As our nation heads into a significant election, we challenge listeners to reconsider where they place their faith. The discourse on political leaders as saviors is contrasted with the unwavering strength found in the message of Christ crucified. Join us as we examine the historical impact of the gospel of Jesus Christ, celebrating the early church's resilience and calling for a revival of its core teachings to confront the challenges of our times.
Discover the transformative power of the gospel of Jesus Christ and how it can revolutionize your life and society. This episode promises to reveal the profound message that rocked the first-century Church drawing from the scriptures of Romans, John, 1 Corinthians, and Revelation. You'll learn why Jesus's death, burial, and resurrection are vital for the redemption of man and the healing of a nation and how preaching the cross should be rooted in the Spirit's power, not human wisdom.
We also address the alarming trend of spiritual complacency in modern Christianity in the United States, urging a return to the authentic gospel of Jesus Christ that can truly change lives. Reflecting on insights from the scriptures and personal experiences from the charismatic movement of the 1970s, we discuss the church's responsibility to preach the authentic Gospel of Jesus Christ. Explore the urgent need for genuine spiritual transformation amidst a world focused on materialistic pursuits.
For more details please visit www.pedroisraelorta.com. You can also follow me on most social media sites @PedroIsraelOrta.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Thank you for tuning in and listening to the Voice of
Righteousness broadcast.
I want to begin today by sayingthat I have not rehearsed this
message and I don't even have ascript or notes.
I'm going to be just speakingfrom my heart, exactly as it
comes to me, but this is amessage that has been burning in
my heart for many, many weeks,months, if not more than a year.
(00:22):
Many scriptures will come to myheart as I bring this message,
because these are scripturesthat I have been pouring over
for more than a year.
And I must say again, this iswhat is written in Jeremiah,
chapter 20, verse 9,.
But his word was in my heartlike a burning fire shut up in
my bones.
I was weary of holding it backand I could not.
(00:43):
Some may ask why do I use themoniker preacher of
righteousness and at the sametime named this the voice of
righteousness broadcast?
Well, it's a very simpleresponse.
It seemed good in my spiritafter much prayer, because it is
(01:16):
written in Romans 1.16.17.18.
The righteousness of God isrevealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, the justshall live by faith, for the
wrath of God is revealed fromheaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men whosuppress the truth in
unrighteousness.
The righteousness of God isconnected to the gospel of
(01:40):
Christ, and I am not ashamed ofthe gospel of Christ, for it is
the power of God unto salvation.
Then we look at Romans, chapter10, verse 6 through 10.
But the righteousness of faithspeaks in this way Do not say in
(02:01):
your heart who will ascend intoheaven, that is, to bring
Christ down from above, or whowill descend into the abyss,
that is to bring Christ up fromthe dead.
But what does it say?
The word is near you, in yourmouth and in your heart.
That is the word of faith whichwe preach that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesusand believe in your heart that
(02:22):
God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believesunto righteousness and with the
mouth confession is made untosalvation.
There's a lot of depth to thesebiblical passages and I have to
be very careful that I stay onpoint because it's going to be
so easy to wander off and getinto some of the details of what
do these mean?
(02:43):
But this point needs to be madeJesus already came down to
earth, as it is written in John1, verse 14,.
And the Word became flesh anddwelt among us and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the onlybegotten, of the Father, full
of grace and truth.
And he was crucified, dying asinner's death, buried in a
(03:06):
grave rose three days afterdeath, as the resurrected Lord
of glory, the finished work ofChrist.
We cannot fail to grasp thefinished work of Christ.
If we do, we're basicallytelling God, the Father, that
the death, burial andresurrection of Jesus was
insufficient to accomplish thework of redeeming mankind from
(03:30):
death.
How important is this message?
It is so important that theApostle Paul, by unction and
inspiration of the Holy Spirit,in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1-4,
wrote the following chapter 15,verse 1 through 4, wrote the
following Moreover, brethren, Ideclare to you the gospel which
(03:53):
I preach to you, which also youreceived and in which you stand,
but which also you are saved ifyou hold fast that word which I
preach to you, unless youbelieved in vain.
For I deliver to you first ofall that which I also received
that Christ died for our sins,according to the scriptures, and
that he was buried and that herose again the third day,
according to the scriptures.
Now listen clearly.
(04:14):
It says here you received andin which you stand, of which
also you are saved if you holdfast that word which I preach to
you.
You are saved if you hold fastthat word which I preach to you.
The gospel is the message forthe church and for the
unbeliever.
It is the power of God untosalvation.
For the unbeliever is howthey're saved.
(04:35):
For the saved, it's how theystand.
We stand in the power of thegospel.
Again, the Apostle Paul, throughthe unction and inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, in 1Corinthians 1, verse 18, through
the second chapter about verse4, states the following For the
(04:55):
message of the cross isfoolishness to those who are
perishing, but to those who arebeing saved it is the power of
God.
For it is written, I willdestroy the wisdom of the wise
and bring to nothing theunderstanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of thisage?
