Bulletins - Latter Rain Ministry - JXN.MS

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Introduction:
My grandfather, my dad’s father, was a man of few words but, most of what I know, who I am and who I strive to become, came from a man I was not around very often. As a teenager, my grandfather said to me, “I a grateful to not be your age. Your generation is going to have it tougher than it’s ever been”. I was rendered speechless for some time after that. At that time, I was sure my generation had it good. His generation endured many unimaginable sufferings. Later, I asked why he thought that way? His reply was simply, “You’ll know soon enough”.
Now, I understand what he was said to me thirty-eight years ago. Now, I realize that his statement kept me on alert ever since that day. He may not have known exactly what we were facing, he did know that things were about to turn ugly and he let me know that much. He gave me all I needed to be prepared for the evil that loomed in our future.
This is what God has done for Man from the day he moved Man (Adam and Eve) into the garden. God has gone to extreme lengths (by man’s standard), to prepare Man for the struggles, to provide protection, to keep man out of the snare of evil. God provides man with knowledge and more than enough evidence to corroborate the information. God even had a redemption plan in place before Man (Adam) became a living being. Now the ransom has been paid and reconciliation is readily available.
Do Not be foolish! The end is drawing near! The worst is yet to come!
2 Timothy 3:1-9
1 But realize this, that in the last days difficult times will come.
2 For men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant, revilers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, unholy,
3 unloving, irreconcilable, malicious gossips, without self-control, brutal, haters of good,
4 treacherous, reckless, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God,
5 holding to a form of godliness, although they have denied its power; Avoid such men as these.
6 For among them are those who enter into households and captivate weak women weighed down with sins, led on by various impulses,
7 always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
8 Just as Jannes and Jambres opposed Moses, so these men also oppose the truth, men of depraved mind, rejected in regard to the faith.
9 But they will not make further progress; for their folly will be obvious to all, just as Jannes’s and Jambres’s folly was also.
Paul wrote this from prison in Rome while awaiting trial for his faith. This was probably his last letter he wrote before he was martyred. It is a typical Pauline epistle for the most part save the somber tone. Paul predicts the impending moral decay of the last days.
Paul’s words to Timothy were not new. The disciples spoke about these times quite frequently because they lived in the last days and they were close to Jesus for three years, absorbing His teachings. They spoke no new words about the Last Hour, as the apostle John called it. The end has been spoken about throughout the Old Testament in many different ways because God wanted us to be well-informed when we make whatever choice we decide to make, which is ours alone to make.
Illustration:
Growing up, I was warned not to play in the street, not to play with matches. When I started learning to shoot guns, I had to learn gun safety and proper handling. I got the lectures about safe driving, long before I was old enough for my license. My dad used to point out certain establishments I needed to avoid because of the bad men who hung out there.
By the grace of God, I am still here and able to talk about being run over by cars dragged alongside of moving vehicles, I have been burned more times than I care to think about and once I was actually on fire. I attended Jackson public schools, I lived on the streets, I served in two different branches of the military, and I have three daughters (All good reasons to not own firearms). I’ve had several speeding tickets, more than my share of D.U.I.’s, and only by the grace of God have I never wrecked a vehicle.
As a parent, I wanted the best life for my children and that meant teaching them and warning them. Therefore, there first, (and only) lesson was, I’m your daddy but, I’m a man with many flaws. However, God has entrusted me to care for you until you can manage on your own. Your job is to learn and obey. Do not idolize me, do not worship the ground I walk on, and do not put me on any pedestal. From that point forward, I made sure they were taught by the Lord more than by me, or anyone else. I made my best effort to warn them of troubles ahead of time but, I had to let them decide for themselves. .
In the blink of an eye, they reached the age of rebellion (that’s what I call it). Then it seems that all I heard was, “You just don’t want me to have friends”, or “When are you ever going to let me make my own decisions”, or “We aren’t in the military”, or “Dad, you’re ruining my life”, and finally, “I’m grown, I don’t need you”!
Whether I am grown yet is still anyone’s guess. But, my children now have their own lives and two of my daughters now have two daughters of their own. They are now beginning to understand that I wasn’t cruel or inhumane, I was demonstrating my love for them. Sometimes, love isn’t comfortable, sometimes it is painful, sometimes it is pleasant and peaceful.
This has been my experience as a child of God. It isn’t always a bed of roses but, it’s not always painful either. But, God’s love never fails. I have often hear of the Bible referred to as God’s love letter to Man. So, why is there so much written about man’s calamity in the Bible if it’s a love letter? Well, if man reads the love letter from God’s prospective, man would understand that God is a just God and the law of His truth must be enforced. God gave us a tool by which we can learn from the mistakes of our predecessors so as not repeat those mistakes and suffer the same fate.
Ignorance is not an Excuse!
Nobody gets a pass by saying, “I learned it from the pastor”, or “They trick me into taking the mark of the beast!”
From the beginning God has been clear and up front about His expectations and equally transparent about noncompliance.
God forbade Man (Adam and Eve) to eat the fruit from the tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:16-17):-God forewarned Man (Adam and Eve) what the consequences would be.
Cain worried about being killed so God marked him so everyone would know that there reward for doing so would be greatly multiplied (Genesis 4:14-15).
Wickedness was great on earth; every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. The Lord was sorry He had made man and vowed to blot man out from the face of the land (Genesis 6:6-7)
Noah, under God’s direction built the first boat that would shelter Noah’s family and the appointed number of animals and birds for the purpose of starting over after the flood (Genesis 7).
God established His covenant with Noah and all flesh shall never again be destroyed by the water of the flood. The rainbow in the clouds is the sign of that covenant between God and the whole earth (Genesis 9:11-13).
God calls Moses to lead His people out from the land of Egypt. (Stage one of the plan of salvation in motion). Man (Israel) is stubborn and rebellious so, God is going to demonstrate His power, get Man’s attention, so-to-speak.
Man (Israel) witnesses God’s awesome glory and power Before Pharoah relents. The day of their departure, they forget all ten plagues that prompted their release.
Nearly two million people released from captivity and only two of those who left Egypt made it to the promised land. (This account documented for future generations. Man, this is what we DO NOT do.)
The Next Stage of the Plan is to give Man (Israel) a set of directions to follow with troubleshooting manual so when things aren’t working as they should, Man (Israel) can zero in on the problem, follow the instructions in the manual to the solution.
God spoke to Man (the people of Israel), through Moses and the prophets.
For the next couple thousand years Israel would be taken into captivity, the temple was destroyed, and their land divided. There was approximately four-hundred and fifty years of silence between God and His people because of the growing wickedness of Man (Israel).
Many prophets of the Old Testament foretold of a coming messiah, described His kingdom and that he would be killed be His own creation. They also prophesied His resurrection and the fiery baptism.
Jesus’ followers have His example for the manner in which to live. He also warned against living like the pharisees.
Jesus talked about His own arrest, trial, and execution. He told the disciples how they would react. After the resurrection He gave instruction to wait until they received power and gave the Great Commission.
Jesus’ First Coming/The Day of Pentecost
The prophets spoke of His coming and in the last days Jesus spoke to His people. (Hebrews 1:1-2)
Known before the foundations of the world; He came in the last days for the sake of His people (1 Peter 1:20).
Peter quotes the prophet Joel to explain the baptism in the Spirit (Acts 2:16-17; ref. Joel 2:28).

