You Are the Last Day Plan of God

Praise God. Thank you. May be seated.

First time I heard that song, Pastor Tim, Jesus is the answer. I was about 20 years old. That's an old, old timer.

I hope I got that right. Our Bible school has a table in the lobby after the service today, if you'd be interested in checking that out. Our Times Square Church's Bible school is called Summit International School of Ministry in Grantville, Pennsylvania.

This coming year, we've started a brand new GAP program, an eight-month course for people that are straight out of high school before you go into college and especially face the pressures that are going to be found there, and also for people who are in college and want to get strengthened in their faith before going into the workforce. It's brand new. Just check it out.

I think it might be a blessing to somebody here or maybe a blessing to somebody you know. I'm going to speak to you this afternoon as a grandfather. You allow me to do that? A grandfather can say tough things, but in a hard way, in a kind way, let's put it that way.

We have very many teachers in the body of Christ, but not very many fathers, and I hope you're very, very thankful you do have a father in the faith, and Pastor Tim Delina in this church. Thank God for what the Lord is doing, and His leadership is exemplary. It really is exemplary.

I listen to all of His messages every week. Sometimes I'm part of the actual online community on Sunday morning and never cease to be stirred by the messages that God is giving our pastor. How faithful the Lord has been.

It's been 37 years now the presence of God has been in this church. Amazing, amazing. Statistically, that shouldn't be.

The people who do church statistics say we should have died off a long time ago, but instead of dying off, we're getting more and more and more and more alive, and I thank God. Thank God for that. Thank God for all of the places now that this pulpit is reaching around the world and will continue to do so in every increasing measure in the days ahead.

Pastor Tim, I promised I'm going to stay alive as long as I can, but as my dear old dad used to say, it's pretty hard to get out of this world alive. I mean, there will be a generation that do get out of here alive. Thank God for that when the rapture of the church comes, and I'm hoping to be alive to see that, because I think, as many of you are starting to understand.

Now we've just, Pastor Therese and I have just come back from Amsterdam. We were in Egypt. By the way, I got to see the pharaoh who told the people of God they couldn't leave.

He's on display in a glass case in a museum there, so I leaned over the glass case, and I looked at him, and I said, so how'd that go? Just to be able to say I did that. I did that, and you know, just even if you bury yourself under a mountain of rocks, God says, no, I'm just going to take you out and put you on display for everybody to see for the next who knows how long until the Lord returns. But all over the world, we're in Israel too as well, and all over the world the same Holy Spirit is speaking the same thing to the body of Christ.

Jesus Christ is coming soon, and many people are starting to believe it's in our generation that we're going to see the rapture of the church and the return of Christ. If Paul and his associates thought that the return of Christ could have been in their time, how much more in our time? And especially now as we see the world around us just absolutely unraveling. Insanity is taking over from sane thinking.

I mean, it's just, it's incredible. I never thought I'd be alive to see a day like this. Even just the 30 years, almost 30 years I've been here in New York City, the degeneracy of this society is mind-boggling.

What has happened just in one generation is absolutely stunning. But God has a plan, and that's what my message is about today. I want to encourage you, and it's up on the screen already, and it's just called Accept It.

Accept it. You are the last day plan of God. Accept it.

Now there's a difference between knowing it or hearing about it and accepting it. I gave the illustration earlier today that the children of Israel, they knew that they were being brought out of captivity by the hand of God when they were brought out of Egypt, and they knew that they were destined, as had been spoken to their ancestor Abraham, to be a people supernaturally given abilities to go into places that only God could take them, to become a people in the earth that would bring the name of God to reputation, not by their might, not by their power, but by the Spirit of God, by the promises of God, by the presence of God. They were to be a people that brought His name to reputation.

Now, so they they knew this, but they didn't accept it, that first generation. So you can know everything I'm about to say today, but if you don't accept it, you could end up, as they did, just living and dying in a wilderness. That's what happened to them.

They died in a dry place. They never became what God intended them to be, and His name, the name of God, was not brought to reputation for quite a few years because they never accepted the fact that they were the plan of God to bring His name to reputation. So my prayer for you today is that in your life it will go beyond just recognizing or learning to actually accepting something.

I accept that God, that you have determined to bring your name to reputation through my life. You have a plan for me that's bigger than anything that I've ever thought or understood or even asked for. This is, you know, if you have the Spirit of God upon you, you already have an inner thought.

God plants it there, that my life is destined to be more than what I am today or what I think I'm going to be tomorrow. There's something else for my life, and you already know it in your heart. You know that God has has planned something.

It's a groan. You know, the Bible does tell us that the Spirit of God makes intercession for us with groanings that cannot be uttered according to the will of God. So the Holy Spirit within you is interceding for you and I to come into agreement with God's plan for each of our lives.