Has not God made foolish thewisdom of this world?
(05:15):
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world, through wisdom did
not know God, it pleased Godthrough the foolishness of the
message preached to save thosewho believe.
For Jews request the sign andGreeks seek after wisdom, but we
preach Christ crucified, to theJews a stumbling block and to
(05:36):
the Greeks foolishness.
But to those who are called,both Jews and Greeks, christ the
power of and the wisdom of God,because the foolishness of God
is wiser than man and theweakness of God is stronger than
man.
And jumping over to verse 1 ofchapter 2, and I, brethren, when
I came to you, did not comewith excellence of speech or of
(05:59):
wisdom, declaring to you thetestimony of God, for I
determined not to know anythingamong you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness, infear and in much trembling, and
my speech and my preaching werenot with persuasive words of
human wisdom, but indemonstration of the Spirit and
of power that your faith shouldnot be in the wisdom of men but
(06:22):
in the power of God.
The message of the cross is themessage that pricked man's
heart.
It's the message that turnedthe world upside down in the
first century, when the apostleswent forth preaching boldly the
death, burial and resurrectionof Jesus Christ.
Notice what Paul wrote.
(06:52):
I have to repeat this the crossof Christ can be made of no
effect if it's not preached orif it's preached with wisdom of
words of man.
I'm trying to be very carefulhow I present this, because the
gravity of this message isextreme.
The gospel of Jesus Christ canbe made of no effect if it's not
(07:18):
properly preached.
And in fact, if you look atwhat's going on in the modern
day church of the Lord JesusChrist in the United States of
America, you will see that thereis a lack of preaching the true
gospel of Jesus Christ, thedeath, burial and resurrection
of Jesus, and it's a failure ofpreaching the gospel properly
(07:41):
that has rendered a weak churchthat is not having an impact on
society and wickedness isrunning rampant.
Jump now to 2 Corinthians 4,verses 3-6.
But even if our gospel isveiled, it is veiled to those
who are perishing, whose mindsthe God of this age has blinded,
who do not believe lest thelight of the gospel, of the
(08:04):
glory of Christ, who is theimage of God, should shine on
them.
For we do not preach ourselves,but Christ, jesus, the Lord,
and ourselves, your bondservants, for Jesus' sake.
For it is the God who commandedlight to shine out of darkness,
who has shone in our hearts togive the light of the knowledge
(08:25):
of the glory of God in the faceof Jesus Christ, those who are
blinded and have not seen thelight of the gospel, will be
blinded and not see the light ofthe gospel until it is properly
preached unto them.
We cannot sit here and condemnthe wicked who have not heard
the truth of the gospel.
In Romans 10, verses 14 forward, it says how then shall they
(08:47):
call on him whom they have notbelieved?
In Romans 10, verses 14 forward, it says In prior broadcast I
(09:08):
have mentioned one of the perilsthat we're facing today is the
weaponization of governmentpower.
But here's the most significantperil of the day, a serious
problem in the United States ofAmerica and within the church in
the United States of America.
It is a lack of the preachingof the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
We cannot continue to condemnthe wicked without truly
preaching the gospel of the LordJesus Christ.
We cannot continue to condemnthe wicked without truly
(09:30):
preaching the gospel of JesusChrist in the power of God,
through the power of God, by theSpirit of the living God.
We cannot continue to condemnthe wicked.
We cannot continue to condemnPresident Biden, vice President
Harris, chuck Schumer, nancyPelosi and every other Democrat
who certainly are acting inwicked ways.
(09:52):
Brings the blinders off of thewicked so they can see the light
(10:12):
and turn to the light.
I am actually a product of thecharismatic movement of the
early 1970s.
My father in the early 1970sgot connected with a Pentecostal
church and I was firstintroduced to the gospel of
Jesus Christ at Morris Cirillo'sevent in the city of Miami,
(10:33):
miami Auditorium in the early1970s, where I saw the miracle
power of God and it impacted mylife as a small child and I grew
up in that charismatic move andduring those years, during all
those, I saw and I heard manymiracles.
I saw the power of God at work,the gospel being preached,
(10:54):
lives being changed, lives beingtransformed, impacting society.
Fast forward into the 1980s,the 1990s, 2000, 2010s and now
2020s 90s, 2000, 2010s, now2020s I have seen literally a
regression, a going backward,where we have become basically
too complacent.
We have forgotten the purposeof our faith.
(11:18):
There was a great move of Godin the 80s and 90s, the teaching
of the Word of God, whichcertainly impacted Christendom
and in some ways it did did somedamage, in my opinion, but,
based on what I have observedfrom a scriptural perspective,
we have become complacent to thepoint that we have turned
(11:39):
inward to look at our own lives,to enrich ourselves, to better
ourselves.
You know it's like let's takethe promises of God so that we
can be healed, we can be whole,we can be rich, we can be well,
and there's truth to that.
But the reality is that if youlook at the biblical metrics of
what Jesus calls rich and whatJesus calls poor, you will find
(12:01):
something that is very startling.
