Sermons

I want to talk to you this morning about the Holy Spirit and in particular something Jesus said about the Holy Spirit, that He will show you things to come. John, Chapter 16, please, if you'll turn there. John, Chapter 16, "Father, I thank You for the strength of Your Holy Spirit. I thank You for the vision. You said in the temple that day I've come, the spirit of the Lord is upon me to give sight to those that are blind, and so God, for whatever part of our spiritual eyes that we can't see, would you open them? Would You help us, Lord? Would You give us heaven's perspective on life, time and eternity? Would You deliver us from the smallness of our own vision and show us things to come?"

God, I'm asking You for a quickening in my physical body. I'm asking Lord for a quickening in everyone who's gathered here so that we can hear these words today, give us great grace. God, we're going to need it now. Give us great grace for the hour in which we now live and give us spiritual sight in Jesus' name. Amen.

John 16 beginning of verse 12, Jesus said these words to his disciples, "I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. In other words, you're not in a condition to hear them." At this point, his disciples were-- they all had their own focus. They all had a sense. James and John are probably still marginally at least thinking about sitting at His right hand and His left. John, the beloved, has a sense of his own dedication and love, which is not really complete.

Peter's making boasts of loyalty and love that he's not going to be able to fulfill. He says, "I have a lot I want to tell you, I have a lot I want to speak to you, but you're not ready to hear it yet. Your ears are not open. Your eyes are not open because you're still focused on the immediate.

You're focused on what's right before you in the natural, so you can't bear them." However, verse 13 when he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth. For He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears, he will speak and he will tell you things to come. He will glorify me for he will take of what is mine and declare it to you. All things that the Father has are mine, therefore, I said that he will take of Mine and will declare it to you.

"I'm going to win a victory for you." Christ was telling his disciples, "I'm going to return to the right hand of God and everything will be under my authority. There will be a tremendous inheritance given to me of the father. When he raises me from the dead. I will return to sit at his right hand and everything, everything, that he gives me is now going to belong to my people, my church, my body. The spirit of God that I'm sending to you will show you some of these things to come. You and I, of course, can't see them all. There's just no way we could ever understand. I heard a message one time of a man that had said these words, he said, "Take somebody who's never seen is completely blind.

Never heard, never tasted, never smelled. His entire senses are shut down and stand them on the top of the tallest building in New York City, for example, then snap your fingers and open all of your senses at one time. It would be a sensory explosion like you and I can't even imagine." He said, "Now, multiply that by 100 billion and that's about what it will be like the moment we leave this earth and appear in the presence of God."

The Scripture says, "We will know in that day as we are known, mysteries will be resolved. Questions will be answered. There'll be an explosion of knowledge in our minds and we will realize, I think at that point how small in a sense our thinking has been in comparison to what God is going to release and what God is going to reveal to us, in us and through us. What a day that is going to be." Praise be to God for that day.

Now when the spirit of God comes into a person's life, he starts to show us things to come. He starts to tell us that old things in our life will pass away and all things will become new. He starts to show us the prison doors that once held us will have to let us go. Wounds that once bruised us don't have the power to do that in our lives anymore. He starts to show us a plan and a purpose that God has for each life and the abundance of supply that God has already given us in Christ Jesus to achieve to the fullest everything he's called us to do.

Whatever God's called you to do, you will be able to do that by the spirit of God upon you and within you and the promise of God given to you. There's nothing can stop you just like he says to the church in Philadelphia, you have a little strength, but I've opened the door before you and no one can close that door and I will do something so profound in your life that those who do not worship God will bow at your feet and have to acknowledge that I have loved you.

That is something to come in everyone's life. Thank God for that with all of our hearts today, it will reveal to you power, to accomplish. Behold, I give you power to tread on serpents and scorpions. There's a revelation of the power of God available in Jesus Christ to stand up against the darkness and by the grace of God inside of our hearts to see it pushed back one more time into the sea.

