Father, we just thank You for this morning. God I thank You for Your Word. I thank You - I'm hearing over and over about the fact that You are preparing Your people for the day of Your return. But Father even today as Your presence is poured out, You are preparing us to do all the works and the things that You have called Your people to do. Father equip us today. Lord Jesus, bless us and give us exactly what we need to do exactly what You have called us to do; which is to love You Father, to love one another, and to reveal to this world that You are God and that You are alive. Bless this time Father we give You praise and all glory. In Jesus’ name, amen. Amen!

Today, I would like to talk about something very special about the day that is upon us. You see, we all know - or many of us know - that when you read the Bible we have the Old Testament and the New Testament. But before the New Testament was written, I began to think about, you know, when the Old Testament closed up there was a period of time there that was quiet. They say it was about 400 years right? Where nobody was hearing from God. Not only was it a quiet time but it was an empty time. And think about it: You know, no prophet was receiving a word of the Lord, the people were just going about in emptiness, even the religious leaders of that day, the Pharisees, they were caring about the rituals. They were doing their thing and just carrying on. But then what happened right? The Lord Jesus shows up. The Lord Jesus comes on the scene. He shows up in the midst of them, and all of a sudden the daylight is now shining. No longer is it gonna be quiet because the Living Word, the Lord Jesus, is about to be heard. All of a sudden, there is no more darkness because the light of the world has now come to draw us out of the darkness, out of the silence and into His wonderful light, amen?

"just because we’re in church, it doesn't mean that you’re awake. "

And you know, the day of the Lord was upon the people, but what happened? When we read the Scriptures and we really dig into what happened - and not with everybody, but many miss that day. They carried about as though it was just any normal day they didn’t realize the day that was upon them. And it wasn't everybody but many just carried on to go about their lives and their own business. But see the King was present. The King was present just as He is today. The King is present to say that this is the day of the Lord. This is a day that has come upon us in which it is time for the King to be exalted; it is time for us to wake up and to give Him glory.

Right now, the day is upon us. The light is shining. Jesus has come, and it's time for us to get out of the rut of our sinfulness. It's time for us to rise up and allow Him to shine in our lives, and for God to take the place in our life that He has always intended to take. You see, we keep hearing this and even that song, and even as Pastors have been speaking, we think about the day of the Lord's return and Jesus is coming again. There is no doubt He is going to return in the fullness of His glory. But I also read in the Scriptures He says that today is the day of salvation. Right now, as with those Jews, Jesus is here. Will you be ready, and are you ready for what He is about to do in our lives?

Will we recognize the time...or will we miss it? Will we recognize the time of what God is doing even now in our midst? And see, in order not to miss it, in order not to miss what is happening, and whether we’re waiting for His second coming, or whether right now we’re just recognizing that He wants to bless us with His glory, we have to do something about it. It is time church, to do something and today my question is: What is the time? What is the time today? And if you have your Bibles, I’m gonna be reading from Romans chapter 13. You’ll see it up here on the screen as well, verses 11 through 14 for those of you who might not have a Bible on you, we’ll be following along.

As you turn there, what an incredible chapter with Paul. And he is giving very clear advice here - he’s saying, “Church listen this is not a normal day. This is not a normal time. It is time to wake up. It is time to realize the time that is upon us.” Amen! And so the first thing I wanna share with you is that it is time to understand the present time. What time is it church? It is time to understand the present time. Let's look at verses 11 through 12. It says, “And do this, understanding the present time: The hour has already come for you to wake up from your slumber, because our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is over; the day is almost here.”

When I read this verse, Paul he says, “Listen, the hour’s already come. It's not coming it's here, and it's time to wake up out of our slumber.” You see, church of God as Christians we should already be awake. We should already be alert to the day that is upon us and the reality is God is moving. But if we are sleeping, if we’re in the slumber of our self indulgences, in our worldliness - then we will miss it! But we know that God does not desire for His people to miss it - but we don't wanna miss the move of the spirit that God is doing right now. And listen, just because we’re in church, it doesn't mean that you’re awake. There are countless numbers of people all across the world that are sitting in services week after week. And they may be awake in their body but dead to God. Many are sitting listening to sermons they attend services, but their ears are never open they still yet go home deaf. Many come, week after week, without ever leaving with a new conviction. Without leaving with an urging of the Holy Spirit calling them into what the Kingdom of God is all about.