When Jesus appeared to John, theApostle in Revelation, and he
commands him to write themessages to the seven churches,
listen to what he says to theangel of the church in Smyrna.
These things says the first andthe last who was dead and came
to life.
This is in Revelation 2, verse8 forward I know your works,
(12:24):
tribulation and poverty, but youare rich.
I know your works, tribulationand poverty, but you are rich.
I know your works, tribulationand poverty, but you are rich.
He calls them rich.
Then, in chapter 3, speaking tothe church in Sardis, jesus
says I know your works, that youhave a name, that you are alive
, but you are dead.
To the church of the loudestends, I know your works and that
(12:48):
you're neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold orhot.
So then, because you arelukewarm and neither cold nor
hot.
I will vomit you out of mymouth Because you say I am rich,
have become wealthy, have needof nothing, and do not know that
you are wretched, miserable,poor, blind and naked.
(13:09):
It's clear.
The message from Jesus is thechurch needs to consider its
ways.
The metrics that we must lookat are the scriptures, what
Jesus has to say, not man-mademetrics, man-made machinations.
Not man-made metrics, man-mademachinations, because the church
(13:33):
, without the power of God,becomes a lifeless entity,
unable to change the world, toaffect a nation.
If there is a power deficiencyin the church, there is a gospel
deficiency in the church and Isay very strongly that we are
missing the power of God becausewe have failed to fully
recognize the power of thegospel, the death, burial,
(13:57):
resurrection of the Lord JesusChrist.
And without the preaching ofthe gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we will never see thepower of God that is necessary
to change a nation, never seethe power of God that is
necessary to change a nation.
Here's a couple things toconsider.
Are we rightly seeing Jesus,and how does Jesus want to be
seen?
He tells us in the scripturesno particular order.
(14:17):
Let's look at this first versein it's Revelation, chapter 1,
verse 18.
This is what Jesus says.
I am he who lives and was dead.
And behold, I am aliveforevermore.
Amen.
And I have the keys of Hadesand of death.
Jesus, immediately, when herevealed himself as the risen
(14:38):
Christ to John the Apostle inthe island of Patmos, points to
his passion, his death, burialand resurrection.
I am he who was dead and amalive now.
Then we can see one of the firstinstances of Jesus appearing to
his disciples after theresurrection Luke, chapter 24,
(14:59):
the road to Emmaus.
When he ran into these two men,he confronted them and told
them O foolish ones and slow ofheart, to believe in all that
the prophets have spoken, oughtnot the Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter intohis glory?
And, beginning at Moses and allthe prophets, he expounded to
(15:21):
them in all the scriptures, thethings concerning himself.
Then they drew near to thevillage where they were going
and he indicated that he wouldhave gone further, but they
constrained him, saying Abidewith us, for it is toward
evening and the day is far spent, and he went in to stay with
them.
Now it came to pass, as he satat the table with them, that he
(15:42):
took bread, blessed and broke itand gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened andthey knew him and he vanished
from their sight.
And they said to one anotherDid not our heart burn within us
?
While he talked with us on theroad and while he opened the
scriptures to us, jesus pointedto his passion and he broke
(16:04):
bread and blessed it, and thatreminds us of his instructions
about breaking bread andblessing it in remembrance of
his broken body and his shedblood.
For us, we have got to get backto rightly seeing Jesus, to see
him how he wants to be seen, asthe Father describes him.
(16:25):
In fact, if you look at theentire book of Revelation, jesus
is described as the Lamb thatwas slain from the foundation of
the earth.
This is a crucial message forthe hour, because if you look at
Revelation, chapter 2, to theangel of the church of Ephesus,
write these things, says he whoholds the seven stars in his
(16:48):
right hand, who walks in themidst of the seven golden
lampstands.
I know your works, your labor,your patience, and that you
cannot bear those who are evil,and you have tested those who
say they are apostles and arenot, and have found them liars,
and you have persevered and havepatience and have labored for
(17:09):
my name's sake and have notbecome weary.
Nevertheless, I have thisagainst you that you have left
your first love.
Remember, therefore, from whereyou have fallen.
Repent and do the first works,or else I will come to you
quickly and remove yourlampstand from its place unless
you repent.
In many ways, this describes thechurch in America, the church
(17:31):
at this age, at this time, inthis instance.
If you look at the history ofthe church in the United States
of America, never in the historyof the United States of America
have you ever had so muchpreaching, so much teaching of
the Word of God in everyavailable medium.
We've got radio, we've got TV,we've got internet, youtube,
(17:54):
rumble, we've got satelliteradio, we've got churches left
and right, we've got every kindof available medium where there
is just an incredible amount ofsome type of Word of God being
preached and taught.
Yet the reality is we haveforgotten our first love.
(18:15):
He loved us first.
Because he loved us first, weloved Him, and we're commanded
to return to that first love.
What is that first love Is?
We heard about his death, hispassion, his burial and his
(18:37):
resurrection, the power of thegospel, and it was that power of
the gospel that turned us tohim, turned our hearts to him To
love him.