And so there's a there's an inner awareness in a sense. Now I know I'm speaking to somebody directly today. There's an inner awareness.

When you put your head on your pillow at night, when you get up in the morning, when you're driving through the day or you're riding the subway, there's a thought that keeps coming into your heart. My life is meant to be more than what it is, even if what it is is a good thing. What God has in store for you is a great thing.

Remember Nehemiah, he was building a wall and they tried to divert him into another place. They tried to kind of skim him off into a good thing, but he responded to those who sent the letter to him and he said, no, I can't leave what I'm doing because what I'm doing, what I'm called to do is a great thing. I can't leave it even for a good thing.

So I want to encourage you today, don't settle for a good thing if God's called you to do a great thing in the earth. Now, He's not called you to do it. He's going to do it through you.

All we have to do is accept it. You see, the people came out of Egypt. They knew it, but they didn't accept it.

Therefore, when they got to the border of this place of incredible promise and ten spies brought back what the Bible calls an evil report, they embraced it because they'd already been thinking it. These evil spies, as it is, or the spies with the evil report, they just confirmed what the people had been thinking all along. I don't think I can do this.

I don't think I'm strong enough. I don't think I have enough skills. The mountains are too high.

The giants are too big. How do I know this is going to happen? And so when these reporters came back with this report that the obstacles were too great, they embraced it. I want to challenge you, don't embrace a report like that.

You see, because it's not about you. It's about the presence of God in you. That's what makes the difference.

It's not about you. You are not called to do the supernatural. You are called to accept the fact that God has chosen you to do something supernaturally that will bring His own name to glory.

It's not us who do it. It's God who gives the giftings. It's God who strengthens us.

It's God who does from the beginning to the end. He's the author and the finisher of our salvation. Young people, listen to me.

I've been young and now I'm old, okay? What I'm telling you, I've lived. I sat 45 years ago in a church and heard the words that you're about to hear. I remember sitting on the edge of my seat saying, God, could this be true? Is it possible that you have something bigger for my life than I have for myself? Is it possible that you're thinking thoughts about me that are far beyond the thoughts that others have thought about me? Is it possible you're speaking things into my life for the future that others didn't speak? They fell far short.

As a matter of fact, they spoke the opposite in many cases. God, is it possible? And there's a point in your life, it came about in mine, where you just get up and accept it. Lord, I just accept the fact that you've called me.

I accept the fact that you've determined to do something through my life that I can't do, but you can do it. It's not natural, it's supernatural. And it will bring your name to reputation and glory in whatever sphere of influence you give me.

Whether it's a few people, whether it's a lot of people, that's inconsequential. But my life will begin to have an impact where I go because you're going to take me into places that I can't go in my own strength, and you're going to give me what I could never possess. We're going to start in the book of 2 Timothy chapter 1. Father, I thank you, God, with all my heart today.

Jesus Christ, you have a plan in this last day. This last day when your name is being mocked, this last day when truth is being trampled in the streets, this last day when immorality is abounding and confusion is abounding, this last day when lying is accepted as a form of speech. God Almighty, God Almighty, this last day where your name is being mocked and your people are being vilified, yet you have a plan as you always have had.

And God, we are the last day plan that you have for this world. Would you open our hearts to accept it? All of us, no exception. Would you give us the grace, Lord, to walk into the place of promise in Jesus Christ and face our mountains, whatever they are, and the giants that we will have to face? Believe in God that without natural weaponry, these places will have to come down.

They'll have to give way to the Spirit of God. Oh, God, would you deliver us from being a natural people, always reasoning everything, God? And would you bring us into the realm of the Spirit, the ability to simply agree with you and begin to walk in this newness of life and power that you promised to those who belong to you? Father, I thank you, God, with all my heart. Please, God, today, please empower this church.

And I ask it in Jesus' name. Amen. Second Timothy chapter one, beginning at verse one.

Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. In other words, Paul says, I didn't choose to have this office, but I yielded to God's will for my life, according to the promise of life, which is in Christ Jesus. To Timothy, a beloved son, grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father in Christ Jesus our Lord.

I thank God, whom I serve with a pure conscience, as my forefathers did, as without ceasing, I remember you in my prayers night and day, greatly desiring to see you, being mindful of your tears, that I might be filled with joy. Now, let me stop there for a moment. And I don't know how this scenario played out, but here's the way I see it in my mind.

I see Paul, the apostle, coming to this house where there was a mother and a grandmother and this son or grandson there. And the two women had led him to a faith that can only come through believing in Jesus Christ. And then Paul walks in and starts talking to this fearful, he's actually a fearful young man, about a plan that God has for him that's so much bigger than maybe anything he ever thought his life could be.