He will give you an eye endurance and the Holy Spirit will show us that endurance, that ability that God gives called long-suffering. You know what it means in the Greek long-suffering. You know what it means in the Hebrew long-suffering. That's what it means. That means the ability to endure things that others around you without the spirit of God could not endure, gives you the ability to bear even with one another in the body of Christ and to believe and to hope and to endure.

When you would have in the natural have written somebody off in the Kingdom of God, nobody gets written off. There's something of God that puts a vision in our heart and not just for ourselves, but for others around us. He'll give us an understanding of the endless supply of provision. He'll unlock, to us the scriptures, and even in the old testament, we'll see the oil pouring into the lamps and pouring an inexhaustible supply of oil symbolic of the presence of the Holy Spirit. The more we give out, the more God gives in, the more we let go, the more he puts it in our hands to let go.

It's truly, truly an amazing journey to walk with God. He will show us strength in the midst of our battle. I love that song. It may look like I'm surrounded, but I'm surrounded by you, David the king saw it when he said in Psalm 23 verse five he prepares a table before me in the presence of mine enemies. I can be surrounded and they can all have their swords drawn and wish me harm, but all they can do is butter the biscuit in my hand, with their sword.

He has prepared the table before me and there's nothing they can do because no weapon formed against us shall prosper and every tongue that rises against us in judgment, we shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord because their righteousness is of me, says God. I have cleansed them. The Holy Spirit when we come to Christ, when he becomes our Lord and Savior, the spirit of God comes into our earth and vessel unlocks the treasure of this book and we begin to see things to come. Now he will also tell you about things to come that are beyond this present world. 2nd Corinthians 4:18 Paul says, "While we do not look at the things which are seen, but things which are not seen for the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal."

In the book of Revelation, there was a church called Laodicea that was a problematic church in one sense because what had happened to this church is that their eyes were fixed on the abundance of this world only, they came to the understanding that in Christ you will have a supply, in Christ you will be provided for. In Christ, there will be this constant measure of everything you need as you seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness.

All the things that you need will be added unto you, but the problem with this particular church is their eyes were fixed on this world only. They weren't looking above this world. You remember Abraham, the father of faith is given a promise of God. I'm going to bless you. I'm going to multiply you. I'm going to do something so profound in your life that you're going to be a blessing to the whole world and you and I, of course, know that we are because of Christ, through his lineage, we are the fulfillment of that promise.

He took him one day and caused him to go outside and says, look up, and as many stars as you see in heaven, your descendants are going to be like that. It was something not of this world was something above this world. It was something beyond this world. The Holy Spirit was showing him things to come. Now, traveling with him out of his home place of dwelling into this place of promise as he saw it was his nephew, Lot. Lot was part of the family. Lot would have been told there's going to be a blessing come upon us and the blessing is going to be so profound. It's going to touch the whole known world. Lot would have known that he was invited. He was a partaker of this journey.

It came to the point where, physically speaking, they had so much cattle and such that they couldn't dwell in one place. There was an insufficient supply of grass. Abraham said to Lot. He said, "Lot, lift up your eyes and look and choose where you want to go." Lot lifted up his eyes. His eyes only lifted up so far. He had this doctrinal perspective that all the blessing of this life was to be found in this world.

He chose a city. He went to a place called Sodom and Gomorrah and raised his family there. Folks, if we don't lift our eyes so high and it's only this world that becomes our source of supply and provision, one day an enemy came in and captivated that place and took him and his family away. If all you can see is of this world, if your happiness is only because you have a car or you think you're going to get one and you have a house and you have this and have money in the bank and you have your retirement plan, I'm telling you there's a day that might come and take all of that away.

It can happen. It can happen. If that's where your eyes are focused, that can all be gone in an hour, in an hour of time. What do you think it mattered when the towers were struck on 9/11/ 2001? What do you think the people on the upper floor who had about an hour left to live? What do you think it mattered anymore how high they had gotten on the financial chain?

