all the more to them. I applaud them for their efforts. Now, we all know that the alternate and ever-reliable energy source in this world is the sun. As a matter of fact, the sun has a proven track record of reliability. You might have noticed it comes up at almost the same time every morning, depending on the season, of course, and goes down the same time at night. The sun has reliably, as long as history has recorded, caused things to grow. The sun causes the vapors on the earth to ascend up into the heavens and causes the clouds to be formed. The clouds travel over dry or barren land and rains on the land. So, the sun really is the most reliable thing, I think, that you and I might be aware of. And a lot of people in this world are actually turning to the sun for their energy supply if the energy of this world fails. Now, others are also turning to the wind as their source of energy and security. So, I thank God for that. We're seeing it in some places where we travel even in the summertime. These wind turbines are all over the place now and providing power in the event, in a sense, that this world's power supply starts to diminish. Now, in Luke chapter 16, I wanted to share with you a story. Jesus talked about a person who recognized that they were in trouble. And this person was a person that lived outside, in a sense, of the kingdom of God. It was not a person who was in right relationship with God. And he was called an unjust steward. But what he did is he made provision for his own coming hard times. He used the wisdom he had to kind of create an alternate source of supply. May I put it that way? Because he was about to be cut off from heaven supply, so he reached out to people around him. And in verse 8, Jesus, after giving this parable, he makes a statement. He said, for the children of this world are in their generation wiser than the children of life. And he's using the illustration of an unsaved man, per se, reaching out and kind of cultivating a power supply for himself, a supply through his own wit and intellect. And then he makes the statement, the children of this world, the children in a sense of who are dependent on this world for their life and their sense of well-being, sometimes are wiser than the children of life. Which brings me to a question. What provision have you made for the difficult days that might be just ahead of us? And I think you're aware that some difficult days are coming. I have had a warning in my heart for the last three or four years that I've been speaking at Times Square Church in New York City that I believe this world is mounting its last offensive against the lordship of Jesus Christ. I believe the scriptures that we see about these days are going to be fulfilled, possibly in our time. We are seeing an increasing lawlessness all over the world. It's an anti-Christ spirit seems to be gripping societies all over the place, even ones that formerly knew or understood the life in the light of God. Jesus said in Luke chapter 21 that men's hearts are going to fail them for fear and the expectation of those things that are coming on the earth, not just the things that are happening, but their fear of the things that they know are going to happen. So it's not only from the things that will be obvious that are happening in the world and this obvious understanding that something is happening to everything around us that we once trusted in, but also in the heart the expectancy. I think many are listening to me tonight and those that are in the sanctuary, you have that same expectancy in your heart as well. There's a deep sense of foreboding in the hearts of those who have reasoning minds, those who are part of the kingdom of God as well, and we sense that some very difficult days are ahead of us. We're like rowers in a storm in a sense. We know the storm is about to get worse, and so the question is, how do I prepare for these coming days? Because Jesus in Matthew 25 speaks to those who made no preparation, and when the day got dark, they realized they had no light. They had nothing in them to get to where God was or to point anybody else in that direction, and there was a suddenness of this darkness. It didn't come without warning, but the peak of the darkness when it came, they found out they had made no preparation. So how do I prepare to get off this world's power supply? You know, we're talking about those maybe who trust in everything physical around you. Your trust is more in the news than it is in the Word of God. There's kind of this mixture. You're getting a lot of your sense of well-being from everything this world offers. It's comforts. Maybe it's assurances of the future. Maybe your guy or your girl won the political election, and your guy or your girl lost, whatever the case is, but the world is giving you your sense of stability, your sense of well-being that everything will be all right tomorrow, but those that are wise, those who belong to God, I think it's time to prepare to get off of this world's power supply. I think it's time to make the shift of focus. In 1 John chapter 5 and verse 11, it says, and this is the testimony that God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son. Remember, there are people of this world that are turning to the Son for their source of supply. I think in the kingdom of God, we would be very wise to start shifting all of our trust to the Son, all of our focus upon the Son of God because He is the faithful one who has always been there in the beginning. He was there when all things were created. Listen to John chapter 1. It says, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made by Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it. Now, the Scripture tells us clearly that people of this world who are looking to the things that are not in a sense coming from the hand of God to give them life and to give them light are going to be utterly disappointed. But those who look to the Son of God, the Bible promises that in Him is life, and this life is light. And let me remind you that the Son of God has always been a reliable power supply, always, always. You shall receive power when the Spirit of God comes upon you. You shall be witnesses of the reality of God, where you are, where you will be, and where God will send you eventually. If you trust in Him, if your focus is on the Son of God, you will find that He will never fail you. He will never forsake you. He will never make promises to you that He doesn't fulfill. He is reliable. The prophet Ezekiel in the Old Testament, he turned, you know, we talk about others are turning to the wind, and in Ezekiel chapter 37 it was a dry time, and everybody's altars had failed them, and they felt like bones in the dust. They didn't know where to go. They didn't know where they're going to find their life source. And the Lord spoke to Ezekiel, and He said, prophesy to the breath. In other words, speak the Word of God to the breath of God, because it is God by His speech that creates life. Son of man, and say to the breath, thus says the Lord God, come from the four winds, O breath, and breathe on these slain that they may live. So I prophesied as He commanded, and breath came into them, and they lived and stood upon their feet an exceeding great army. You see, the Son of God has always been our faithful source of supply. The Word of God has always been our stability, and our promise, and our hope for the future. And to those that are listening online tonight, the Spirit of God, the breath of God, that which God has promised is always backed by His power. When He