And at some point, the words of God got into him and laid hold of him, and he started to agree with it. At some point, I think tears came into his eyes, and Paul saw that. Do you remember the first time you wept when you became aware of God's presence? Do you remember the times maybe at night before you went to bed or when you got up in the morning or you're riding the subway, and just a sudden weeping comes on you? Because the Spirit of God is calling you to something that's bigger than anything you ever thought your life could be.

And then suddenly, I can see this boy getting on his knees, and the apostle Paul lays that weathered, beaten hand on top of his head like this, and he begins to pray. And as he begins to pray, the hand of God moves through the hand of Paul. And a touch of heaven comes on this young man.

And Paul says, I remember the day you were set apart for the kingdom of God. I remember the day when the Spirit of God came upon you. I remember the day that I was able to bear witness to this calling of God, Timothy, that came onto your life, even though you're young and maybe a bit fearful.

And I greatly desire to see you again because I remember your tears. I remember you. I remember a lot of the people that come to this altar over the years.

I remember the tears here at this altar as people began to believe that God could use their lives for something greater than they ever believed they could be used for. Paul says, when I called to remember, it's the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also. I don't know what it cost Timothy's mother and grandmother to bring him that faith in Jesus Christ.

It was not easy in those days to stand as a living testimony for God. Therefore, I remind you to stir up the gift of God, which is in you through the laying of my hands, laying on of my hands. Now, stirring it up doesn't mean just more physical action.

It's more of a heart stirring. Timothy, remember that God has called you. Timothy, stir up that faith that I once saw in you when I visited your house and prayed for you.

Don't let it go dormant in your life. Don't let the day-to-day routines that you have to come into. Maybe he has to go to school.

I don't know. Maybe he has a young apprentice. I don't know what he was doing.

But the reality is, Paul is saying, don't let these things override this call of God that came on your life that day. Stir up the memory even of it, the memory of the day that the hand of God came on you and called you. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony of our Lord. Now, it was not a favorable time to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. Much of the known world at that time was somewhat scornful of the testimony of God and resistant to that testimony.

But Paul says, no, don't be ashamed of the testimony, nor of me, his prisoner, but share with me in the sufferings of the gospel according to the power of God. In other words, Paul is saying, Timothy, it's not going to be easy, and don't let anybody ever tell you it will be. The presence of God does not mean the absence of trouble.

As a matter of fact, Jesus said, in this world, you shall have tribulation, but be of good cheer for I've overcome this world. In other words, the troubles of this world will not take you down because I've already defeated them, and I have promised to keep you. I'll keep you.

I'll keep you in depression. I'll keep you in flood. I'll keep you in fire.

I'll keep you in trial. I'll keep you when you're on top of the mountain. I'll keep you when the mountain's on top of you.

I will keep you. I've interwoven, God would say, the honor of my name in keeping you. You will not be triumphed over.

You cannot be triumphed over. He himself said, you're sealed in my Father's hand, and nobody can take you out of my Father's hand. If you're a believer in Jesus Christ, you're in the most secure position or place you can be in all of the universe.

You are in the hand of God. Now, in that hand, that hand will not forsake you when you go through the flood. When you go through the fire, it might get hot inside that hand, but it's still safe in that hand, and one day, God will open that hand and just deposit you at the throne of eternity.

Praise be to God. Bless the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be ashamed, but share with me in the sufferings of the gospel according to the power of God who has saved us and called us with a holy calling.

It's a calling that separates us from the people of this world. It's to walk in places that the people who live without God know nothing about. They can't walk there because they don't know God.

Not according to our own works, but according to his own purpose and grace which was given to us in Christ Jesus before time began. God is, we teach it this way, he's omniscient. That means God knows everything.

Before the world was created, he knew you. He saw you. He saw you before you were formed in your mother's womb, and it doesn't matter how you got into this world, you were not a mistake.

God saw you and allowed you to be born for a divine purpose. A holy calling, not according to your own works, but according to his own purpose and grace given to us before time began. Even before the world was created, he had a plan to glorify his name through you.

And he knew that you and I would be perhaps the last generation that are going to be here before Christ returns. He knew we would be the last day plan of God. He knew we would be frail as Paul knew Timothy was.

He knew we would be struggling. He knew we would have trials. He knew we'd have to fight giants.

He knew we'd be born in a society that's losing its mind. Spiritually, morally, every other way, it seems to be losing your mind in this society. He knew you would be here and still planned that you would be his last day plan to glorify his name on the earth.

Praise be to God. He knew that in the book of Ephesians and chapter 4 verses 7 and 8. Paul says to each one of us, grace was given according to the measure of Christ's gift. Therefore, he says, when he ascended on high, he led captivity captive and gave gifts unto men.