And it's only through thatrevelation of the power of the
gospel, his death, burial andresurrection, that men and women
can be saved.
And this is the only answer tosave this nation at this time.
(19:00):
We must ask ourselves what arewe preaching, what are we
teaching?
Are we honestly impactingsociety?
Are we causing change forrighteousness?
As Paul wrote and my speech andmy preaching were not with
persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power that yourfaith should not be in the
(19:21):
wisdom of men but in the powerof God.
Therefore, we must askourselves what are we doing on
any given Sunday or any givenchurch service?
Are we truly preaching thegospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
or are we just getting togetherto have a kumbaya session?
What is the purpose of gettingtogether?
I mean, the scriptures are veryclear of what exactly a church
(19:43):
meeting should look like.
Search the scriptures.
They tell you what he likes,what he doesn't like, what he
expects, what he doesn't expect.
Here are a couple things toconsider.
Jesus is the one who died onthe cross, not the clock.
What's going to impress thevisitor more?
A miracle or a muffin or, forthat matter, a little gift bag
(20:04):
or the gifts of the Spirit thatbring forth healing, salvation,
deliverance and miracles?
We're a little bit over a weekaway from a major election here
in the United States of America,where you've got former
President Trump as the leadingcandidate, who at the moment is
leading in the polls, and on theother end Vice President Harris
(20:27):
, and, frankly, neither of thesetwo candidates are the savior
of America.
On one end we've got one groupcalled Pastors for Trump and on
the other end we've got anothergroup called Evangelicals for
Harris.
Both are wrong.
Trump is not the savior ofAmerica.
Harris is not the savior ofAmerica.
Harris is not the destroyer ofAmerica.
(20:48):
Trump is not again the deliversavior of America.
Harris is not the destroyer ofAmerica.
Trump is not again thedeliverer of America.
Jesus is the deliverer of anynation, and any nation that
calls out on his name can bedelivered.
And the only way people cancall out on the name of Jesus is
if Jesus is rightfully preachedand delivered unto them.
We cannot ram righteousness tothe wicked.
(21:11):
We can only preach the light tothe wicked.
The wicked, therefore, musthear the reality and the truth
of the gospel of the Lord JesusChrist, if we're ever going to
turn them around to the light.
Do you want to know what God theFather has to say about these
issues and these things andthese matters?
I'm going to give you a veryclear scripture.
(21:33):
It can't be any clearer thanthis one Matthew, chapter 17,
verse 5.
This is when Jesus wastransfigured and he appeared
with Moses and Elijah.
This is what the father said.
A voice came out of the cloudsaying this is my beloved son,
(21:58):
in whom I am well pleased.
Hear him, then we can go toHebrews, chapter 1, and look at
what God the father speaks.
God, who at various times andin various ways spoke in time
past to the fathers by theprophets, has in these last days
spoken to us by his Son, whomhe has appointed heir of all
(22:19):
things, through whom also hemade the worlds.
The Father says look to Jesus,look to Jesus, hear what he has
to say.
And what does Jesus have to say?
Look to his passion, look tohis death, burial and
resurrection, to the finishedwork of Christ.
And he commands us to preachthis gospel to the ends of the
(22:43):
world Mark 16, 15.
Jesus said Go into all theworld and preach the gospel to
every creature.
The gospel of the Lord JesusChrist is the message for the
United States of America andthis message must be preached,
and the church has to step it upand begin to preach the gospel
(23:05):
with the intensity, the powerand might of the Spirit of the
living God.
Yes, political activism isimportant, but it does not
replace the gospel and can neverreplace the gospel, and without
the gospel it will beineffective.
All the political activism willeventually become divisive and
destructive and in the endresult could very well be the
(23:28):
last thing that we need to see.
As long as we put our faith ina man or a party to save this
nation, we are setting ourselvesup for failure.
We could very well see a repeatagain in 2024 what we saw in
2020.
In 2020, a repeat again in 2024what we saw in 2020.
(23:50):
In 2020, it seems as thoughmany in the church had their
faith in a party and a politicalcandidate and consequently,
undoubtedly the hand of the Lordstopped it.
Look at what it says in Daniel2.20.21.
Daniel answered and saidBlessed be the name of God
(24:19):
forever and ever.
For wisdom and might are His.
Daniel answered and said haveyou stopped and considered what
it was like for the church worldin the first age, immediately
after the resurrection of theLord Jesus Christ?
It was the Roman Empire, verywicked, wicked rulers of
unimaginable wickedness thatruled and reigned during that
(24:43):
church age.
Yet it did not stop the churchof the Lord Jesus Christ from
having an impact because theypreached Jesus.
They constantly went aboutpreaching Jesus, preaching the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christthat pricks man's heart and
change men and women, as it waswritten of them, acts 17.6,.
(25:04):
These who have turned the worldupside down have come here too.
And I'll close by repeating 1Corinthians 2, verses 1 and 2.
And that's the point rightthere.