What do you think it mattered how many colleges their kids were in, or how many cars they had, or how many countries they could visit? Do you think any of it mattered at that point any longer? No. It can all be taken away. Matter of fact, the Prophet Isaiah says in one hour Babylon is going to be judged. In one hour. Such great wealth is going to all be taken away in one hour. In one hour it's going to all be gone.

The Laodicean church thought that they had it all made because they were rich and creased in goods and they said to themselves, "We have need of nothing." They had no idea how weak their doctrinal position was because of their focus. Christ himself knew that if their worldly security was taken away, so would their confidence be taken away as well.

I'm telling you, the Bible declares, a day is coming when everything that can be shaken in is going to be shaken. That only that which cannot be shaken might remain. Proverbs Chapter 23:5 says, "Will you set your eyes on that which is not for rich will certainly make themselves wings. They'll fly away like an eagle towards heaven." I Corinthians 3:13 says, "The fire will test each one's work of what sort it is."

I remember Pastor Teresa and I coming home from, we're in full-time ministry now and we were preaching in eastern Canada. We had worked for 12 years to build a home, a physical house. We'd renovated this old farmhouse. We had added onto it. We had modified it. We took 12 years to get it where it was finally finished. It was a nice home. We came home from traveling to find it burnt to the ground. Everything.

God in His mercy spared our children. Praise his name. Everything we had worked for was gone in one moment of time. Even the fire department said they'd never seen such a total-consuming fire in their history. It was a windy night and the whole house caved inward and then just there was nothing left. Everything was gone. Just the foundation was left.

Everything of the house was gone. The fire will test your work to see you of what sort it is. Where's your confidence now? I remember we had to stay with another pastor and his wife with our three children. I remember coming out and going for a jog, because I used to run back then and I said, "Lord, I don't even have a toothbrush, but I tell you one thing, I have sought first your kingdom and your righteousness and you tell me that all things will be added unto me that I need, so I'm putting it all in your hands.

I'm not going to try to figure this thing out." I'm telling you, I've seen the Lord take it away and I've seen the Lord give it back, and I've seen it taken away and I've seen it giving back and I've seen it taken away and I've seen it given back.

[applause]

I've also, through these experiences, seen something a little more than what this world has got to offer. Thank God. We still have a nice house, but I know that can be gone. I've lived it already. I know twice, as a matter of fact, two and a half times. We lost our second house to mold. Toxic mold, if you can believe that. Gone. House condemned.

Then we move across the river Weehawken. Finally, we're settled. Hurricane Sandy came and wiped out the whole first floor. We live on a lake and house is the bottom of our house about five feet above the water level. I said to Pastor Teresa one day, "What possibly could go wrong now?"

[laughter]

It's all stuff folks. If that's where your focus is, it can be taken away. Do you understand? If that's where your focus is, if your happiness in God is just because of your job, because of that relationship, because you feel healthy and strong, because you see something on the horizon for your future, you've got a great career ahead of you. That can all be taken away in a moment of time. Sorrow comes to every door eventually.

Do you know that? Sickness comes to everybody. Unless you get raptured and you're healthy, you're probably going to get sick and die like every one of us in this room one day. Relationships are lost. Loved ones die. Jobs are lost. If our security is in any of these things, even though many of them do come from God, if our eyes are not lifted higher than that, our confidence can be taken away and it can be shaken.

That's why Jesus said to the church at Laodicea, I counsel you to buy of me gold refined in the fire. Buy of me truth that has been proven. Buy of me something that's of eternal value, not just temporary value in this world. Buy of me something deeper and anoint your eyes with eyesalve that you may see. God, you said, in the temple that day, that you had come to give sight to the blind.

Lord, if my vision is limited, would you touch my eyes with that eye salve? Would you help me to see something beyond this life? Would you take me to a place where the storms may come, the waves may rise, but would you found my life upon that rock that cannot be taken down by the storms of this life? Lord, would you do something in my life so that I'm not riding this wave of circumstance-dependent Christianity?