So when he rose from the dead, he took all of the things that could take you captive, captive. He overcame them. He defeated them.

Listen to me. I don't know what it is you're going through or what it is that's oppressing you, but he took that oppression captive and gave you giftings. That means he gave you abilities to live far beyond these things.

Abilities, giftings to do things that you could never do in your own strength. To go places you could never go and to become what you could never become. We are a supernatural people.

We're never meant to be natural as the church of Jesus Christ. We were never meant to be an argument about the existence of God. We were meant to be a living testimony about the reality of God.

We were a people that were destined to be taken into places that only those who live with God can go. Given abilities to do things that only God can do. To bring his name to reputation.

Do you understand? That's how the name of God is brought to reputation. Not by arguing with people, but being a living demonstration of who God is to them. You become free from these past fears and failures by looking forward to what your life will be instead of constantly running away from what your life used to be.

You know, the children of Israel when they came out of Egypt, I'm sure there's some that were always looking over their shoulders. I wonder if Pharaoh has found some more soldiers. He's found some more chariots.

He found a way through the sea. I wonder if we're still being pursued. I wonder if we're going to be taken captive again.

You know, you're not supposed to live your life looking over your shoulder. It's your past. The Bible tells us clearly to look forward to the future, to what God, as we behold him, the scripture says, Jesus Christ, his victory, his promises, his power.

We are changed into the same image by the Spirit of God. We become a new creation. We become that which God has destined us to be as we are looking forward.

I often find over the years, or have found as a pastor, that people who live their Christian life just to not be like somebody in their past end up looking like that person in their past. Because you will go in the direction you're looking in, and if you're looking over your shoulder, that's the direction you're looking in. No, no, we leave that behind us.

Listen to what the apostle Paul said. Paul said, I've not achieved, I've not arrived, in a sense, at every place or every thing that I'm supposed to be at, but I'm going to do this one thing. I'm going to leave behind the things that need to be left behind, and I'm going to press forward to the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Even though he had achieved things in his life, there was still in him that inner thought, there's more that God has to do through my life that will bring his own name to glory. Even if I'm in jail, and even if I can only write a few letters to a few friends, somehow I believe that all things are working together for good, because I love God, and I'm among those who are called according to his promise. So as he writes these little epistles to Timothy and others, he has no idea that hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds, and hundreds of millions of people around the world are going to be reading his letters, and strengthened, and encouraged by the Spirit, and by the power of God.

All things do work together. We are not a natural people, we are a supernatural people. Now Christianity is not a spectator sport.

Unfortunately in America it became such in many places, not every, but in many places it became a spectator sport. A spectator sport is where you buy a ticket, okay, you buy a ticket, that's your tithe I suppose in the church, you come in, you get your jersey in the lobby, or you take it out of the closet, and you wear it, and you come in, and you wear, it's either a football jersey or a hockey sweater in this case, and you come in, and you ever notice the jersey always has somebody else's name on it? So we come into Times Square Church, and I see a lot of Delena jerseys, I'll tell you straight out, and that's a good jersey to have, because he's a powerful player in the kingdom of God. I thank God for that.

We come in, and we see Pastor Tim with this incredible passion to win the lost, this vision to win a billion souls, and it's exciting to be part of that. It's exciting to have a hero in whatever venue we're going into, and I see some Ubu jerseys, some Jerry Hampton jerseys, and there's Sanchez jerseys, and there's a Victoria Griffin jersey, and you know, everybody has a hero. There's even a couple of Conlon jerseys left at Times Square Church.

You see them every once in a while. Now, whoever heard of Ken Schinkel? Anybody here? Well, Ken Schinkel was a player for the New York Rangers from 1959 to 1964. He didn't play a lot of games.

One season he played 39 games, another season 28, and another season only four, but the point I want to make is, even though we didn't hear, we don't remember his name, it was his name on the back of his sweater. It wasn't somebody else's. He actually came, and he actually played in the game.

Now, a lot of people say, well, I don't, I'm not, I'm a season ticket holder. You know how you know you're a season ticket holder in the church? You sit in the same seat. It's an assigned seat.

That's a season ticket holder. You put on your jersey with somebody else's name on it, and you come, and you sit in the same seat week after week, and you get all excited because the preacher's excited, and the worship team is excited, and there's this excitement, and even some worshipers around you are excited, but why is your name not on the back of your sweater? Why is it somebody else's name? Why is it somebody else's excitement? You say, well, you see, I haven't been called. Well, you see, that's where you're wrong.

That's not true. First Corinthians, chapter one, beginning at verse 26, Paul says, for you see what? Your calling, brethren. You see your calling.