We have got to get back topreaching the gospel of the Lord
(25:24):
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And that's the point rightthere.
We have got to get back topreaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
That is the answer to all theproblems in this country.
And if the church fails to doits duty to preach the gospel,
(25:45):
persecution will come.
And persecution will causethose who stand in the power of
the gospel to proclaim thegospel in power and
demonstrations of the Spirit ofthe living God.
Thank you for tuning in and listening to the Voice of
Righteousness broadcast.
I want to begin today by sayingthat I have not rehearsed this
message and I don't even have ascript or notes.
I'm going to be just speakingfrom my heart, exactly as it
comes to me, but this is amessage that has been burning in
my heart for many, many weeks,months, if not more than a year.
(00:22):
Many scriptures will come to myheart as I bring this message,
because these are scripturesthat I have been pouring over
for more than a year.
And I must say again, this iswhat is written in Jeremiah,
chapter 20, verse 9,.
But his word was in my heartlike a burning fire shut up in
my bones.
I was weary of holding it backand I could not.
(00:43):
Some may ask why do I use themoniker preacher of
righteousness and at the sametime named this the voice of
righteousness broadcast?
Well, it's a very simpleresponse.
It seemed good in my spiritafter much prayer, because it is
(01:16):
written in Romans 1.16.17.18.
The righteousness of God isrevealed from faith to faith.
As it is written, the justshall live by faith, for the
wrath of God is revealed fromheaven against all ungodliness
and unrighteousness of men whosuppress the truth in
unrighteousness.
The righteousness of God isconnected to the gospel of
(01:40):
Christ, and I am not ashamed ofthe gospel of Christ, for it is
the power of God unto salvation.
Then we look at Romans, chapter10, verse 6 through 10.
But the righteousness of faithspeaks in this way Do not say in
(02:01):
your heart who will ascend intoheaven, that is, to bring
Christ down from above, or whowill descend into the abyss,
that is to bring Christ up fromthe dead.
But what does it say?
The word is near you, in yourmouth and in your heart.
That is the word of faith whichwe preach that if you confess
with your mouth the Lord Jesusand believe in your heart that
(02:22):
God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
For with the heart one believesunto righteousness and with the
mouth confession is made untosalvation.
There's a lot of depth to thesebiblical passages and I have to
be very careful that I stay onpoint because it's going to be
so easy to wander off and getinto some of the details of what
do these mean?
(02:43):
But this point needs to be madeJesus already came down to
earth, as it is written in John1, verse 14,.
And the Word became flesh anddwelt among us and we beheld His
glory, the glory as of the onlybegotten, of the Father, full
of grace and truth.
And he was crucified, dying asinner's death, buried in a
(03:06):
grave rose three days afterdeath, as the resurrected Lord
of glory, the finished work ofChrist.
We cannot fail to grasp thefinished work of Christ.
If we do, we're basicallytelling God, the Father, that
the death, burial andresurrection of Jesus was
insufficient to accomplish thework of redeeming mankind from
(03:30):
death.
How important is this message?
It is so important that theApostle Paul, by unction and
inspiration of the Holy Spirit,in 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1-4,
wrote the following chapter 15,verse 1 through 4, wrote the
following Moreover, brethren, Ideclare to you the gospel which
(03:53):
I preach to you, which also youreceived and in which you stand,
but which also you are saved ifyou hold fast that word which I
preach to you, unless youbelieved in vain.
For I deliver to you first ofall that which I also received
that Christ died for our sins,according to the scriptures, and
that he was buried and that herose again the third day,
according to the scriptures.
Now listen clearly.
(04:14):
It says here you received andin which you stand, of which
also you are saved if you holdfast that word which I preach to
you.
You are saved if you hold fastthat word which I preach to you.
The gospel is the message forthe church and for the
unbeliever.
It is the power of God untosalvation.
For the unbeliever is howthey're saved.
(04:35):
For the saved, it's how theystand.
We stand in the power of thegospel.
Again, the Apostle Paul, throughthe unction and inspiration of
the Holy Spirit, in 1Corinthians 1, verse 18, through
the second chapter about verse4, states the following For the
(04:55):
message of the cross isfoolishness to those who are
perishing, but to those who arebeing saved it is the power of
God.
For it is written, I willdestroy the wisdom of the wise
and bring to nothing theunderstanding of the prudent.
Where is the wise?
Where is the scribe?
Where is the disputer of thisage?
Has not God made foolish thewisdom of this world?
(05:15):
For since, in the wisdom of God, the world, through wisdom did
not know God, it pleased Godthrough the foolishness of the
message preached to save thosewho believe.
For Jews request the sign andGreeks seek after wisdom, but we
preach Christ crucified, to theJews a stumbling block and to
(05:36):
the Greeks foolishness.
But to those who are called,both Jews and Greeks, christ the
power of and the wisdom of God,because the foolishness of God
is wiser than man and theweakness of God is stronger than
man.
