Rescue Mission Sermon, November 23, 2002
Posted by Brother Freedom
God has spoken to my heart, if HE “…be for us, who can be against us?” [Romans 8:31b] And I believe God is GREATER than any problem, any situation, anything that stares us in the face. Many times all of us are faced with problems we don’t understand. But the Bible says, “…greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world.” [1 John 4:4b]
And I believe the God of Heaven, that loves us so much, is getting ready to take some of HIS people home with HIM one of these days. I really believe it!
I believe that I may not die by the grave. I really feel that way. Maybe I will. But praise God, the Bible says, “…absent from the body,…present with the Lord.” [2nd Corinthians 5:8]
So there is a day for each one of us. The bible says, “…every knee shall bow…and every tongue shall confess to God…” [Romans 14:11] that Jesus Christ is the Lord.
Here tonight, in the Name of Jesus, I pray for a mighty blessing. I pray that YOU would touch every heart in this room, in these facilities. Father, I pray for the power of the Spirit of God to be here, alive and real. I pray for the anointing to touch every heart, every life in a very special way, a very glorious way. And Father, I pray for those ones that may be sick in body. I pray for Your HEALING touch. We claim that healing touch. Touch my body this night. Father, I pray that you would heal my body this night. For I need a special touch. Lord, I cannot make it by myself. But You are the answer. And I praise You this night. Lord, I love You this night, for Your goodness, for Your blessings, oh, for your glorious glories beyond imaginations, that YOU do beyond what we even believe or even think for, Father God. And You are THAT wonderful! And Father, I just pray for this room. I pray, Lord God, for the souls of everyone in this room. I pray that there will not be one soul in this room that will be missing at that great day. Lord, when we stand before You in that day, this host of these brothers and sisters, we will be ASSEMBLED there, Lord God. And Lord God, You will say, “…Well done thou good and faithful servant…” [Matthew 25:21a] “Enter into the rest that I have given thee.” Oh Lord, what a wonderful day! And Father, we know that Your Word declares that You are faithful! Father, for He that starts a work within us is able to COMPLETE that work, Father God. [See Philippians 1:6] And Father, we just give You praise and honor. We thank You for this wonderful day. We thank You for the “…blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and…” YOU “…addeth no sorrow with it.” [Proverbs 10:22] Your word declares, “Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.” [1 Peter 5:7] Lord God, bless Your people this day. Move mightily upon Your people! We give you praise and honor. We thank You in the wonderful name of Jesus.
I believe we are living in a very serious time. How many of you believe in Jesus? [Many raise their hands.] Praise God! Well, you know at the end of Jesus’ ministry His disciples assembled themselves around Him. And they were very close with Him because they lived with Him. For some three years they lived together. They prayed together. And they seen God do mighty miracles, mighty wonders, beyond our imagination, Jesus performed. And they was with Him [for] every one of these miracles, these wonderful things that Jesus did. The Bible says the books couldn’t even contain what He did. [See John 21:25] He did so many wonderful things, beyond our imagination.
And they said, “…what will be the sign of your coming?…,” [Matthew 24:3] because He spoke these parables that He was going to come back again, after He would leave. And He would give His life. But through that life He would represent,… that life would represent our lives. He would give it for us. And He came victorious over death, the grave and Hell.
And one of the things He told them was “…these signs shall follow them….” [Mark 16:17] In these last days, in the Twenty-fourth Chapter of Matthew it says many shall be deceived and it goes down the list. But it says one thing that really stands out. “And as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the day of the Son of man…,” [Luke 17:26] when the Son of Man cometh.
Going back to the Sixth Chapter of Genesis we see in the starting of God’s first book, when He tells the history of all these, that God sees the wickedness upon the whole earth. And He sees the problems. You know, it is hard for God to [look upon sin]. HE can’t look upon sin! And that is why He had to send forth His Son Jesus.
I am going to speak very simply here, or try to.