Not many wise, according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to put to shame the wise. God has chosen the weak things of the world to put to shame things which are mighty, and the base things of the world, and the things which are despised, God has chosen, and the things which are nothing, or not, to bring to nothing the things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. But of him you are, in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption, that as it is written, he who glories let him glory in the Lord.

Your calling. We're all called into the body of Christ. We're all called not just to be spectators in the church.

We have a calling. We have a divine calling, and we are given supernatural abilities to fulfill that calling. I used the example this morning of a football team.

In the locker room, they go in, they get their equipment, they get their training, they get their jerseys, then they have to run before getting into the game, they have to run down a long corridor, it's called the tunnel, and just before they get on the field and in the game, they have to run through a paper wall. Have you all seen that before? I'm sure many of you have. There's a couple of people with poles, and they're holding up, and it's really just a paper wall.

It might have something written on the outside, it might have some designs, some clever designs, but the team has to break through the paper wall. Can you imagine an NFL team coming down the corridor, running at full speed, and stopping in front of a paper wall? Now, the devil goes over time for you and for me, drawing imitation bricks on your paper wall, writing things about you, oh, you're a loser, things that have been said, you'll never achieve, the Giants are too big, you'll never amount to anything, the promises are not for you because you've failed here, and you've failed here, and he writes all this stuff on your paper wall, and all it is is a paper wall, hoping it can stop you, because once you break through the paper wall, you and I are now in the game, we are now participants in the kingdom of God, and the devil knows, the devil knows, trust me, the weakest saint, he knows when somebody finds the power of God, the damage they can do to his team, the damage they can do to all of his plans, and all his resources to keep this generation in captivity, I say it's time to go down the corridor, go through our paper wall, get on the field with our name on the jersey, and get into the game in the church of Jesus Christ, it's time for us, it's time for us, this is not a spectator sport in the body of Jesus Christ, and God forbid that we should ever allow it to be, it's not a place to come in and just get excited about somebody else's journey, that's wonderful, wonderful to get excited about somebody that's gone before us, and somebody that has been used of God to achieve certain things, but it's not, this is not an exclusive club in the body of Christ, you see your calling, and the scripture tells us that the body of Christ moves by that which every joint supplies, you have a place in the body of Christ, you have something that God has destined you to do that will bring his name to glory in the earth, you have a word to speak, you have a sword to carry, you have an influence to exert in some part of your community, in some part of your world, gifted by the Holy Spirit, carried by the Holy Spirit, empowered by the Holy Spirit, taken by the Holy Spirit, and your testimony is the same as Paul says in Corinthians, Jesus Christ is my wisdom, Jesus Christ is my righteousness, Jesus Christ is the power in my life, Jesus Christ is my redemption, I glory in the presence of God, I glory in this life that God has given me, I glory in the sustaining power and the keeping power of the Holy Spirit of Almighty God, that's why Paul says to Timothy, don't let your own littleness blind you to the greatness of God's power within you, first Timothy 1 7, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, God has not given you a spirit of fear, there is nothing to be afraid of, your name is already in the Lamb's book of life, heaven is already your home, you already have a mansion under construction on somewhere on heaven's boulevard, there's a mansion there with your name on the door, already being prepared for you, you are going to rule and reign with Jesus Christ for all of eternity, that is your future, that is where you're going, until that day, don't be afraid of any of the opposition that comes against you, you live on the victory side, we live on the side of God's power, we live on the side of Jesus Christ carrying us and empowering us so that our lives will bring his name to reputation, praise be to God, not our names, his name, praise be to God, don't let your own weaknesses rob you of an awareness of the depth of God's love for you, Timothy, he says, God has not given us a spirit of fear, but a power and of love, oh, if you only knew how loved of God you are, if you only knew, if you only understood it, oh, we have the word love in the Bible as a definition, but I think trying to understand the love of God is like trying to take the ocean and put it in a thimble, that's what our mind is like, it's so beyond us, I think when we get to the throne of God one day, we're just going to go wow, like wow, for lack of another word, or say it in different words, I don't know what it is in Spanish, but you'll say it in Spanish too as well, like hola, I don't know what it is, something like that, we're just going to be almost speechless when we understand what God so loved the world actually means, understand how precious we have been in his sight, understand how much he covers us when we feel like failures, when we feel like our lives are not amounting to anything, when we feel so weak that we wonder if God could ever do anything through us, then we suddenly begin to realize how loved of God we are, and the Bible says perfect love casts out fear, doesn't it? John the Beloved wrote that in one of his epistles, perfect love casts out fear, when we realize how loved we are of God, then fear starts to go out the window, out the other side, and of a sound mind, of a sound mind, I shared this morning that the