But there is good news today: We are to be the ones that would understand the present time - are you with me today? That we are called to understand the present time, that we no longer have a time to waste apart from the Lord - but we must recognize what He’s doing. This is not a time for sleep. Many Christians today seem to have fallen asleep, but God says “Wake up!” You see, sleep symbolizes complacency. It's passive Christianity where you know what? Maybe we've been touched by God numerous times. Maybe we do a couple things in service to the Lord. We do one or two things in a ministry. But I'm telling you right now, God is calling us to go further. He is not calling us to just step back and to do a couple things in religiosity but He is saying, “Will you seek Me for more? Will you begin to go further and say, ‘God, I wanna go deeper with You?’ Will you begin to go further and say, ‘Father, I need a transformation. I need life for I understand this present time?’”

So many live from day to day in a slumber - never recognizing that the day is at hand but God says, “Wake up.” We can no longer afford to move without His Spirit. We can no longer afford to move without God and listen, God is not looking for somebody to do just a little bit of religious work to maybe, you know, do the deed and then go home without any life entering in. God is looking for one who would move, who would seek to know the living God. That whether you're preaching at the pulpit or sweeping the floor, you have recognized the present time that is upon us. It is a time to come into the Lord Jesus!

To be found sleeping is to be found in sin. Dormant in God dormant to the Spirit of the Lord. You see, as we indulge in the pleasures of this life, we get so easily consumed and lazy in our seeking of God. Fattened up by entertainment. Fattened up by all the comforts and the things that we have and listen, we look at things like murder right? We look at drugs or theft and we say that those things are sinful and that's true, but I believe that in the presence of God in His sight, that what is much more sinful is there are Christians who are asleep and dormant, missing the day of God, missing the day of Jesus, missing the presence of God and what God has called of them, falling asleep but God says “Wake up this day!” Will you wake up church?

See, the true Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, it will not enter into your life and allow you to sit back and just fold your hands up a little bit. The Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ will wake you up to the Kingdom. It will wake you up to Jesus. It will wake you up to see the present time and for you to be filled with the glory of God. In this day of darkness, you to shine in light. Today is the day. What is the time church? What is the time?

When we wake up, praise God we become diligent. I think of financial people and how they go over the paperwork line by line to make sure they have it down. I think of students and some of you who have stayed up in the wee hours of the night to get that last chapter in right? You can't fail that test. I think of nurses and some of you are very familiar with that field how that nurse right before you end that shift you’re saying, “I gotta check on this patient one more time.” And that is what we are called to be. To go above our effort, to be sure and to walk toward the path of heaven that God has called us to walk and to recognize the present time.

”Salvation…” as Paul says,”...is nearer now than ever before.” He says it, “salvation is nearer now”. Listen, if we really think about this, whether it's Jesus returning or whether it's the day that we die, whichever comes first - we are closer today than we were yesterday. At any moment, the Lord could return, but will we be ready? Would we have already recognized the time? Would our friends be ready? Would our family be ready? And I love this about the Scriptures - you see, the Word of God teaches us wisdom. And it says that, “The wise - they number their days...” The wise see there is an awe-inspiring wonderful wisdom in recognizing that one day our lives will end. We’re not promised tomorrow we’re not even promised today. And you know what this truth does to us? This truth when it enters into your heart and to your mind, it'll cause you no longer to walk away angry. This truth will cause you to love your family like you've never loved them before. This truth will cause you to wake up and to see the Kingdom at hand. But greatest of all, this truth will wake you up to say, “I've got to get right with God. I’ve got to be with Him. I’ve got to make sure that all the darkness has come off, and that I am in His glorious light.”