And jumping over to verse 1 ofchapter 2, and I, brethren, when
I came to you, did not comewith excellence of speech or of
(05:59):
wisdom, declaring to you thetestimony of God, for I
determined not to know anythingamong you except Jesus Christ
and Him crucified.
I was with you in weakness, infear and in much trembling, and
my speech and my preaching werenot with persuasive words of
human wisdom, but indemonstration of the Spirit and
of power that your faith shouldnot be in the wisdom of men but
(06:22):
in the power of God.
The message of the cross is themessage that pricked man's
heart.
It's the message that turnedthe world upside down in the
first century, when the apostleswent forth preaching boldly the
death, burial and resurrectionof Jesus Christ.
Notice what Paul wrote.
(06:52):
I have to repeat this the crossof Christ can be made of no
effect if it's not preached orif it's preached with wisdom of
words of man.
I'm trying to be very carefulhow I present this, because the
gravity of this message isextreme.
The gospel of Jesus Christ canbe made of no effect if it's not
(07:18):
properly preached.
And in fact, if you look atwhat's going on in the modern
day church of the Lord JesusChrist in the United States of
America, you will see that thereis a lack of preaching the true
gospel of Jesus Christ, thedeath, burial and resurrection
of Jesus, and it's a failure ofpreaching the gospel properly
(07:41):
that has rendered a weak churchthat is not having an impact on
society and wickedness isrunning rampant.
Jump now to 2 Corinthians 4,verses 3-6.
But even if our gospel isveiled, it is veiled to those
who are perishing, whose mindsthe God of this age has blinded,
who do not believe lest thelight of the gospel, of the
(08:04):
glory of Christ, who is theimage of God, should shine on
them.
For we do not preach ourselves,but Christ, jesus, the Lord,
and ourselves, your bondservants, for Jesus' sake.
For it is the God who commandedlight to shine out of darkness,
who has shone in our hearts togive the light of the knowledge
(08:25):
of the glory of God in the faceof Jesus Christ, those who are
blinded and have not seen thelight of the gospel, will be
blinded and not see the light ofthe gospel until it is properly
preached unto them.
We cannot sit here and condemnthe wicked who have not heard
the truth of the gospel.
In Romans 10, verses 14 forward, it says how then shall they
(08:47):
call on him whom they have notbelieved?
In Romans 10, verses 14 forward, it says In prior broadcast I
(09:08):
have mentioned one of the perilsthat we're facing today is the
weaponization of governmentpower.
But here's the most significantperil of the day, a serious
problem in the United States ofAmerica and within the church in
the United States of America.
It is a lack of the preachingof the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ.
We cannot continue to condemnthe wicked without truly
preaching the gospel of the LordJesus Christ.
We cannot continue to condemnthe wicked without truly
(09:30):
preaching the gospel of JesusChrist in the power of God,
through the power of God, by theSpirit of the living God.
We cannot continue to condemnthe wicked.
We cannot continue to condemnPresident Biden, vice President
Harris, chuck Schumer, nancyPelosi and every other Democrat
who certainly are acting inwicked ways.
(09:52):
Brings the blinders off of thewicked so they can see the light
(10:12):
and turn to the light.
I am actually a product of thecharismatic movement of the
early 1970s.
My father in the early 1970sgot connected with a Pentecostal
church and I was firstintroduced to the gospel of
Jesus Christ at Morris Cirillo'sevent in the city of Miami,
(10:33):
miami Auditorium in the early1970s, where I saw the miracle
power of God and it impacted mylife as a small child and I grew
up in that charismatic move andduring those years, during all
those, I saw and I heard manymiracles.
I saw the power of God at work,the gospel being preached,
(10:54):
lives being changed, lives beingtransformed, impacting society.
Fast forward into the 1980s,the 1990s, 2000, 2010s and now
2020s 90s, 2000, 2010s, now2020s I have seen literally a
regression, a going backward,where we have become basically
too complacent.
We have forgotten the purposeof our faith.
(11:18):
There was a great move of Godin the 80s and 90s, the teaching
of the Word of God, whichcertainly impacted Christendom
and in some ways it did did somedamage, in my opinion, but,
based on what I have observedfrom a scriptural perspective,
we have become complacent to thepoint that we have turned
(11:39):
inward to look at our own lives,to enrich ourselves, to better
ourselves.
You know it's like let's takethe promises of God so that we
can be healed, we can be whole,we can be rich, we can be well,
and there's truth to that.
But the reality is that if youlook at the biblical metrics of
what Jesus calls rich and whatJesus calls poor, you will find
(12:01):
something that is very startling.
When Jesus appeared to John, theApostle in Revelation, and he
commands him to write themessages to the seven churches,
listen to what he says to theangel of the church in Smyrna.
These things says the first andthe last who was dead and came
to life.
This is in Revelation 2, verse8 forward I know your works,
(12:24):
tribulation and poverty, but youare rich.
I know your works, tribulationand poverty, but you are rich.
I know your works, tribulationand poverty, but you are rich.
He calls them rich.
Then, in chapter 3, speaking tothe church in Sardis, jesus
says I know your works, that youhave a name, that you are alive
, but you are dead.