Pentecostals over the years, if you've been around a while, they laid hold of the power, if you go to a Pentecostal church, it's always the power, we got the power, we got the power, the charismatics have the love, you know, we have the chocolates and the flowers and just love everybody, you love me and I love you, and everything's about love, the good news is the sound mind is still up for grabs, nobody has claimed the sound mind yet, put on that helmet of your salvation, put on this sound thinking in God, put on the understanding that I am called to something higher than I think, that I have thought my life was going to be, put on that soundness of thinking and when you do, start pressing towards the high calling of God that's upon you through Jesus Christ, let me read it to you from the words of the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 3 verses 12 to 15, not that I've already attained or I'm already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold on me, in other words, Paul had this understanding, I've been gripped by God for a God intended purpose, so my part is to cooperate with it, my part is to accept it, not try to rationalize it, not try to reason it, not try to scheme it, not try to figure out how it's going to happen, my part is just to accept it and to allow God to work his plan out through my life, I don't count myself to have apprehended, in other words, Paul's saying I've not hit the fullness of what I feel God has for my life, but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus, therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this unto you, Paul was saying I haven't, I don't fully understand it yet, but I'm moving towards something that God has gripped me for, he wants to do something through my life and because he wants to do something through my life, I'm going to leave behind, I'm not going to live in the past, I'm not just going to, I'm just, thank God for past victories, but I'm not going to live there because I'm called of God for something bigger than I can understand, he would have no way of knowing that even going to jail, he was going to reach the world, phenomenal what God, now the devil knows this, do you understand? He's been around long enough to see this, he knows that when you lay hold of the plan of God, no, that's the purpose of God and just say Lord, I don't know what it is, but remember the church of Philadelphia, the Lord said in Revelation, you only have a little strength, you've kept my word and you've not denied my name and that's a lot of people here today, say God, the one thing, I've tried to obey you as best as I can and I know I'm not very strong, I only have a little strength, but it's to this charge, he said, behold, I set before you an open door, it's amazing, you don't have to find it, it just comes down, it's just there one day, all we're required to do is go through it, that's all he says, I'm going to set it before you and I just want you to go through the door that I set before you and then go through the next door and then go through the next door and go through the next door, the point being, accept the calling of God that is on your life, I believe that we need to come back and so I'm speaking for Pastor Tim because I know he shares the same heart as I do, we need to come back to where the church began in Acts chapter 2, the church of Jesus Christ began in a prayer meeting, hallelujah, hallelujah, it began in a prayer meeting with 120 people who knew their frailties, 120 people, there's nobody boasting there, there's no Peter boasting of his love and loyalty to Jesus Christ, he was a man probably thoroughly ashamed of what he had done and what had come out of his mouth and John for all his statements of love and how much I love you and you love me, he ran in the garden when Jesus needed him, he was gone and everybody that the scripture says stood afar off in his time of need, so here they are in the room and they've not, there's no boasters there, it's almost like God has to take us there before he can use us, does that make sense? He has to take us to the place where he has to become our strength, he has to become our righteousness, he has to become our redemption, he has to become our hope, he has to become our everything because if we don't start from that place, we'll end up touching the glory as surely as we breathe, we'll touch the glory but in the upper room, they prayed and they were commissioned and when God commissioned them, when the Holy Spirit came, they moved out of that room, they accepted their calling and they moved into that calling with the power of God leading them, really simple and they started speaking with an ability that they didn't naturally have, they started speaking to people of other cultures and languages in words that could be understood and the scripture says they were declaring to them the wonderful works of God, it's in the Greek, it says omegaleos, in other words, they were saying this is who God is, this is what God has done, this is what God is doing and this is what God is going to do, so you have 120 people moving now in unison, they've accepted their calling not in their strength, not in their might, not in their own abilities, in the mercy of God and they stepped out of the upper room and what happened is what should always happen, the name of Jesus Christ was brought again into reputation and of the thousands heading back to wherever they were going to from their festivities, at least 3,000 that day when they saw the church, God gripped, when they saw the church of Jesus Christ moving and accepting their calling, when these people stepped out of the upper room, they knew it wasn't going to be easy, they were stepping into a society that was hostile to the testimony of Jesus Christ at that time, they knew it was going to be difficult and they were right because many of them gave their lives in the long run to bring us the truth that we have today of Christ and thank God for them but they stepped out and they changed the known world, do you understand 120 people empowered by the spirit of God changed the whole known world, hallelujah, not by might, not by power but by my spirit says the Lord, they accept the point being they accepted