You see, when the end comes - the end is there. There's no changing. People do not understand and we must understand today, that when our day comes - whether He returns or we die - there is no more time for prayer. There is no more time for pleading. There is no more time for seeking, but we will stand before a Holy God and He will judge us, whether we live righteously in His glory through His Son, or whether we chose to live in the darkness. And if these truths had truly come into our hearts and minds, what would it do in us? What kind of urgings would it bring? How would it cause us to urgently understand the time that is at hand this very present time? See as Christians we must understand that the time is going to run out. He says, “salvation is nearer than it's ever been before.” And you see, the world takes us out of this reality. The world lies to us and says, “Listen, there’s no wages for sin. You do whatever you want and you will be fine!” But I want to say the reality is this - is that the Lord Jesus Christ is coming again. The reality is this - is that the time right now is a time for us to return; to come into the Lord with all of our heart soul mind and strength. And the truth is and the reality is that if we ignore the warnings of the Scripture, if we ignore this great call of God then we will miss it! But I also wanna talk to you about another reality. The reality that God has given us hope. The reality that He has sent His Son, the Lord Jesus, who is the greatest awakening that you will ever come to. He is the one that will awaken our soul to the King!

Christ within you will always keep you awake. Do you recognize the present time? You see this present age is coming to an end. Paul says in this word he says, “The night is nearly over...” And see, this is very hopeful for the Christian. The night is all sorts of bad things. The nights are the hidden things that are in the darkness - the things that have not come out into the light, right? The night is when God steps back and allows man in his rebellion to now come up with his own religions, to come up with his own thoughts and rituals and ideas of God. The night is when the land is dark, but hallelujah the people of God begin to pray. And they begin to pray day and night and say, “Father, let the new day begin to come - the dawn is coming the light is beginning to shine. Father we will go because the new day is about to break out. Lord Jesus You are about to break out. You're about to do something You have never done before!” Church, do you recognize the present time today?

The night is separation from God. The night is when our minds are in carnality and godless, and we try to think and we try to do the things of God but we always wind up going opposite; that is the night. You see, our problem is not the world. Our problem is not the politics or anything or anybody else. The problem is: are we with God, or are we not? Without God we are in the night. We are blind and unless the Lord Jesus calls us out - and I wanna say He calls us out today - He calls us out of the darkness. He says to, “Come out of the world. Come out of the old mindset. Come out of the unbelief. Come out of yourself and come into the light, for the night is nearly over!”

Church, right now, there is light in Goshen. I know that Egypt may be a very very dark place - darkness so thick that you can feel it - but when you recognize the present time and you come into the Lord Jesus Christ, the light of His presence will shine in your life, and that light will never be able to be conquered. Do you recognize the present time? I ask you again church: What is the time? It is time to recognize the present time, the time of God, amen!

Secondly, it is time to put on the armor of light. Let's look at verses 12 to 13. “...So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy…” And you see, we’re taught here to put aside the deeds of darkness. In other words: take off all the old ways of doing things, take off that old way of darkness - that old armor of darkness that has been holding us back from God. The reality is, we cannot be clothed in the armor of light if we’re still gonna be choosing to use that armor of darkness.

We all know the story of David and Goliath, right? What happened - David was about to go fight Goliath, and then Saul steps in and what does Saul offer him? He says, “Listen, you can wear my armor.” And the problem was this - is that Saul's armor was not an armor of light. It was an armor of the flesh. It was an armor of man's way of doing things. It was the armor of pride. It’s where it says, “God, I’ve got this. I'll give You what I got when I can when I feel like it.” But what did David do - hallelujah, he said “This doesn't fit” - and he threw it off! He said, “I will not wear the armor of darkness, but I'm gonna engage in the enemy in the army of light.” You see, Goliath would've loved for David to wear that armor. The devil would love for us to fight with his own armor - he would love for us to hate rather than love. He would love for us to be prideful and arrogant and stubborn rather than to humble ourself - because he would know that we would be in the armor of darkness. But we, like David today, church- I believe somebody is about to throw the armor of darkness off. He says, “Throw it off! Throw it off and take on the armor of light!”