But He sent forth His only Son, who was without sin. The Bible says God loved Jesus with all that God had. [Mark 1:11] That was His Son that had been with Him from the foundation of this World [John 17:24b]. And Jesus lived a spotless life. It was so spotless, and so clean that He could be that: to saturate our sins. You know how a sponge goes down. I believe that was our sins. God did away with our sins through Jesus Christ, as Jesus spilled His blood upon that cruel cross. And this was going to take place shortly after He was having this talk with His disciples.
He said as it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be when the Son of man cometh. It says there will be eating and drinking, giving in marriage. [See Matthew 24:37-38] And we are truly seeing these things come upon this world today.
There was one true sign. The Bible says there shall be “…wars and rumors of wars…” [Matthew 24:6] There will be pestilence. There will be earthquakes. We just had an Earthquake in Alaska. And it was a serious one. [On Sunday November 3, 2002 a 7.9 quake hit Central Alaska. The shock wave affected lakes and pools as far away as Louisiana!] We don’t know when these things are going to hit. And we don’t know how long that any one of us is going to stay in this world. We have no guarantees of life itself. The only thing that we know that we can guarantee is our trust is in the living God, the God of Heaven that gave us His Son Jesus! Oh hallelujah!
The Holy Spirit of God is so wonderful, that after you receive Jesus HE doesn’t leave you! He doesn’t leave you there!
But going back to Noah, “Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord.” [Genesis 6:8] And I am here tonight to declare that I believe each one of us here can find “…grace in the eyes of the Lord” if we want it! It is up to us to choose. The Bible says, “…choose you this day whom ye will serve…” [Joshua 24:15a] Joshua said, “…as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” [Joshua 24:15b]
And I will tell you, you think about all the things that are upon this earth. Noah must have been a very special man! I’ve been thinking about this for some while. Noah must have really been a very SPECIAL [man]! Hear me! Just think about it: if you were the only one here tonight that served Jesus in your family. Think about it. And there had never been a flood upon this earth. And here God comes down to you and tells you “Build an Ark!” Build a boat, basically, to put all, two of everything in this boat. And Noah is totally faithful! He totally doesn’t argue with [God]. He didn’t do like us sometimes and say, “Lord, I think You are doing the wrong thing.” No! Noah took [God] at whatever God said!
You know, I’m trying to learn that too: never to argue with God. God foreknows! HE forewarns. And HE is in the leadership business. He has never lost a soul, of those that would call upon HIS name!
The Bible says in Jeremiah 33:3, “Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and show thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not.” [Jeremiah 33:3]
The Bible says, “…and be clothed with humility: for God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: Whom resist stedfast in the faith, knowing that the same afflictions are accomplished in your brethren that are in the world.” [1 Peter 5:5b-9] “…greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world.” [1 John 4:4b]
And here tonight if you can find grace to ask God for His Son Jesus, we can ask forgiveness saying, “Lord, I want You as my Lord and Saviour. And I want to accept You. I want to accept who You are, what You represent.” God represents eternal life!
The Bible says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” [2nd Corinthians 5:17]
I’m persuaded that Noah was very special. He had a sense about him that he loved God, that he was willing to share his life with God. You know, really, that is what it is: God literally just wants us to share our life with HIM.
I’m trying to talk very straightforward tonight. I love you. And I appreciate you. And I feel the presence of God really gloriously. But, I want you to get this message: that HE is willing to be with you whatever state that you are in. Where you find yourself, God is there to meet the need there. And you don’t have to change nothing. Just say, “Lord, I need you!” And God will change you out of it, if HE wants you to be changed! I believe that!
We accept the Lord on face value. HE is the answer to every situation. You know, when sickness comes, the first thing they say is, “Did you get your shot? Did you get this or that?” Because there is a resistance, and taking the shot gives your body more resistance. If you face that disease, or whatever that sickness is, that your body is able to combat that force that you face. And THAT is what God does, by the Spirit of God.
When you accept Jesus Christ within you, you receive God HIMSELF! You see the pardon of God. You see the blessings of God. And you see God Himself, within you. And when the enemy comes against you, he’s not fighting you. He is fighting the Spirit of God! And greater is the Spirit of God than the problems you are facing!