their calling, they didn't stay in the upper room and try to relive the experience week after week after week, oh this is amazing, we prayed the spirit of God came down, Peter got up all excited, let's meet again tomorrow, let's meet again, no they went out, they went outside of that room and eventually were scattered throughout most of the known world of that time and churches were raised and demons were fleeing and truth was prevailing and God was glorified through this body of believers, folks you are the last day plan of God, do you understand, you are God's plan, it's time to get your own jersey, it's time to put your own name on the back, nobody may ever know your name but I'll tell you heaven will record it, heaven will record, you may not play a lot but you are in the game and I'm promising you God will give you abilities that you can only dream about, give you abilities to do things, to say things, to go places, he'll fill your heart with love for the lost, he'll give you words to speak as he did to Peter on the day of Pentecost, Peter who couldn't even admit that he was a follower of Christ to a little girl holding the door is now standing before a hostile crowd and saying this same Christ whom you took and crucified, God has raised from the dead and we are witnesses of this resurrection, there were less people in that room than there are in this sanctuary today, they changed the whole known world because they accepted their calling, I can say like David, I've been young and now I'm old and I get out of my seat when I was in my 20s, I said God, if this is real, this is true, I'd never preached a sermon, didn't like people for real, had a really bad temper, lousy husband, not much of a father, I remember coming to an altar one day and I knelt down and it was a service similar to this where the preacher is saying give your all to Jesus, give your all for the purposes of God, I'm sitting in the back, I'm in the center section in the back right where you are over there and I'm not churched, I don't get church yet, I'm not into the culture, I'm a cop right at this point in my life and my life is different than these people, I deal differently, I do different things in the week and I see a lot of stuff that most of these people will never see in their lifetime and I'm back there and he gives an altar call and everybody, there was about 700 people, everybody stood up and nobody moved, I was stunned, I said what's wrong with these people, like they got big Bibles, you know, that they carry here and they're all dressed nice, I'm probably, I don't know what I was wearing but probably jeans and a jean jacket, I was on my day off, they're all clean shaven, I'm not, they were raised in Christian homes, I wasn't, they know the Bible, I don't even know if there is a book of Ezekiel and nobody moves, then my heart starts beating, I said, oh God, you can't be serious, I remember thinking your kingdom must be on fumes if you want me, but the pounding in my chest wouldn't go away, the call, if you can accept it, I wonder what happened to these people, have they been in church so long that they just settled into unbelief, were they just seasoned ticket holders in the church, did they just come to see the show every week, what was it all about, why could nobody move, I remember getting out of my seat and walking down the aisle and I knelt here all alone, the only other guy was a mid-eastern guy in a green suit that came down over the other side, the two of us were kneeling and I got on my knees and I remember saying, God, I don't have anything to give you, nothing, I mean, if you need a bad temper, I'm your man, I can't speak publicly, I don't like people, I'm not much, I said that little kid in the story, I think that was probably what he preached, at least he had loaves and fishes, I don't even have that, like I got nothing to give you, but I remember the words I said, but if you can use nothing, you can have me, I've been all over the world, folks, I preached to crowds in the hundreds of thousands, just God has done amazing things over the years, but that's not the point, that's not the point, what about you? What is it that God's calling you to do? Where is it that he's groaning to send you? What is it that he wants to bring you into agreement with for your future? How is it, what's the plan through which he's going to glorify himself through your life? So I'm going to give an altar call in just a moment and we're going to pray here, and here's the altar call, you've got to get through your paper wall, you've got to get through all the reasons why you feel like you don't belong in the game, like you just somehow can't participate in this thing, all the excuses, all the reasons why God can't use you, you've got to put all that down and just come forward like I did, and so here I am. You know Isaiah in chapter 6, before God could use him, he had to see his unworthiness, when he saw his unworthiness he was now ready to be used of God, when he recognized it was only mercy that could take him into the place where he was being called to go, and so I'm passing the baton now to the next generation, I'm just wondering who wants it, who wants to go the full distance with God and become the testimony that God's destined your life to be in this generation? I know you do, I know you do, and there's many others here, you're ready now, you're ready now, say God I accept my calling, I don't know what it is but I accept it, I accept the fact that you've got more for my life than I have for myself, we're going to stand in a moment, I'm going to invite you to come forward, and we're going to pray together, I'm going to keep it real simple, and we're going to believe God for a Paul on Timothy moment, where the hand of God is going to come on you in a deeper way than you've known in your lifetime, for the purposes for which you have been saved and set apart for God, let's stand together please, if we will, if God's calling you now just step out will you, balcony go to either exit, main sanctuary just slip out and make your way here, just come on down, come in close, and we're going to pray, praise God, we're going to believe God together all of us, just come on in, come on in, come on in, this