By God's power, would we surrender to the Lord Jesus the darkness that we've been carrying around? In this new day, in this day that is upon us, it is the time to change the way that we've been doing things. It's time to change the way that our attitude has been in the way we've been doing. It's time to stop fighting in our stubbornness. It's time to, you know, to be delivered from our pride and our selfishness that makes us so defensive - that causes us to be hardened rather than to allow the Lord Jesus Christ to be our perfect armor - to be the One who would defend us. It's time to throw off the old armor...the carnal way of doing things that never - if we’re really honest with it - never really worked in the first place. It never really worked in the first place. Church, it's time to stop using the weapons of this world: the weapons of the flesh and one thing that really began to come into my heart...As you think of the armor of light, it’s so much lighter than the armor of darkness.

See David said, “Saul, I'm sorry but this is a little too heavy for me. I don't like this.” And you know what the world would do to you? When we begin to walk with the world - when we carry the armor of darkness - I’m telling you right now, the darkness will rob you of all your strength. It will rob you of all of your hope. It will rob you of life, but I wanna say today: There is something bigger that God has for His church. It is time to put on the armor of light.

This armor of light that we bear is the armor of the Lord Jesus Christ and when I say “armor” we’re talking about weapons here. But the weapons that the Lord Jesus Christ used - what weapons were they - think with me for a moment. Humility. Right? Humbling Himself. Love, submission to His heavenly Father - you see, we don’t wage war as the world does. We don’t bear the armor of darkness but we bear the armor of the Lord Jesus Christ; the armor of light. We humble ourselves in the sight of the Lord so that, who? So that He will pick us up. Rather than embracing our anger and rather than bowing down to our hatred and darkness, we will bow to one, and His name is the King - the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

See, when we walk in the armor of light, we are trusting God. We’re not looking to try and fix it our way, but we are trusting that God always knows better. The armor of light is right living. It's staying true to the word that we profess to follow and I really thought about this - really think about this: We profess to follow the Lord, and to carry the armor of light is to do exactly that. There's no room for hypocrisy - where we can talk all day long about Christianity, but when we go home, it doesn't make a difference in our lives. You'll never meet a stronger Christian than a Christian that does what they say and will only speak of what they do. You see, right living is that you take very seriously what God has entrusted to you. Right living means that you realize God would prefer in our life that we have just one solid truth that we live and that we hold to rather than have a million different types of teachings, yet never put one into practice. God is calling us to bear the armor of light, to bear the armor of integrity, and to be serious about what He has called us to do. Are you covered in the armor of light today? Are you covered in the deep truths - do you go home weekly thinking upon the deep truths that God has given us, that He gives us daily? Do you take the time to seek out the Lord, to really examine your faith, to examine our walk, to really see: Are we with God? And hallelujah I love the fact that this armor is very special. You see, it's very very very very particular and strong in doing one thing: cutting down the flesh.

You see, flesh cannot enter the kingdom of God and we've been saying it over and over right? That the Lord Jesus is going to return and even now, He is doing something - now listen, when His presence comes, I wanna say that flesh will fail, and it will wallow away. But for those in faith, those trusting Him, those who are bearing the armor of light, watch out! We are ready, we are awaiting, and we will be prepared for His returning, whether it be today tomorrow, or this very hour.

See with the armor of the Lord Jesus we overcome the flesh - the flesh that walks ahead of God. The flesh that begins to think apart from His truth and looks to accomplish things without the presence and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, and the flesh that stops us and holds us back. But I want to tell you one thing: that this armor praise God, is perfect in devouring and tearing down that flesh. It is perfect in putting that flesh into submission. It is perfect in causing that young man to keep his ways pure. It is perfect in keeping that one woman, you know, close to the Lord. It is perfect in allowing us to be patient and awaiting His glory no matter what it takes. Oh, is somebody ready to put on the armor of light today?