To the church of the loudestends, I know your works and that
(12:48):
you're neither cold nor hot.
I could wish you were cold orhot.
So then, because you arelukewarm and neither cold nor
hot.
I will vomit you out of mymouth Because you say I am rich,
have become wealthy, have needof nothing, and do not know that
you are wretched, miserable,poor, blind and naked.
(13:09):
It's clear.
The message from Jesus is thechurch needs to consider its
ways.
The metrics that we must lookat are the scriptures, what
Jesus has to say, not man-mademetrics, man-made machinations.
Not man-made metrics, man-mademachinations, because the church
(13:33):
, without the power of God,becomes a lifeless entity,
unable to change the world, toaffect a nation.
If there is a power deficiencyin the church, there is a gospel
deficiency in the church and Isay very strongly that we are
missing the power of God becausewe have failed to fully
recognize the power of thegospel, the death, burial,
(13:57):
resurrection of the Lord JesusChrist.
And without the preaching ofthe gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we will never see thepower of God that is necessary
to change a nation, never seethe power of God that is
necessary to change a nation.
Here's a couple things toconsider.
Are we rightly seeing Jesus,and how does Jesus want to be
seen?
He tells us in the scripturesno particular order.
(14:17):
Let's look at this first versein it's Revelation, chapter 1,
verse 18.
This is what Jesus says.
I am he who lives and was dead.
And behold, I am aliveforevermore.
Amen.
And I have the keys of Hadesand of death.
Jesus, immediately, when herevealed himself as the risen
(14:38):
Christ to John the Apostle inthe island of Patmos, points to
his passion, his death, burialand resurrection.
I am he who was dead and amalive now.
Then we can see one of the firstinstances of Jesus appearing to
his disciples after theresurrection Luke, chapter 24,
(14:59):
the road to Emmaus.
When he ran into these two men,he confronted them and told
them O foolish ones and slow ofheart, to believe in all that
the prophets have spoken, oughtnot the Christ to have suffered
these things and to enter intohis glory?
And, beginning at Moses and allthe prophets, he expounded to
(15:21):
them in all the scriptures, thethings concerning himself.
Then they drew near to thevillage where they were going
and he indicated that he wouldhave gone further, but they
constrained him, saying Abidewith us, for it is toward
evening and the day is far spent, and he went in to stay with
them.
Now it came to pass, as he satat the table with them, that he
(15:42):
took bread, blessed and broke itand gave it to them.
Then their eyes were opened andthey knew him and he vanished
from their sight.
And they said to one anotherDid not our heart burn within us
?
While he talked with us on theroad and while he opened the
scriptures to us, jesus pointedto his passion and he broke
(16:04):
bread and blessed it, and thatreminds us of his instructions
about breaking bread andblessing it in remembrance of
his broken body and his shedblood.
For us, we have got to get backto rightly seeing Jesus, to see
him how he wants to be seen, asthe Father describes him.
(16:25):
In fact, if you look at theentire book of Revelation, jesus
is described as the Lamb thatwas slain from the foundation of
the earth.
This is a crucial message forthe hour, because if you look at
Revelation, chapter 2, to theangel of the church of Ephesus,
write these things, says he whoholds the seven stars in his
(16:48):
right hand, who walks in themidst of the seven golden
lampstands.
I know your works, your labor,your patience, and that you
cannot bear those who are evil,and you have tested those who
say they are apostles and arenot, and have found them liars,
and you have persevered and havepatience and have labored for
(17:09):
my name's sake and have notbecome weary.
Nevertheless, I have thisagainst you that you have left
your first love.
Remember, therefore, from whereyou have fallen.
Repent and do the first works,or else I will come to you
quickly and remove yourlampstand from its place unless
you repent.
In many ways, this describes thechurch in America, the church
(17:31):
at this age, at this time, inthis instance.
If you look at the history ofthe church in the United States
of America, never in the historyof the United States of America
have you ever had so muchpreaching, so much teaching of
the Word of God in everyavailable medium.
We've got radio, we've got TV,we've got internet, youtube,
(17:54):
rumble, we've got satelliteradio, we've got churches left
and right, we've got every kindof available medium where there
is just an incredible amount ofsome type of Word of God being
preached and taught.
Yet the reality is we haveforgotten our first love.
(18:15):
He loved us first.
Because he loved us first, weloved Him, and we're commanded
to return to that first love.
What is that first love Is?
We heard about his death, hispassion, his burial and his
(18:37):
resurrection, the power of thegospel, and it was that power of
the gospel that turned us tohim, turned our hearts to him To
love him.
And it's only through thatrevelation of the power of the
gospel, his death, burial andresurrection, that men and women
can be saved.
And this is the only answer tosave this nation at this time.
(19:00):
We must ask ourselves what arewe preaching, what are we
teaching?
Are we honestly impactingsociety?
Are we causing change forrighteousness?
As Paul wrote and my speech andmy preaching were not with
persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the
Spirit and of power that yourfaith should not be in the
(19:21):
wisdom of men but in the powerof God.
