If there's going to be a great falling away, then we need to be holding on to some folks, and building the unity in the Spirit to where one does put a thousand to flight and two puts ten thousand (praise God!), and not to get caught up in the earth-dweller mentality and the tendency--with that secret power of lawlessness we have been talking about--that creates in us this spirit of independence. In this day we don't need to be independent; we need to be dependent upon God and we need to be dependent upon one another, and allow burdens to be borne by one another. Allow that love to really express itself.
Satan, of course, is a master of the divide-and-conquer strategy. His only way into the church is to bring about darkness, strife, and bitterness. Where these things are, there is every evil work (James 3:16). When you bring that into, through your marriages and your family operations, the community, I can guarantee you one thing: If we bring that in, we will turn and run from Ai in defeat. If we allow ourselves to be caught up with this "wedge of gold" and the "Babylonish garments" of our day, and get caught up in the Good Housekeeping mentality--the perfect home, the perfect job, the perfect life--then you are going down; and, tragically, you will take a lot with you. That is what that teaching showed us. So how do we protect ourselves against this? We can look at the negative side, and talk about all of the things we shouldn't do; but, as we start the study and we are beginning to go into it, let's think about the things we should do, first of all...
Two Are Better Than One, Part 2
December 11, 2011 • Pastor Star R. Scott
He's coming back soon, and the Scripture says His bride is making herself ready. That's kind of what we've been on now for a number of months--just the preparation for the coming of the Lord. The day of the Lord is at hand. Amen? We look around and we see all of the prophetic pieces falling into line with Israel and the battle with Iran, the king of the South, the emergence of China, the king of the East, and of the king of the North and the Islamic faction of the Azerbaijanis and the whole southern region. God is going to put a hook in the jaw of the king of the North and break them into Israel for their doom and destruction. All of these things are taking place, and we're looking and watching these, but even more than these signs, you can see it in the prophecy and the statement of the Lord, "And as it was in the days of Noe, so shall it be also in the days [of the coming] of the Son of man" [Luke 17:26]. Amen? We see that we're living as it was in the days of Noah, when God had to step in and bring a judgment on the world to allow only eight souls to survive. All of the evil, the iniquity, that is abounding today in our generation is just the fulfillment of that prophetic word and here we are, living in America, Sodom and Gomorrah, eating the bread of idleness, as the Scripture said, in all of our wealth.
We've been talking about how we guard ourselves in this hour. We're not to panic; we're just to be sober. Amen? Don't get fearful; just be sober and realize that this day is upon us--the day of the Lord is at hand--and in our sobriety, remember what the Scriptures says that in this last day there is going to be a coldness that's going to come upon the church. The love of many shall wax cold. The Scripture says that in this hour there will be a great departure from the faith. So we then, in our sobriety, have to be ready to help those that are around us, (Amen?) making sure that we're provoking one another to love and to good works...
Two Are Better Than One, Part 3
December 18, 2011 • Pastor Star R. Scott
Hallelujah! Amen. Hallelujah! Great time of the year, amen? Just being able to celebrate Immanuel, "God with us." What an exciting opportunity to be able to witness, and it's even fun now: you've got the stores, and a lot of them have forbidden their employees to say, "Merry Christmas," but have you noticed how it opens up witnessing opportunities because they'll say "Happy Holidays"? Of course, I always respond, "Merry Christmas," praise God! And they're like, "Yeah! Merry Christmas!" Because if you say it, then they can say it; see, that's kind of the rule. Just to be able to share the invasion of Almighty God into humanity through that little baby just coming to be made sin with our sin that we might be able to be made righteous with His righteousness. What a great, great time of celebration. This year, praise God, Christmas falls on Sunday--amen?--exciting time to be able to come and worship the Lord. I know a lot of different places that people are bailing for tradition; they're going to be out of church on Sunday to worship Santa Claus or tradition or whatever it is. What a great opportunity just to come and honor the Lord; amen?