And the truth is this: You know Paul? Very simple words that he says - he says, “Put it on. I can't put that armor of light on for you.” He says, “You pick it up. You decide that the Lord Jesus is worthy of it all, and you put on the armor of light and chase Him as though He was your only hope. You begin to fast. You begin to pray. You begin to seek Him until the shining of His light begins to break the darkness in this life, for it is time, church!”

Will you wear this armor? See, we have to choose every single day what armor we’re going to bear. That old armor of darkness is not gonna work anymore. For a time, it was able to hold us back from God. It was able to hold us back, but I wanna say the day of the Lord is upon us, and now is the time to put on that armor because anything else will stick out. Nothing else will keep you safe from the enemy. Nothing else can guard our families - can you imagine, for a minute? You ever see on the news, or you ever look in, you know, one of the pictures of a nation's military? How they march side-by-side - you see North Korea how they show, you know, their military you see the American military, and you see all these soldiers, right? Wearing the same uniform, bearing their armor. Can you imagine if one of the soldiers - if their colors were blue and red showed up in pink and yellow? Right? They would stick out, and it would be very evident that they were not prepared for the day. And I wanna say, church, today, it will be evident of what kind of armor you are wearing. It will be very evident because you can tell the radiance of a heart that's been praying and seeking the Lord. You can hear it in the voice of a man or woman that's been thinking upon the Lord all throughout the day, waiting to come into His presence, just calling out and crying out to the one that they love. You will recognize today, what armor will you be wearing? Church, it is time to be clothed in the armor of light.

And hallelujah! The Gospel of the Lord Jesus is the armor of light! The Gospel that opens up the heart of those who have been against God to realize that apart from Christ, we have no good thing! The Gospel that will cause us to turn and to believe in the One that God has sent to save us from the darkness and bring us into His light! The armor of light - the Lord Jesus - who delivers us from the wrath of God that was placed on all those who have decided to clothe themselves in the armor of darkness rather than in the glory of the Son! He says, “Come to Me today! I am the one, I am the way, and I will guard you and I will lift you up!”

By the power of the Lord Jesus Christ, we can be not only defending, but we can be on the offensive with the armor of God conquering the mind, conquering the heart, conquering the land, stepping into those prison cells and delivering that one that was in abuse, that was under the addiction. Stepping into the prison cells with the armor of light and being able to deliver others who were dead, as Pastors were saying - dead, in their sin and in darkness. Christians who have been asleep and bringing them alive, coming in with the light of the Gospel.

Lastly...Church, what is the time? It is time to be clothed in Christ. Let’s look at verse 14. It says, “Rather, clothe yourselves in the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” And the wording here, you know when he says to “clothe yourself,” he's not saying “just put it on a little bit here.” He’s saying, “No, let the Lord Jesus Christ overtake you.” Do you understand? God is calling us for something so big. Jesus didn't come to remain on the outside. He came so that He would dwell on the inside. Christians are imitations of Christ. We are new creations of the ones that have been called into the glory of God - we are those that are now transformed into something different. When we are called from on high to be with Christ, something different begins to happen in our lives. We're no longer the same person - and that's exactly what God is looking for. You see, every day, there should be light coming out of our lives, more and more. Why? Because the Lord Jesus Christ cannot be hidden. He cannot be held down. We go from glory to glory. But is this our case today? Are clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ? Is there light? Is there something every moment of the day? Every day, are we coming close or does that light seemingly only last for a short time? It's time to be clothed in the light of the Lord Jesus Christ because that light will get us ready. In the darkness, we will be able to see. We will be able to follow the right direction.

See it’s a very sad thing to see a Christian in the darkness. It's a very sad, defeated thing to see somebody that is just stumbling all around not realizing the day upon them - not realizing that there is light. When we’re in the darkness, we find ourselves stumbling. We go the wrong way, never getting it right. We never get it right with God and worst of all, the day passes us by. This time, church, what is the time? Many can have the Lord Jesus Christ in the very same room His presence moving, yet completely ignore it, not even know that He's there or even care only to miss the time in the midst of what God has been doing. But the Lord Jesus Christ calls us out of the darkness. He says, “Be clothed in My light! Be clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ, for now is the time!” What is the time, church? It is time to come into Christ!