The Bible says we can cast all of our cares “…upon him; for HE careth for you.” [1 Peter 5:7] HE does truly care for you this night!
The Bible says, “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations,…” [2 Corinthians 10:3-5a]
How many of us here tonight, we imagine things [that] the enemy comes through? The Bible says, [the enemy comes] to “…steal, and to kill, and to destroy:….” But Jesus said, in that same verse: “…I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” [John 10:10]
The enemy comes to “…steal, and to kill, and to destroy….” But God has come to give you more abundant life through HIM! What a bargain. What a trade off! Hallelujah!
We have to think, “Well, I better think about this.” Have you been in any arbitrations with the unions? I was a member [of the union]. And I know they have arbitrations. They come together and say, “Well, what agreement. We need an agreement!”
But the Bible says, “And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God;….” [2 Corinthians 6:16] Noah found “grace in the eyes of God” because, I believe, the living God lived within him! The peace of God was there! Hallelujah! “…Greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world.” [1 John 4:4b] Oh hallelujah!! I believe this!! I wouldn’t have come here tonight unless I believed it, thoroughly believed it!
I care for each one of you here tonight! I want you to know that I love you! And I’ll be praying for each one of you from this day forth. I guarantee you that!
{Note from the typist: As I typed this paragraph from the tape I wondered, “How can he humanly keep such a guarantee?” Then the Lord spoke in my heart and said, “It’s ME that will be interceeding.” Then I remembered that Jesus is at the right hand of the Father interceeding and the Holy Ghost also interceeds. At that moment I knew that Jesus had cut into this sermon to speak a few words directly to those hurting people in that rescue mission. This was confirmed later when I read the sermon back to Freedom and he stated that he had no recollection of making that guarantee. Jesus and the Holy Spirit are interceeding for those people right now! God is good! [See Romans 8:26 and 34] — the typist, Bro. Clint}
And God wants to lift us up “…in heavenly places in Christ:” [Ephesians 1:3] Hallelujah!
The Bible says in Ephesians, “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,…” [Ephesians 3:20] The Bible says, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not. But as many as received him, to them gave he POWER to become the sons of God,….” [John 1:11-12a]
“And what agreement hath the temple of God with idols? for ye are the temple of the living God; as God hath said, I will dwell in them, and walk in them;…” Think about it: HE will walk with us, be by our side! “…and I will be their God, and they shall be my people. Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,…” Positively, God will receive you! “…And will be a Father unto you,…” A Father is someone who cares for HIS child!! “…and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.” [2 Corinthians 6:16-18]
What a precious word from Heaven!! Hallelujah! That was sent from Heaven! Hallelujah!
The Bible says, oh Hallelujah, “…Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.” [1 Corinthians 2:9-10]
When Noah was in that boat and God closed the door, I know that Noah said, “Lord, I’m so thankful. But I feel for these people.” Noah had a heart!
And here tonight we must FEEL for those. The Bible says, “Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” [Galatians 6:1-2]
I believe that Noah had a burden, you might say, or a care for those that didn’t make it.
But there is going to be a day when God says time is over. Romans the Thirteenth chapter says, “…knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.” [Romans 13:11] This is Scripture I’m telling you! It says,“…my word… it shall not return unto me void,…” [Isaiah 55:11] “…The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.” [Romans 13:12]
The armour is God. Oh hallelujah!
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” [Romans 12:1-2]
We grow in God here tonight. All you have to do is take it one day at a time. And “if God be for us, who can be against us?” [Romans 8:31b] “Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.” [Romans 8:37] “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?” [Romans 8:32]
The Bible says, “For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]
Hallelujah! What a great Word! Hallelujah!
You know, I was sick when I came. But I feel good! I feel good because God is here! I feel God’s blessings here! God is here to BLESS you! God is here to save you! God is here to make you HAPPY! It says, “…happy is that people, whose God is the LORD.” [Psalm 144:15b] Oh hallelujah!