Take me farther than this. Further our eternal things in the heavens that are promised to each one of us. Though things can be lost in this world, they cannot be lost in that one. God, help me to lift my eyes higher than Lot. Help me God to lift my eyes up the way Abraham did and to see something of the heavens. Something of you God. Something that is promised. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15:19, "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most pitiable."

In other words, if our hope is only in the things we see around us, then when it's all shaken. We're going to be shaken with us. Paul moves always to those things which are eternal, which can never be taken away. He states this way. Romans 8:18, he says, "For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

Paul had this vision. He saw something coming in the future. He saw that-- You can read about it in Corinthians that this earthly body is going to give way to a heavenly body. We're going to be sown in corruption, raised in incorruption. He saw things. He tells us in his own testimony that he was lifted to the third heavens. He said, "I saw things that are not lawful to speak about. I can't write about them. There are no words in the human vocabulary to describe them. That's why it's not lawful to write about it or speak about. He saw something.

God, in His Mercy, gave him an eternal vision so that he could endure the sufferings he had to endure in this life. He was stoned. He was beaten. He was shipwrecked and he finished the end of his life in the sense imprisoned with only a pen and some parchment to write to his friends. He says, "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that shall be revealed in us."

While in captivity, he wrote words to others. For example, to the Thessalonian church that he knew they were beginning to go into persecution, and he knew the persecution was going to become severe for these people of God at this time. Then he says these words in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 to 18, "For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout and with the voice of an archangel, with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first, then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord, in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore, comfort one another with these words.

He knew they were going to suffer, but he was saying to the testimony in church, suffering is only temporary, and there's a day coming. When God's going to look down and say, “That's enough son, go get your church, go get your bride.” The angel is going to rise up, and with a shout, a shout like you and I think it's a shout of victory. It's a hallelujah like you've never heard in your lifetime.

[applause]

With a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise. Everyone who went into the ground, maybe they went in and sorrow, maybe they had questions in their heart. Maybe it was a hard finish. It can be hard if you die of certain diseases, it can be a long season of suffering. You might find yourself in the ground that way one day, but one day, one day, there's going to be a shout in heaven. One day your King is going to shout. One day the trumpet of God is going to sound, and you are going to come out of the ground and rise up into the air. Praise be to God.

One day there's going to be a group of people meeting at a church just like this in New York City. One day, unexpectedly the trumpet is going to sound, the archangel is going to shout. One day, we're going to rise up with the dead in Christ and meet Christ in the air and so shall we always be with the Lord. Wherefore, comfort one another with these words, hallelujah.

In other words, weeping may endure for a night, but joy, joy, joy, comes again in the morning. Hallelujah. Heaven is our home and eternity with God is our future. Come what may in this life. Come what may. Come with famine or disease or darkness or war or social disorder, whatever it is, it comes, come what may. It's all temporary, and none of it is worthy to be compared with the glory, the glory that shall be revealed in us. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.

[applause]

Paul says in 1 Corinthians 2:9-10, as it is written, “Eyes not seen, nor ears heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him. But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit, for the Spirit searches all things, the deep things of God.” In other words, we who have the Holy Spirit of God know something that those who don't have the Spirit of God don't know. They have no idea what awaits them, and they have no idea what awaits us.

What an incredible day that is going to be. Hallelujah. Listen to the words of Jesus in John 14:2-3, “In my father's house, are many mansions. If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, where I am there you may be also.” Listen, there's construction going on right now in heaven. Right now.

[applause]

Pastor: Right now. For everyone of you that comes to Christ, every one of you who are born again, when your name is written in the Book of Life, God's Book of Life, I don't know how they do it. Maybe there's a call made to the construction go. Start another mansion. Praise be to God. There's a mansion.