is your time now, this is your time, thank God for all that went before, but this is now your time, you are the last day plan of God, it's not me, it's not somebody else, it's you, praise be to God, just move in close, balcony just keep coming, we'll wait for you, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, thank you Lord, thank God for all the young people, the older people that are here, men and women, teenagers, strong men, those who know they need a savior even more, thank God, thank God, hallelujah, hallelujah, just keep coming, bless the Lord, bless the Lord, bless the Lord, thank you Jesus, thank you Jesus, we'll wait for you, just keep coming, we'll wait for you, hallelujah, thank you God, thank you for this precious moment Lord, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, thank you God, thank you Lord, hallelujah, I'm standing here looking at the end time army of God, I just love it, not many mighty, not many noble, not many royal birth, but God has chosen, God has chosen, God has chosen, He's chosen me in my weakness, He's chosen me in my nothingness, He's chosen me in my struggles, He's chosen me in my failures, He's chosen me even though I don't, I wouldn't want anybody else to be like me, He still has chosen me, hallelujah, oh how good God is, He's chosen me to empower me to be more than I could ever hope to be, and take me where I could never go, and make me into what I could never hope to be, by the Spirit of Almighty God, He's given me power, He's given me love, He's given me a sound mind, Jesus, thank you, thank you Father, would you lift your hands to the Lord, please, Father, in Jesus name, I just thank you for these men and women at this altar, God, thank you for the touch of heaven, Lord, just as Paul's hand rested on Timothy's head, I pray right now, God, that your hand rest on the head of every man, every woman, every young person, every old person here at this altar, it would be your hand that rests upon them, I ask God that you give them the grace not to be afraid of the tears today, but just to yield, I say Lord, you have something bigger for me than I've ever thought for myself, you will use my life for your glory, you'll take me with my fears, and my frustrations, and my failures, and my struggles, God, you will use my life for your glory, Lord, this has always been your plan, there is no other plan, there's no other way, I pray now today that every one of these people at this altar would have their own name on their backs, not somebody else's name, their own name, every one of them, every one becomes a viable part in your kingdom, every one an ability, God, that only you can give, giftings of the Holy Ghost, gifts of healing, gifts of miracles, gifts of wisdom, gifts of knowledge, God, giftings of God to do things, to preach the gospel, giftings that can only come from God, lift your hands, those at the altar, and if you can, start speaking in the spirit, just go ahead, just pray in the spirit, and everyone here in the sanctuary, do the same thing, just pray, pray right now, God, do a miracle here today, do a miracle, Lord, as you did on the day of Pentecost, do it here, do it here for these people, Lord, do it here, Jesus Christ, thank you, God, thank you, God, thank you, God, thank you, God, for your mercy, thank you for how your kingdom works, thank you, God, oh God, it's so far beyond us, so far beyond our understanding, but we accept it, Lord, we accept our calling, thank you, God, thank you, Lord, and don't be afraid of the tears, just don't be afraid of it, let the hand of God just come upon you, let the spirit of God over overshadow your weakness and frailty, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, thank you, Jesus, lift your voices to God, don't be afraid to lift your voice to God, take a moment, let this turn this into an upper room, turn this whole church into an upper room, God, give us your Holy Spirit, empower us, Lord, to represent you on the earth, grip our hearts, Lord, take us into the promised land of Jesus Christ, that place of promise, that place of blessing, that place where we become a blessing on the earth, a blessing in our homes, a blessing to our families, a blessing to our neighbors, blessing to strangers, God, where you take us and make us what only you can, oh, Jesus Christ, God, thank you, Lord, thank you for doing what only you can do, thank you, God, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, now, everyone here, you need to understand that you can't be a partaker of this until you have come to God through his Son, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, sin being defined as just living apart from the way that God wants you to live and speaking things other than you should, doing things that God's Word says you shouldn't do, and it separates you from God, but the scripture tells us that God so loved you that he sent his Son, his Son died on the cross, suffered a terrible death to pay the price for the wrong things that you have done, so that you can know that you can be forgiven today, and once you're forgiven, the Spirit of God comes upon you, and a whole new way of living opens up, through which God himself is glorified.

I'm going to pray a prayer with those who want to open their hearts to receive Jesus Christ as Savior, and if you've never done that before, you've never understood that, would you raise your hand so I can pray with you, just right now, okay, go ahead, all over, I see you, I see others, just raise your hand up in the balcony as well, you want to receive Christ as Savior, God bless you, thank you, thank you, everybody, let's pray this together for the sake of those who raised their hands, Lord Jesus Christ, thank you for loving me, thank you for coming to get me, paying the price for my wrong, I couldn't get to you, so you came for me, today I open my heart to you, I invite you into my life, to be my Lord, my Savior, and my God, I believe that you are forgiving me right now, I believe that you are the Son of God, Jesus, and that when I die one day, heaven will be my home, but I also believe that while I live, you will enable me to bring glory to your name, let that be my only future, in Jesus name, amen, and amen, and amen.