HAPPY is the man, the woman who serves God! Oh hallelujah!
“Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.” [Psalms 119:165]
“Peace I leave with you, MY peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” [John 14:27]
Those are all scriptures. It says, “Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you,…” Jesus said He was going to keep HIS word! “…I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.” [John 14:1-3] What a wonderful promise!! Hallelujah!
The Bible says in the Thirty-seventh Psalm, “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb….” [Psalms 37:1-2]
But rather, this is going to take place. Sometimes, all life… life expectancy…you put a crop in out here. I used to harvest oats and vetch when I was a kid, a young fellow. And I planted one year about 80 acres…
[At this point in the message a man walked up to the platform and began speaking to Brother Freedom. The man seemed confused. Brother Freedom responded with “The Lord bless you. I think you need to sit down.” The man immediately left the building, speaking incoherently.]
The Lord is Good! And we are not here to contest. But God is real! And God’s blessing is forevermore! We love that man! But, praise God, there’s lives here that need the touch from God! God wants to minister HIS love to you here tonight. And where God’s spirit is, “…there is LIBERTY.” The Bible says, “Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, THERE IS LIBERTY.” [2 Corinthians 3:17]
Oh hallelujah!! God wants to bring the glory down! And HE wants to save us. HE wants to fill us with the mighty power of God! HE wants to circumference us with HIS GLORY!
And I know this last hour that God is going to move in a mighty way! I believe signs and wonders are going to follow HIS true believers. And I believe in this time I would not want to be anywhere but in the provision of God!
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” And it says, “I will say of the LORD, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust.” [Psalm 91:1-2]
Surely there is power in the Lord here tonight! The blessings of God is real! HIS mercy endures forever!
It says, “Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness….” [Psalm 100:1-2a]
Noah must have served the Lord with gladness! You know, when we get down and out, our chins are hanging way down here. And we don’t feel good. You know, we are not a blessing. We are not a blessing [when we get down].
God wants us to be a blessing. “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.” [Matthew 5:16]
I’m here tonight to declare: GOD IS THE ANSWER! God is the way! “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath:….” [James 1:19] God wants us to come to that place. We need to come down and accept what HE has for us.
“There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” [Proverbs 14:12]
“…greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world.” [1 John 4:4b]
I’m having trouble with my tongue tonight, and God is real, whatever we cope with! [Brother Freedom speaks with a stammering tongue, and at times he struggles with his speech. But God never fails him!]
HE is available here tonight to bless us!
“For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” [Romans 8:38-39]
I believe that! There is no man, no woman, no one that can separate us. There’s no imp from Hell that can separate us. That’s the power of God!
If you would come into HIS ranks HE gives you these [promises]. The Scripture is the bond of God! When HE gives you that, you can bank on what HE says! HE will keep HIS word!
It says, “God is not a man, that he should lie….” [Numbers 23:19a] And God truly isn’t. God is truthful in everything that HE does. His ways are above every way. And HIS righteousness is above every righteousness! HE is beyond anything even of ill thinking! You may not agree with it, but it is true!
God is real!
I know some of you here tonight don’t see this, but it is REAL! God is REAL here tonight! And God wants to touch you. Those that do need a touch: we have to come God’s way. We just can’t say, “Well, I’ll just do what I want to do.”
You come, and you give your life to HIM. It’s a trade off. But is it worth it here tonight? Where do you think you may spend eternity?
But even if there wasn’t a Heaven, which I believe there is; I believe it is just like God said, there’s a Hell and there is a Heaven. But if I was just going to live my life here on earth, I’d rather have God’s ways a thousand fold over any other, BECAUSE [of] THE PEACE, THE JOY. “…The joy of the LORD is…” [my] “…strength…” [Nehemiah 8:10b] here tonight. There is a peace that passes all understanding. The glory of God is here to touch you, to strengthen you in here tonight! Hallelujah!
Oh, praise ye the Lord! God is great!