When God says a mansion, He means a mansion. A mansion prepared for you in glory. If those mansions are so big, I don't think you can ever find all the rooms. I think there's food in every room. You can dig into that refrigerator right into the back and it always stays fresh. It never spoils up there. Our bodies are opaque. That's my opinion. You can eat it tastes good and just falls right through you onto the floor, disappears. I don't think you gain weight up there. Praise be to God. There is no delight that God will withhold from His children.

“In my Father's house are many mansions. I go to prepare a place for you, for you, for you. Then where I am, there you may be also.” Hallelujah to the Lamb of God. Glory to the name of Jesus. You don't have to cut the grass. There you don't have to vacuum, nothing ever gets dirty up there. Praise be to God. You walk out on streets and gold, what does it matter you can spend it anyway.

[laughter]

When He says a mansion. When He says a mansion. When He says a mansion. The early church knew these things. They did because they suffered. People during different wars suffered. People have had to go through times in history of suffering. People have been persecuted. That's why they could write these songs, I've got a mansion just over the hilltop in that bright land where I'll never grow old And someday yonder will nevermore wander but walk on streets that are pure as gold. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God.

Lastly, the apostle John, who leaned on Jesus' chest at the Last Supper. John who loved Him and he knew that Jesus loved him. He describes himself as the apostle that Jesus loved. He knew that in his heart. Now he's served God all his life and he's at that 80 years old. He's exiled to a prison under now called Patmos. From what I read about that prison, it was vile. It was cold. It was damp. It was dark. It was despairing. It was uncomfortable in the extreme. John could have said, “God is this how you treat those who love you? Is this how it ends up? I serve you all my life, and this is where I end up in prison, cold, disregarded, old.”

The scripture says on the Lord's Day, that John was in the Spirit. The Spirit of God, remember that when He comes, He will show you things to come. John, even though he's in prison, he could write these words in Revelation 21, “I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no more sea.” In other words, there was nothing more because this is an island for him and it would be impossible to escape this place.

John saying in some measure, at least anyway, there's nothing more that separates us from God, and from life and from the freedom that He has for us for eternity. Then I John, it says, saw the Holy City, New Jerusalem coming down out of heaven from God,  prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. I heard a loud voice from heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they will be as people and God Himself will be their God. God will wipe away every tear from their eyes, there will be no more death, nor sorrow, no more crying, no more pain. For the former things are passed away. He will show you things to come. Weeping may endure for a night but joy, unspeakable joy is coming your way in the morning.

Ask the Holy Spirit to show your place soon, and very soon it's coming to all of us. Our life is just a little vapor on the scale of eternity. It's just a little blip on the screen. That's all, it is our life here on this earth. Here there’s sorrow, here there are trials, here there's difficulty, but there's a day coming that's forever. It never ends. In that place, there's no more, you can’t cry there. You can’t cry. Think about that.

I know some of you cry every night. Some of you cry every morning. Some of you cry on the subway on the way to work. When you get there you can't cry. There's going to be no capability, there’ll be nothing to cry about. I want you to think about that. He will show you. Remember He was showing you things to come. There'll be no more death.

No more death. You don't go to a funeral ever. Ever. All the undertakers would be out of business.

[applause]

All the casket makers are going to have to find new work. Flower people will go bankrupt because there are no more funerals up there. There's no more weddings either.

[laughter]

No sorrow, nothing that can make your heart heavy, no crying, no more pain. I'm going to speak to those who are, you live with pain. You live with arthritis, you live with various and varying degrees of pain, whether it's internal pain or whether it's physical pain. You live with pain but that won't be forever, there's a day coming, there's no more pain. The absence of pain.

I don't fully understand that but if I read it literally, that means if I bang my head on the door, it doesn't hurt. There's no more pain. Then he was sat on the throne, said, "Behold, I make all things new, write, for these words are true and faithful," and he said to me, "It's done. I'm the Alpha and Omega, the beginning of the end and I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts."