I remember what that was all about before I knew Jesus. I love Christmas, I'm a romantic, I like Christmas, I like all of the Hallmark Christmas shows on our TiVo. You have to go--you can't watch them all, or you'd be like, 24/7, but as you are able to look at them and just to be able to remember the good childhood memories. I had some good ones, we've had some pretty wild ones, too, before we were saved. I can remember growing up not knowing Jesus, not knowing anything about Him. I've shared this testimony before, but we had a little manger scene that you would wind up, and what we did--the kids--we would bet on what color "wise man" would show up; it was a slot machine for us. We'd be doing that. I remember some of the Christmases where there were the drunken fist fights and knocking the tree down, and then there were a lot of good times--some good ones--and then I got saved, praise God, and found out what Christmas is really all about, and we've received a great gift; amen? That unspeakable gift of the love and the grace of God, and so we're looking forward to just coming together and celebrating Jesus' birthday, it's been lost so much...
Two Are Better Than One, Part 4
December 28, 2011 • Pastor Star R. Scott
Hallelujah! Amen! We want to continue in our study, Two Are Better Than One. Of course, knowing the reason we started this, and realizing the hour we are in, that Satan's tactics have never changed--and why would he change when he is so successful?--his tactics are always "divide and conquer." "http://every...house divided against itself [doesn't have a good chance of standing (Is that what it says?)] shall not stand" (Matthew 12:25). Amen? So, we realize that, in this war, the very first attack of Satan on humanity was a "divide and conquer" tactic, which resulted in a house out of order.
Proverbs 18:22 makes it very clear that "Whoso findeth a wife findeth a good thing, and obtaineth favour of the Lord;" amen? So we have been talking, men, on how to be thankful for that gift God has given us, to realize that, without our wives, we are not whole. When Eve was removed from Adam, that feminine aspect of man was removed; we need that full perspective to be able to walk successfully in God's kingdom. We need our wives. We are not only to love them, we are to let them know their value, how important they are to this whole process; because, when we have been married, we two have become one (Ephesians 5:31); amen? In this union, in which we come back together and have been made one, without that harmony--without that unity--the Scripture says, your prayers are being hindered. I think many of us should look very, very, closely at our prayer lives and the effectualness of our prayers; if they are not in power, as we would like them to be, maybe this is one place to look? Can anybody say "amen" to that?...
Two Are Better Than One, Part 5
January 1, 2012 • Pastor Star R. Scott
Amen. Hallelujah! 2012. I didn't think we'd ever make it here, but the Lord is coming sooner than when we first believed. Amen? Saw a little comic thing in the paper, I think it was, or somewhere, this guy is standing. He rolls this big wheel in before his wife, and he had made this calendar, and he rolls it in. He's all proud of it, and he says, "It was just big enough to get to the year two thousand and twelve." It's this Mayan guy. The stone was just big enough to go to two thousand and twelve on this calendar, and the wife says, "Boy, I'll bet that will freak somebody out someday." But His coming is sooner than when we first believed. Amen? It's an exciting time to be alive.
The Lord is doing some great things in our midst in preparation for His coming. As we've been sharing, with the emphasis on the bride making herself ready, that's part of what we've been emphasizing this last year. We're looking at a lot of the different ways, and one of them has been, in the last few weeks, just talking about making sure in our own homes we're fulfilling our roles. That, husbands, we are sanctifying our wives with the washing of the water of the Word, and we talked about how practically to do that. It's not by preaching to your wife. It's cleansing her and comforting her with the love of Christ, as Jesus loved you. Then we're able to honor them as the weaker vessel and to esteem them for the high calling of helpmeet and we talked about how difficult a role that is to fulfill. That's what makes them the weaker vessel, not an innate weakness or inferiority. There is to be a kindness that is extended, just to treat your wife the way Jesus treats you. Amen? In doing that, there is the strengthening of our family units, and that's part of what prepares the church for the coming of the Lord...