I’m going to read a little bit in the Nineteenth Psalm: “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” [Psalm 19:1] Did you realize that when you look here at Mount Shasta, Mount Lassen you are seeing the handywork of God? There’s not anything that is formed that God didn’t form it! And HE formed it for our beauty, that we could see and say something beautiful.
HE formed the water. You wouldn’t make it here. I wouldn’t make it one day without God! IF God stopped this air, we wouldn’t last. If the temperatures change just a little bit, we wouldn’t last.
But God is forever faithful. In Corinthians it says, he is forever faithful. [1st Corinthians 1:9]
God gets up and takes care of this world. HE doesn’t slumber or sleep. “I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD, which made heaven and earth. He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. “ [Psalms 121:1-3]
God is REAL! You cannot find no one like God! In my life time I have never found anything [or] anyone close.
I’m a mechanic. I was telling my wife, before I left tonight, I just finished up a D8K [Caterpillar bull dozer]. And this man that I was working on his D8K said, “I don’t have enough money to put a new cross shaft in it.”
And that cross shaft was wore out, because it has sealing rings where they have to seal in certain positions. And the end caps were wore too. The bearings were gone. So I put new bearings in it.
And you know when a mechanic does a good job everything is okay. But if he does a bad job he’s not very well thought of. And that’s the way life is. You can live for the Lord a thousand years and one day mess up. That’s why we need Jesus.
But I put that cross shaft back in. And I prayed over it. And I had to have faith! Because if I was off any… And somebody had gone in and changed the shims around. So I really didn’t know where that reference point was going to be. All I could do was just go back and trust God.
I stuck it in there, and it works perfect!
And I seen God do these things time, after time, after time, after time!
I’m here tonight: you may not like me. You may not know me. But I’m representing GOD! And I’m here to say HE is the most wonderful, the most glorious, the most that you could hope for!
HE is everything you’ve hoped for: BEYOND THAT. I can’t even describe the glory of God.
HE saved my life at nine years old. I would have drowned. God came down and saved my life. Another young boy [pulled me out]. Time after time [GOD was with me as] I was in Korea. God was the answer!
And God is REAL here tonight! I don’t know how to focus in, but God is REAL!! HE is forever faithful! And if you leave this place tonight and you find yourself not from God. And you find yourself going to a [bad place], DON’T SAY that Brother [Freedom] did not warn you, [that] Brother [Freedom] did not tell you.
[The Holy Ghost gives Brother Freedom a word of knowledge that somebody in the Rescue Mission service is contemplating a possibly violent act with a knife or knives.]
I’m here tonight as a warning: God showed me some knives. And I want you, if you are here tonight, to be careful what you are thinking about doing! I just said that as a warning. I wasn’t going to bring that in, but I am now. So you need to watch out. God is REAL!
When you do those kind of things you are in perils, you are ordered by the enemy. And he’s got no good for you!
God is real here tonight. God is everything you want to be! The enemy is everything you don’t want to be! And many, many times he [the enemy, Satan] has control over you. And then you can’t handle that! He will never let you go!
God is the answer! Do you want to be set free? HE is the one that can set you free! I’m quitting right now. And I will keep to my word. But here tonight I know that some of you here really need God. And HE is the greatest victory that you can have, a landmark!
Glory to God! Hallelujah! If God be for you, who can be against you? [See Romans 8:31b]
Father, I pray for a mighty blessing from God to be upon these ones. I pray that YOU will intervene. And Father, for that one with that knife, I pray, Lord God, that you would take that from them. And Father, I pray that no ill feelings, nothing shall come beyond this. Father God, in Jesus Name I pray that YOU will touch YOUR people this night in the glorious power of God, in the wonderful Name of Jesus. Father, if there is any here tonight that need Jesus as their personal savior, Lord, I pray, Lord God, that right now, Father, in the Name of Jesus.
Anyone that wants to know Jesus Christ that they would raise their hand. I want more of God! Anyone here want more of God?
Okay, thank you. Praise God. There are a few here that want more of God. I desire more of God every day that I live. Praise God. Hallelujah. [Brother Freedom stays after the service to pray with those seeking more of God.]
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