Therefore, we must askourselves what are we doing on
any given Sunday or any givenchurch service?
Are we truly preaching thegospel of the Lord Jesus Christ,
or are we just getting togetherto have a kumbaya session?
What is the purpose of gettingtogether?
I mean, the scriptures are veryclear of what exactly a church
(19:43):
meeting should look like.
Search the scriptures.
They tell you what he likes,what he doesn't like, what he
expects, what he doesn't expect.
Here are a couple things toconsider.
Jesus is the one who died onthe cross, not the clock.
What's going to impress thevisitor more?
A miracle or a muffin or, forthat matter, a little gift bag
(20:04):
or the gifts of the Spirit thatbring forth healing, salvation,
deliverance and miracles?
We're a little bit over a weekaway from a major election here
in the United States of America,where you've got former
President Trump as the leadingcandidate, who at the moment is
leading in the polls, and on theother end Vice President Harris
(20:27):
, and, frankly, neither of thesetwo candidates are the savior
of America.
On one end we've got one groupcalled Pastors for Trump and on
the other end we've got anothergroup called Evangelicals for
Harris.
Both are wrong.
Trump is not the savior ofAmerica.
Harris is not the savior ofAmerica.
Harris is not the destroyer ofAmerica.
(20:48):
Trump is not again the deliversavior of America.
Harris is not the destroyer ofAmerica.
Trump is not again thedeliverer of America.
Jesus is the deliverer of anynation, and any nation that
calls out on his name can bedelivered.
And the only way people cancall out on the name of Jesus is
if Jesus is rightfully preachedand delivered unto them.
We cannot ram righteousness tothe wicked.
(21:11):
We can only preach the light tothe wicked.
The wicked, therefore, musthear the reality and the truth
of the gospel of the Lord JesusChrist, if we're ever going to
turn them around to the light.
Do you want to know what God theFather has to say about these
issues and these things andthese matters?
I'm going to give you a veryclear scripture.
(21:33):
It can't be any clearer thanthis one Matthew, chapter 17,
verse 5.
This is when Jesus wastransfigured and he appeared
with Moses and Elijah.
This is what the father said.
A voice came out of the cloudsaying this is my beloved son,
(21:58):
in whom I am well pleased.
Hear him, then we can go toHebrews, chapter 1, and look at
what God the father speaks.
God, who at various times andin various ways spoke in time
past to the fathers by theprophets, has in these last days
spoken to us by his Son, whomhe has appointed heir of all
(22:19):
things, through whom also hemade the worlds.
The Father says look to Jesus,look to Jesus, hear what he has
to say.
And what does Jesus have to say?
Look to his passion, look tohis death, burial and
resurrection, to the finishedwork of Christ.
And he commands us to preachthis gospel to the ends of the
(22:43):
world Mark 16, 15.
Jesus said Go into all theworld and preach the gospel to
every creature.
The gospel of the Lord JesusChrist is the message for the
United States of America andthis message must be preached,
and the church has to step it upand begin to preach the gospel
(23:05):
with the intensity, the powerand might of the Spirit of the
living God.
Yes, political activism isimportant, but it does not
replace the gospel and can neverreplace the gospel, and without
the gospel it will beineffective.
All the political activism willeventually become divisive and
destructive and in the endresult could very well be the
(23:28):
last thing that we need to see.
As long as we put our faith ina man or a party to save this
nation, we are setting ourselvesup for failure.
We could very well see a repeatagain in 2024 what we saw in
2020.
In 2020, a repeat again in 2024what we saw in 2020.
(23:50):
In 2020, it seems as thoughmany in the church had their
faith in a party and a politicalcandidate and consequently,
undoubtedly the hand of the Lordstopped it.
Look at what it says in Daniel2.20.21.
Daniel answered and saidBlessed be the name of God
(24:19):
forever and ever.
For wisdom and might are His.
Daniel answered and said haveyou stopped and considered what
it was like for the church worldin the first age, immediately
after the resurrection of theLord Jesus Christ?
It was the Roman Empire, verywicked, wicked rulers of
unimaginable wickedness thatruled and reigned during that
(24:43):
church age.
Yet it did not stop the churchof the Lord Jesus Christ from
having an impact because theypreached Jesus.
They constantly went aboutpreaching Jesus, preaching the
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christthat pricks man's heart and
change men and women, as it waswritten of them, acts 17.6,.
(25:04):
These who have turned the worldupside down have come here too.
And I'll close by repeating 1Corinthians 2, verses 1 and 2.
And that's the point rightthere.
We have got to get back topreaching the gospel of the Lord
(25:24):
Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
And that's the point rightthere.
We have got to get back topreaching the gospel of the Lord
Jesus Christ.
That is the answer to all theproblems in this country.
And if the church fails to doits duty to preach the gospel,
(25:45):
persecution will come.
And persecution will causethose who stand in the power of
the gospel to proclaim thegospel in power and
demonstrations of the Spirit ofthe living God.
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