The Lord Jesus Christ is the answer to every ailment. He is the answer to it all. He is the light of all mankind. He will not leave you in the darkness for even the dark is as light to Him. Therefore, if you are clothed in His light, if you are surrendered to the Lord Jesus Christ you will not die, you will live. You will not stumble in the night, but you will walk steady and straight. For the true Christian clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ, there is no backsliding. There is no going backward because that's exactly what the light of Christ does. It leads us through. It leads us home. It leads us to the Father. It leads us to the right place. It leads us out of the darkness. It leads us down the right path and surely goodness - the goodness of God - will follow us all the days of our life as we walk in the light of Christ.

Church, what is the time? It's time to be clothed in the Lord Jesus Christ - to be clothed in His divine power. See, many believe today that the Christian life is real, but they also believe that we shouldn’t put much pressure on people to really live it out. Especially the youth. “You know, the world is really strong. I mean come on, look at our culture! It's so perverted, it’s so, you know, sex-filled and dark, and come on, I mean nobody’s perfect! We believe in this ‘Jesus thing,’ but you can't really expect everybody to be so intense!” And I want to say today that listen: It is true. No man, no flesh, can compete with the darkness of this world - but I wanna say that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ can.

I may not be perfect, but praise God, I am being perfected more and more every day as I am being drawn and worked through the divine power of the Lord Jesus Christ on the inside. You see His divine power is perfect in bringing a man or woman into fellowship with God. His divine power is perfect in bringing us into holiness. His divine power is what will take a young man and calls him not to chase the sex, the money, the drugs, and to be found in the house of the Lord. What is the time, church? His divine power is able to take the man or woman that was overtaken by their career but now the calling of God is so much bigger for they realized what the time is, the time that is at hand - it is a time to bring glory to the Lord Jesus Christ.

"No man, no flesh, can compete with the darkness of this world - but I wanna say that the Spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ can."

This divine power empowers us to bring glory to God. You see there's only one way to bring glory to God. It is through the Lord Jesus Christ. Listen, God is not looking for me, He's looking for Christ in me. God is not looking for you, He's looking for Christ in you, “the hope of glory!” You see by this great power - by the power of the Lord Jesus Christ - God is pleased! And every time Jesus is growing within us - every time we begin to call - we don’t need to feed on the flesh anymore, we begin to feed on the Spirit of the Lord Jesus in us, and as we do that, hallelujah, the Father in heaven is pleased! He is pleased to bestow His power on His children, on His sons and daughters to live and to do as Jesus has done!

Power! It's time to taste and see that the Lord is good. It's time to taste and see that the Lord is good! We were never meant to be defeated, we were meant to live in the divine power of God and that old nature of darkness to be overtaken, now with the nature of Jesus Himself within us! The Son of the living God living and reigning in our hearts! And listen, He goes on behalf of the Father for His people! And He says what? “You shall do greater things…” How is that possible Lord? “Oh, because now I'm living in you. I'm living in your mom. I'm living in your dad I’m living in your son I'm living in your daughter. Watch out! You are about to do greater things, because greater is He who is in you, than he who is in the world.”

Lastly, we are to be clothed in Christ. You see we’re to be clothed in the victory of Christ. He is victory! Apart from Christ, we’re clothed in darkness and we are dead to God, you know, because of sin. Because of our wickedness because of our desire to do our own thing. Because of our wicked ways of going apart from God we have been weakened by sin. And this sinfulness has kindled the wrath of God against those who have turned from Him. This sin is like a cancer that grows and grows and it only has one ending, which is death! We, church, were originally meant to live with God, but now death - our greatest enemy - has left us hopeless. Death is a very terrible thing. Sin has brought death, and it's a death not only in our soul, not only in our mind, but literally to die and to perish in hell.

