Before the antichrist is revealed, there will be a mystery of Lawlessness already at work. The one who is coming will appear after a furious activity of apostasy. Satan and all the powers of darkness will be setting the stage – destroying the faith of many. Because sin will be more rampant, the love of many of God’s people will grow very cold. There will be shipwrecked believers on all sides.
Thank You choir orchestra thank you so
much and we welcome all of our visitors
to Time Square church this morning and
we would like to let you know that after
the service we have an afterglow service
which is just friendship and we have
some New Yorkers that will greet you and
talk to you any question or try to
answer any question about New York or
the church you don’t sign anything we we
don’t try to get you on our mailing list
you can do that if you want to but
they’ll have some refreshments and a
gift either sermon tape or music tape or
one of our books and for the main
auditorium and the balcony you come down
the stairs and go through 8 9 isn’t this
exit 8 9 on this side the ancillary
building and in the annex and overflow
rooms you go to room 204 and you’ll find
these New Yorkers waiting to greet you
and you can meet people from all over
the world that visit here a lot of
people come from all of Europe and
Africa and they’re going to visit other
parts of the country and many are
stopping here to visit and we welcome
you and thank you god bless if you hear
for the first time I can’t see just
raise your hand please and let us say
Amen god bless y’all balcony and in the
annex delighted to have you
I want to speak to you this morning
about the healing power of afflictions
the healing power of afflictions I have
two verses I want you to see some 119 if
you have your Bible would like to turn
and you can leave it there open once you
get to 119 leave it open on your lap if
you would please verse 67 of psalm 119
before I was afflicted I went astray but
now have I kept thy word 71 it is good
for me that I’ve been afflicted that I
might learn those statues now can you
can you swallow that are you willing to
take God at His Word verse 71 especially
is good for me that I have been
afflicted that I might learn his
statutes Oh hallelujah
verse 75 I know Lord that the judgments
are right and that you have in
faithfulness you have afflicted me now
that’s even harder to swallow but that’s
God’s Word Heavenly Father we have a
world in a fiction we have a church in
affliction we have people everywhere
suffering is there’s never been
suffering in history as far as we can
see in determine and Lord we bring a
word from heaven we bring a word from
your heart
Lord Jesus change our our attitudes
change our thinking change our heart
Lord concerning those things that we go
through that we may see Christ we may
see God in every circumstance in our
life Lord let the word go forth with
your unction your anointing give us ears
to hear what you say spirit spirit the
Living God use my vessel use my voice
use my heart and just speak the words to
those people have you spoken them to me
you’ve spoken comfort to me through
these words may we be comforted by the
Holy Spirit
as you move thank you for your presence
in this house thank you for being with
us
now Lord I yield my body my spirit my
mind my voice to you to be a vessel to
deliver this word we pray in Christ’s
name Amen I don’t need to explain to you
what afflictions are those are the
circumstances and the troubles that keep
you awake at night cause you to lose
sleep trying to figure out how to make
your way through it how to figure out
what’s happening to you
and many are the afflictions of the
Wrights as the Bible says but I’m
convinced more than ever that God uses
afflictions to heal both saint and
sinner let’s take the sinner first and
I’ll give you for example Manasseh
one of the worst kings in the history of
Israel he was a worshiper of bail he
established altars he built altars right
in the temple court to bail he was he
sinned about said worst of the heathen
he offered his own children in a
sacrifice casting them into the red hot
belly of bells Idol in devil worship he
was a he was into sooth saying he was
into fortune telling he he would not
listen to any prophet he turned against
God he was one of the most vile tyrants
in the history of Israel’s kingdoms and
he shed blood the Bible said needlessly
of a bloody tyrant and God comes God
raises up an enemy God raises up the
Assyrians and they come they capture
Israel they are the Jerusalem and they
take King Manasseh as prisoner and the
captives of Jerusalem and folks when you
read history and Josephus history and
learn how they tortured them on their
force marches and being marched hundreds
of miles through desert and and hardly
any food or drink and the Bible says of
this
this man this evil wicked man and when
he was an affliction he sought his God
and humbled himself greatly before God
in his affliction he turned to God he
began to pray he began to intercede and
the Bible said he humbled himself
greatly and as a result of that he was
restored to his throne and became a
fighter for God tearing down the very
idols that he had built and established
and you may know of sinners – that it
there are those who who seem to be the
most wicked the most vile and folks you
can’t give up on them God has ways God
has ways through affliction to bring
your loved ones and sometimes you have
to stand back in pain you see a special
loved one somebody near you you see them
going through to affliction and pain and
you stand back you can’t do anything
about it
but folks if you’re praying and seeking
God God could use that affliction to
bring conviction and bring them to
Christ King David said his affliction
came from the hand of God the Lord in
faithfulness has afflicted me folks
listen to it let those words sink in I
can’t go any further unless you deal
with this one scripture in faithfulness
God God God has afflicted me before I
was afflicted I went astray but now I
keep his word it’s a good thing for me
that I was afflicted that I might learn
his statues how did the Word of God
become a lamp to David’s feet how is it
he can tell the whole world I delight in
his word how is it that he’s come to
this sweetness and to this prayer Lifan
and to have a heart after God how has he
come to this he’s had a revelation from
the Word of God that God was working his
life through his afflictions unless the
law that’s the Word of God I’m reading
from psalm 119 92 unless the law the
word had been my delight I would have
perished