18:1 Then Jesus told them a parable to show them they should always pray and not lose heart. 2 He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people. 3 There was also a widow in that city who kept coming to him and saying, ‘Give me justice against my adversary.’ 4 For a while he refused, but later on he said to himself, ‘Though I neither fear God nor have regard for people, 5 yet because this widow keeps on bothering me, I will give her justice, or in the end she will wear me out by her unending pleas.’” 6 And the Lord said, “Listen to what the unrighteous judge says! 7 Won’t God give justice to his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he delay long to help them? 8 I tell you, he will give them justice speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” ©NET

Why You Do WBeing a Christian does not give you an automatic victory but doorway to the victory that has been won for you by Christ. This victory comes when you identify your position in God and you use all the equipment available to you to chase the enemy out of your territory.
Spiritual warfare is tough but the weapons that God provides for His children are tougher. The truth is that many people will continue to have problem until they are determined to get out of their bondage and declare like Esther; “If I perish I perish.” hat You Do

Luke 24:32 - And they said to one another, "Did not our heart burn within us while He talked with us on the road, and while He opened the Scriptures to us?"

If Jesus Christ were to appear to you today, and speak the word to you, I'm sure that you would hit the floor with much fear and trembling. When a holy God fills a place with His holy presence, His holy fear will also be manifested.

Where is the fear of the Lord in our churches today? Where is the fear of the Lord in our schools and in our homes? Where is the fear of God in our own lives? What is happening to the church? Why is sin rampant within its doors? Why are people making a mockery of God, His word, and His people? What are we doing wrong?

TIME IS ALMOST UP!
Joel 2:1 Blow the ram’s horn in Zion; sound the alarm on My holy mountain! Let all who dwell in the land tremble, for the Day of the LORD is coming; indeed, it is near— 2a day of darkness and gloom, a day of clouds and blackness. Like the dawn overspreading the mountains a great and strong army appears, such as never was of old, nor will ever be in ages to come.…
2 Peter 3:3-4 ...'Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, and saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.' ... Do we live in a day of scoffers? Most certainly! Talk about the end times and the majority of people, including many Christians will just laugh it off saying that "all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation." in PERFECT fulfillment of this Bible prophecy above!

Understanding the times we are in is so crucial to our walk with God, our Christian faith, our preparation and readiness for Christ when He returns.
The Bible teaches that before Jesus returns to establish His kingdom on earth, there will be a 7-year period known as the Tribulation or the Day of the Lord. Some are concerned that we are now in that period of tribulation. But, as bad as this pandemic may be, I do not believe it to be the Day of the Lord.
We should not be surprised that we are facing difficulties. Jesus said, “In this world, you will have trouble” (John 16:33). Nevertheless, we are not to fear. Nothing can befall us apart from God’s loving hand. He will bring us through this crisis or home to His loving arms.
How can one have an understanding of the times we are in?

It’s simple. By placing what is happening in these times alongside the Word of God not just viewing it from the news perspective or from opinions being circulated on social media. Your Bible must be so close to you at this time, much closer than your phone or IPad to get the latest update on the coronavirus. It’s not just enough to read or listen to the news, we must go to the Word of God.

Luke 12:47 - And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.

Ezekiel 38:7 - Be thou prepared, and prepare for thyself, thou, and all thy company that are assembled unto thee, and be thou a guard unto them.

Matthew 24:42 - Watch therefore: for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.
There will now be lots of questions about our preparedness or lack of it. We are now focused on BEING READY. We hear and will hear more and more calls that say, "WE MUST BE READY."

In Jesus' own words: "So you MUST be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect Him." Matt. 24:44

Place the cross between
You and God
You and the World
You and Others

Galatians 6:14 But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

In the life of a Christian, the CROSS is placed between them and the World.
1 Corinthians 1:17 For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not with wisdom of words, lest the cross of Christ should be made of no effect. 18 For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

What is the message of the cross?

- Jesus died for your sins
- You are free because of it
- You are ransomed and redeemed
- You are triumphant over sin (because the power of sin has been broken)

Romans 8: is ours through Christ, who loved us.