But today, hallelujah! The day of the Lord is upon us. The Lord Jesus Christ has risen! He has come and those who look to Him are not clothed in death, but now clothed in victory! Understand that when you clothe the perishable with the imperishable, there is a victory that comes only through the blood and through the working of the Lord Jesus Christ! He brings life even to this mortal body, this day, this day! Church, what is the time? It is time to come into the victory! Will you step into the victory of God?

Hallelujah! I know that we’re hearing the time! What is the time? Right now, church, is the time! Right now is the time! Will you be clothed in power? Will you turn to God? Will you begin to look to Him? Today is the day of the Lord! We shall not perish church. We shall not perish but He's called us to rise. The day of the Lord is upon us and it is a victorious day. The dawn is breaking through even now because the Lord Jesus Christ is the victory. You see, the day of the Lord is a terrible day for some people, but for those in the Lord Jesus Christ - for those who trust in Him - it will be a glorious glorious day. A glorious day! Death is swallowed up in victory, for, “When the perishable is clothed by the imperishable”, as Paul says, “we declare death is swallowed up,” - there is victory in Christ. So I ask you again, church: What is the time? What is the time? It's time to no longer be asleep. The time for slumber is over. We’ve got to wake up! We've got to get out of the bed! We've got to begin to wake up to the goodness of God, we’ve got to begin to fast pray seek! We’ve got to come after the Lord and begin to seek His face!

I wanna tell you about the time. It's no longer a time to binge watch for four or five hours of our favorite Netflix show and only spend ten minutes in seeking the will of God for our life. It's time no longer to just, you know, be thinking hard about our money and what we’re gonna do with it, what we’re gonna buy - our new car, our new house - and to forget about meditating upon the Word of the Lord. To forget about taking in the deep truths that He gives us every week and allow them to work in our lives. It's time for us to no longer waste away without a goal in this life. Without seeking God, we’re just allowing ourselves to fall asleep - when there's a kingdom at hand. There are healings to be manifested. There are people to be prayed for. There is the Gospel to be preached. There is somebody that needs to be risen from the dead. Church it is time! And we must repent today. God calls us back. We must repent for our slumber. We must repent from our complacency - the passiveness that we've allowed in our own personal life - to say, “God, You know, I know You're moving…” but to allow Him to pass us by? Jesus is in the house.

I don’t wanna be like the Pharisee going about my business! I don't wanna be like the leaders of that day- just going through the ritual, being lifeless! I wanna come into the life of the Lord Jesus. I wanna step into His victory. But Father I’ve been asleep. It's time to wake up! It's time to no longer be asleep and so drawn by the things of this world! Holding and hoarding all the comfort, all the possessions that we have, falling asleep on those things. All the while, the Lord is seeking, it says that, “His eyes look for one,” - just one, - “that would rise up in faith.” It is a time today to not just do things the way that we’ve been doing it. Just doing things just to do them. The rituals are about to cease. God is not looking for religious duty. He's not looking for us to just clean. He's not looking for us to just show up. He is looking for us to be a Stephen. Oh, how he waited on the tables. The Word of the Lord says that he was “...filled with the wisdom and the power of the Spirit of God.” And we know that Stephen was the very same man that stood before the leaders of his day and he proclaimed the Gospel, and even in his life - his life was meant to spread throughout all the nations - we are here today from a man that was able to wait on tables, but to do it in the Spirit.

What will you do today what is the time, church? It's time for us to turn from our sin. It's time for us to turn from all the things that we know we already have in our lives that we must get rid of, that God wants to break through. It's time for us to no longer just talk about it, it's time to be about it. So as we begin to worship, I believe God today is not looking for just a moment, He's looking for a life. I believe today God is not looking just for a commitment, He's looking for an overtaking. What is the time, church? God is not looking for a little bit of breakthrough, He is looking for the dams to be breached, for the walls to be broken open, for the walls to come crashing down this day, and for us to come into everything that He's called us to, into the Lord Jesus Christ.