“..as the Father sent Me, I also send you.....Receive the Holy Spirit” (Luke 20:21-22).

[Micah 4:1; Isaiah 2:2-4; Daniel 2:28, 10:14; Hosea 3:5]
Life in the Son
In Him as life, and the life was the Light of men (John 1:4)
I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father but through Me (John 14:6).
I am the resurrection and the Life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die (John 11:26-27).
These are Perilous Times!
[Joel 2:1-11; Matthew 24:4-28; Mark 13:5-23; Luke 21:8-19; John 16:33; 1 Timothy 4:1-5; John 2:18-23]
Jesus Describes the Last Days
False teachings, antichrists, and global chaos - Matthew 24:4-8
Persecution of Christians, apostasy, and betrayal - Matthew 24:9-14
Abomination of Desolation and the great tribulation - Matthew 24:15 -28
No one knows the exact hour but, Jesus explained how we should recognize that He is near - Matthew 24:32-33
The Day of the Lord:
Matthew 24:29-31, Summarizes Jesus’ Glorious Return.
Matthew 24:42-44, Jesus warns His disciples to be ready.
The End is Near! Coming Soon!
Conclusion:
Today you are being told people will love themselves and love money and what fate those people will face - destruction!
You know that families will turn against each other - Remember that Jesus is closer than a brother!
You have heard today that there will be malicious gossipers, slanderers, and revilers - Love others as you love yourself!
You have heard today about those who have fallen away, (those who know the truth who now buy into the deception, some still heads of their churches) - Test every spirit as the Bereans!
Put on the full armor of God!
Set your affections on things above and not on things of this earth!
Press on toward the goal for which you were called heavenward!
No weapon formed against you shall prosper!
If God be for us, who can be against us!
Do not fear what man can do to your body!
For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace! (Romans 8:6)
For we know that the whole creation growns and suffers the pains of childbirth together even until now (Romans 8:22).
Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
Just as it is written, "For your sake we are being put to death all day long; We are considered as sheep led to be slaughtered.
But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37).
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:38-39).

God created Adam with the dust of the earth and His Spirit,
God breathed into man’s (Adam’s) nostrils and he was a living being,
Exile and God’s Departure = Convicted and Sentenced
Man’s (Adam and Eve’s) sin invoked the death penalty,
Man (Adam and Eve) was exiled from Eden (heavenly dwelling),
God (The Spirit) departed from man (awaiting execution),
man transformed into a finite, mortal being with a cursed existence.
Execution by Proxy - Debt Satisfied
Jesus Christ (Our defense attorney), Son of the living
God (Righteous Judge), agreed to be executed in our place!
His Will and Testament says if we repent, and seek His Father,
we will receive the Spirit of power, Love, and a sound mind.
It’s Free! What is there to think about;
- - Genesis 2:16–17NASB95
- - Genesis 4:14–15NASB95
- - Genesis 6:6–7NASB95
- - Genesis 7NASB95
- - Genesis 24:12NASB95
  - Genesis 34:1NASB95
  - Genesis 34:27–29NASB95
- - Matthew 24:29–31NASB95
  - Matthew 24:42–44NASB95
- - Exodus 20:2NASB95
- - Ephesians 6:10NASB95
- - Colossians 3:2NASB95
  - Philippians 4NASB95
- - Romans 8:6NASB95
- - Romans 8:22NASB95
- - Romans 8:35–37NASB95
- - Romans 8:38–39NASB95