38 And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. 39 No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Nothing that can stop what I am doing. No power on earth that can alter My plans. Nothing the enemy can attempt that I Am not aware of because My plans have already been drawn.
Exodus 33:14-19 And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein shall it be known here that I and thy people have found grace in thy sight? is it not in that thou goest with us? so shall we be separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth. And the LORD said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken: for thou hast found grace in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, I beseech thee, shew me thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and I will proclaim the name of the LORD before thee; and will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will shew mercy on whom I will shew mercy.
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Exodus 33:14-19 New Century Version (NCV)
The LORD answered, “I myself will go with you, and I will give you victory.” Then Moses said to him, “If you yourself don’t go with us, then don’t send us away from this place. If you don’t go with us, no one will know that you are pleased with me and with your people. These people and I will be no different from any other people on earth.” Then the LORD said to Moses, “I will do what you ask, because I know you very well, and I am pleased with you.” Then Moses said, “Now, please show me your glory.” The LORD answered, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will announce my name, the LORD, so you can hear it. I will show kindness to anyone to whom I want to show kindness, and I will show mercy to anyone to whom I want to show mercy.
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Exodus 33:14-19 American Standard Version (ASV)
And he said, My presence shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest. And he said unto him, If thy presence go not with me, carry us not up hence. For wherein now shall it be known that I have found favor in thy sight, I and thy people? is it not in that thou goest with us, so that we are separated, I and thy people, from all the people that are upon the face of the earth? And Jehovah said unto Moses, I will do this thing also that thou hast spoken; for thou hast found favor in my sight, and I know thee by name. And he said, Show me, I pray thee, thy glory. And he said, I will make all my goodness pass before thee, and will proclaim the name of Jehovah before thee; and I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
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Exodus 33:14-19 New International Version (NIV)
The LORD replied, “My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.” Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?” And the LORD said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.” Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.” And the LORD said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.
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Exodus 33:14-19 Amplified Bible (AMP)
And the LORD said, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest [by bringing you and the people into the promised land].” And Moses said to Him, “If Your presence does not go [with me], do not lead us up from here. For how then can it be known that Your people and I have found favor in Your sight? Is it not by Your going with us, so that we are...

Is 43:19 Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.

For God to fulfil that promise in Isaiah, He has to bring about change.

When God does a new thing, that means that there are changes about to happen.

He's an agent of change.

Rom 12:2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed...

God is into transformation; that means change.

When He gets a hold of a person's life, He changes it.

When He gets a hold of a church, He changes it.

He even changed water into wine, but here's the problem.
2. People Find It Difficult To Change

ILLUS - Simpson had to fight to introduce chloroform; Lister struggled to have antiseptics accepted; Copernicus was forced to retract his belief that the earth went around the sun.1

People seem to be naturally resistant to change.

But change happens continuously anyway.

Just think of the seasons - spring, summer, autumn, winter.

God has built change into our natural existence.

Think of the aging process.

No matter how hard you try, or what anti-wrinkling creams you use, you will not look the same, at 60-years-old, as you did at the age of twenty.

There's change.

People change jobs regularly.

I remember a time when it was normal for people to stay in the same job for twenty years or more; but not any more.

Change happens all the time.

ILLUS - 5 billion gigabytes - volume of data created globally in 2002 - equivalent to 800 books per person. Time 10th November, 2003 p 16

All that new information means a lot of change.

How do people feel about so much change?

All of this change brings uncertainty, fear, feelings of spinning out of control.

Because so much of the change we experience in life is beyond our control.

We can't do anything about it.
3. The Church Has A History Of Resisting Change

ILLUS - Even the early church found it difficult to adapt to the leading of the Holy Spirit. Think about what Jesus said to the disciples in Acts 1:8: But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

This is where Jesus reinforced the mission he had already given His disciples in Matt 28:19-20 and Mk 16:15-16.

What was their mission? To go into all the world and make disciples of all nations.

This is what Jesus was restating in Acts 1:8 and telling them that they would receive the power of the Holy Spirit to help them to fulfil that mission.

That mission was to Jerusalem, then Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth.

In other words, local, national and international.

There's a new word that's been invented to cover all three: Glocal.

Their mission was glocal: local, national and international.

So they were filled with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:4, then what did they do?

Did they fulfil the mission?

No, they sat around in Jerusalem all the way through Acts 2, all the way through Acts 3, all the way through Acts 4, all the way through Acts 5, all the way through Acts 6, all the way through Acts 7.

And it wasn't till Acts 8:1 that there was a persecution which scattered the disciples through Judea and Samaria.

Finally, they were starting to be obedient to Christ's command.

But not by choice.

Sometimes God has to take drastic measures to get His people to obey Him.

This time it took persecution, but they still didn't get with the program.

Yes, they were preaching the word (Acts 8:4), but they were still only...