He who needs strength, she who needs strength, the person that needs an eye salve anointing to say, "God, I need to see something beyond this world, I need to see something beyond my present condition, my struggles, my trials. Oh, God, don't let me be captivated by the things of this world so that if they're shaken, I'll be shaken along with them. God, give me the ability to look higher. Help me to see this place that you talked to all of us about, that you are preparing for us. A place where your neighbors are all nice."

[laughter]

Come on now, there are no liars up there. Every lawyer will be out of work because nobody has any disputes, no boundary disputes, no property disputes, nobody is suing anybody up there. Every police officer will be out of work, there's no crime up there. Every judge will be out of work, there's nothing to judge, it's all been judged and forgiven. Hallelujah.

You just think of all the occupations, so what are we going to do up there? I don't know, it just says we're going to praise him day and night with the angels and we're going to rule and reign with Christ forever. That's what the Bible tells me.

[applause]

That is not fiction, that is a fact. That's what's coming your way, that's your future. That's forever. You may weep for a little while, your heart may be broken for a season, your body may struggle and suffer for a moment. That dream job, that dream relationship might be lost but there's something coming not far down the road.

[applause].

When you get there, you're going to say, "Oh, thank God I didn't give up, thank God I listened to the word of God and lifted my eyes just a little bit higher than the things of this world that can satisfy. I saw something of God, Hallelujah to the lamb of God. I'm starting to see it now more and more. Thank God."

Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Look full in His wonderful face And the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of his glory and grace.

[singing] Oft times the day seems long,
our trials hard to bear.
We're tempted to complain,
to murmur and despair
but Christ will soon appear
to catch his bride away.
All cheers forever
over in God's eternal day.

[applause]

It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus,
life's trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face,
all sorrow will erase,
so bravely run the race
till we see Christ.

Life’s day will soon be old,
our storms forever passed
and we'll cross the grey divide
to glory safe at last.

We'll share the joys of heaven, Hallelujah.
A harp, a home, a crown.
The tempter will be banished, Hallelujah.
We'll lay our burdens down.

It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus,
life's trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face,
all sorrow will erase,
so bravely run the race
till we see Christ.

It will be worth it all
when we see Jesus, 
life's trials will seem so small
when we see Christ.

One glimpse of His dear face,
All sorrow will erase,
So bravely run the race
till we see Christ.

[applause]

Hallelujah. I want to give an altar call today from people who just need comfort. You need a vision beyond your present circumstance or you're not going to be able to make it. You need eyes to see some things that only the Holy Spirit can reveal to you. You need to be able to go to bed at night and say, "Oh God, what a future awaits me. What a day, an eternal day is coming my way. What a mansion, God, you've prepared for me in glory. What an eternity, Lord, you've prepared for me." Paul said, "Comfort one another with these words."

[applause]

Listen, don't give up, don't ever give up. The best advice I can ever give you. Some people seem to have it easy and others have it hard, and some have a half-and-half life, but one day soon we'll be gathered together at the throne of God. We will remember this moment and we will thank God that we didn't give up. Thank God that life, it was worth it.

Remember the Bible says that sorrow may endure for a night, weeping may endure for a night but joy, there's a guarantee of joy that's going to come again in the morning. Praise be to God.

Father, I just pray for my brothers and sisters at this altar and in this church, Lord. God open our eyes in this church, Lord, open our eyes and show us heavenly things Lord, eternal things. Help us, Lord, not to just look at our everyday circumstances any longer. Not that we ignore them but let them not have the final word on everything Lord in our minds and in our hearts, God.

I pray for comfort Lord, that only you can give God, to those at this altar that are struggling or suffering or just living in a hard place God. I just pray, God, that you just comfort the way that only you can, and we open our hearts to it, Lord and we won't push you away when you want to comfort us, Lord. God, thank you for it, in Jesus name. Amen.

[applause]