speaks, He puts things into motion. When He speaks, the Scripture tells us that things that are not become things that are. He doesn't actually need anything to create something. Just by the words of His mouth, He can lift you out of your depression. By the words of His mouth, He can take you and make you into the kind of a person that will stand in the storm that we're all going to have to face. By the words of His mouth, by the power of His Spirit, by the beauty of His Son, you can have a future. You can have a song that this world can't take away from you. You can have a stability that cannot be found in anything of this world. This world's power supply can be taken out in less than an hour. As a matter of fact, the prophet Isaiah says, in one hour, your judgment has come. This world can lose all of its false comforts, all of its bravado, all of its assurances of the future. It can all be taken away in a moment of time. But the Son of God is eternal and everlasting and forever. He made all things. He was there in the beginning. He will be here when it's all over. And those who have turned to Him, He promises that you are placed in the hand of God Almighty and nothing can take you out of that hand. He promises to give you a power supply that will cause you to rise above your circumstances in life, to be a voice and a force for good, to be a herald with light and oil in his lamp or her lamp that can call people to the throne of God in a season of incredible darkness. I want to challenge you tonight. It's time to pull the plug everywhere where you are. I'm not suggesting you turn the lights out in your house. I'm suggesting you pull the plug on wherever your trust is that is not founded or found in the Son of God. Turn from the power supply of this world and turn to the Son of God. He is faithful. His promises are faithful. He still calls people out of the grave. He still heals. He still delivers. He still gives sight to those who can't see a way forward. He is still the treasure of heaven being given to you and I for strength and stability and security in our future. He's the one who can save your family to the uttermost. He's the one who can do things exceedingly above and beyond all that you can even ask or think. That's why he says in 1 John, I've written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know you have eternal life and continue to believe in the Son of God. In other words, you will be attached to a power supply that this world knows nothing about. You will not go down. If the ship's going down, you're not going down. You're going to go up, praise God. If the world turns dark, your light, which comes from the power source of God, will shine even brighter than any false hope that this world has to offer those who have their confidence in him. And in verse 14 of chapter five where we started in 1 John, John says, this is the confidence that we have in him, that if we ask anything according to his will, he hears us. Do you hear me tonight? This is the confidence we have in him. This is the confidence that if we ask anything according to his will, anything, he hears us. And if we know that he hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the petitions we have asked of him. That's why I've been going out on the radio and out in this prayer meeting for years now saying it's time to pray. It's time to pray. It's time to ask God through his son Jesus Christ for what only God can give to you, the power, the security, the stability, the new mind, the assurance of a future, the strength to stand when the waves start roaring and the land starts shaking and societies start dissolving and the rage of the ungodly starts screaming in our streets. God says, I will give you a source of life that this world cannot put it out, can't extinguish it any more than they can put out the light of God Almighty himself. Oh yes, let everyone in our streets, in our societies, let kings on their thrones, let them stand outside and rage against the sun all they want. It will still come up in the morning, it will still go down at night. And they could rage against the Son of God all they want, but He is still the Alpha, He is still the Omega, He is still God, and there's nothing they can do to change that. And He's willing to share His strength. He's willing to give stability in our troubled times. He's willing to carry us through our storms. He's willing to make us into what only He can. He's willing to give us such a source of life that the Apostle Peter said, be ready to give an answer for everyone who asks a reason for the hope that is in you. This world is very quickly losing its hope. It's becoming almost pandemic. As much as the coronavirus is causing fear in societies, the loss of hope for the future is also becoming an epidemic in our generation. But God has a power supply that people can still tap into through His Son, Jesus Christ. How do I do this, you say? Admit that you can't live life your own way. Admit that everything you've tried has failed. Admit that you've sinned against the Holy God. That means He has a prescribed way that the Word of God says you should live, but you chose to live another way. You chose to try to be your own God, and it's all blown up in your face, hasn't it? I don't have to convince you tonight that are listening to me online, you already know it. You know the whole thing is blown up, and you know the power source that you're plugged into has failed you. Now, you have an invitation from the Son of God to admit that you need a Savior. It's simply just bending your knee to God and say, I can't do this on my own. I can't make it through by my own strength. And whatever I have trusted in, the lights have gone out. The power source has diminished. It might have given you comfort at one time, but it doesn't comfort you anymore. And believe that God sent His Son to die on a cross 2,000 years ago and suffer a horrible death for you because He loves you, because He longs to have you back again to Himself as His Son or as His daughter. He longs to give you of His Holy Spirit and give you a new life that only God can give you, a new source of strength that can only come from Him, a purpose, not just in time, but for eternity, forever. He longs to bring you home one day to where He is, that you may dwell with Him forever, as the Scripture says. And the Scripture tells us also that we need to confess with our mouth. We believe in our heart that Jesus is the Son of God who died for us and that God raised Him from the dead on the third day to show us that if we trust in Him, we too will be raised out of death, out of powerlessness, and brought into this new life that can be ours in Jesus Christ. And we believe in our heart and confess with our mouth. You know, you don't even have to have anybody in the room with you tonight. You can be all alone in your living room, and you can just say, Jesus, you are my Lord from this day forward. He hears you. He will receive you. Thank you for dying for me. Thank you for giving your life for me. As a matter of fact, before we go to the communion table, I'd like you to pray that with me right now. Sir, have courage tonight. Ma'am, have courage. Pray this prayer with me. Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me, seeing me in my misery and my failure, yet you still love me and you still want me. So I open my heart to you, and I ask you to come into my life and save me, be my Lord, and be my God. From this day forward, I'm going to put my confidence in you, and I'm going to trust you for everything that I need. I am now a follower.