”The Mighty Acts of God” Pastor Dwain Esmond, April 11, 2026

Hello and welcome to church. We're so

glad that you were able to join us here

at the McDonald Road Seventh-day

Adventist Church for our worship time. I

hope that your time is blessed. I hope

the music blesses your soul. I hope the

message touches your heart. And if if it

does, we would be honored if you would

share this content with somebody else so

they can be blessed as well.

We're so glad that you can be a part of

our online church here at McDonald Road

and hope that you are blessed in your

worship together with us today. God

bless and enjoy our worship service.

Amen, everyone.

I want to thank

that little Addison that's walking out

right now

and Mr. Bruce Clark

for the blessing of their ministry

three times today.

You're only hearing it for the first

time. I have been blessed

to hear these wonderful renditions three

times.

And this Drew,

would you say amen one more time for

him?

And his wonderful talent and gift, what

a blessing it has been to be here. And

the scripture was read very powerfully

this morning

by little Miss Vic- Is it Victoria?

Victoria?

I think you should come preach. You want

to come preach?

So blessed. Thank you for your ministry

and for the joy of being in your

presence today. It is an honor to say

anything for God.

Do you know

that if there were a sin detector by the

door

and it was attached to a machine gun,

you think we'd make IT IN THIS CHURCH?

MAYBE PA- YOU KNOW, PASTOR JAMIE WILL

MAKE it in. But, he'll be worshipping by

himself, probably. I don't know. I don't

know if I'd make it in. Beloved, WORSHIP

IS A MIRACLE.

MESSED UP SINFUL PEOPLE COME INTO THE

PRESENCE OF A HOLY GOD, AND WE ARE

ALLOWED TO LIVE.

WHAT AN AWESOME blessing worship is. And

I want you to know, this Sabbath IS SO

BEAUTIFUL. IT'S SO WONDERFUL. IT'S SO

SPECIAL THAT IT MAKES you feel like like

it's one-of-a-kind.

And I want you to know today that it is

one-of-a-kind.

THAT WE HAVE NEVER HAD A SABBATH LIKE

THIS BEFORE.

THAT THIS SABBATH IS UNIQUE. THAT WHAT

GOD IS SAYING TODAY HE HAS NEVER SAID

BEFORE.

THAT WHAT HE WANTS TO DO IN YOUR LIFE HE

HAS NEVER DONE BEFORE. THAT EVERY

SABBATH is unique.

WE ARE ONE SABBATH CLOSER to the coming

of Jesus.

That's one less black man yelling at you

you will have to hear

before Jesus shows up. IT'S ONE LESS

PRAYER YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO PRAY.

THAT'S ONE LESS SCRIPTURE FROM Victoria

that you're going to get.

That's why Sabbaths are important.

Don't play with the Sabbath now.

Sabbaths are important.

You Do you know good things happen on

the Sabbath day? Do you all know that?

IT WAS ON THE SABBATH DAY THAT I MET MY

WIFE. I MET HER ON THE SABBATH.

It was at college. Do we have any

college students in here?

College A- Amen.

I didn't know college students went to

church. Amen.

Praise the Lord.

IT WAS AT CHURCH.

I WAS SITTING DOWN FRONT. I WENT DOWN

FRONT CUZ I WANTED TO BE WHERE GOD WAS.

HE WAS I JUST FELT LIKE HE WAS CLOSER to

the front. I don't know why that it was.

I went I sat down there I sat down with

a friend of mine and while we were

sitting there two lovely angels pastor

came in

and just fluttered over and landed by us

in the church and I thought to myself

this is my lucky day.

Look what Jesus had done for me on the

Sabbath.

I sat down there beloved and and you

know I was one of these people who who

worked ahead. I

was prepared. I was prepared. I during

the summer before I got to college my

freshman year I asked God for two

things. I said Lord I only want TWO

THINGS. I WANT THE career you have for

me. WHAT AM I SUPPOSED to do? WHAT DO

YOU WANT ME TO DO WITH MY LIFE? I want

that. Start please give me that. And

then the second thing I said is Lord I

want the person I'm supposed to walk my

life with. I want her.

And if you could get her in early that'd

be great. Be great.

Freshman year I I'm sitting down in

church and and and then she walks.

Comes down sits by me and and and we had

a banquet coming. We had a banquet

coming and I like I told you I prepared

ahead of time. I had a list of 10

different young ladies that I felt were

eligible for me.

YOU GOT TO BE READY TO BE BLESSED.

YOU GOT TO BE READY.

I HAD ALREADY EVALUATED THEM IN EVERY

way that boys evaluate them. You know

that. You know that.

And I said you KNOW SHE WAS HIGH ON THAT

LIST. SHE WAS ON THAT LIST. BUT when she

walked in that Sabbath

glory rays were shining.

And I just KNEW

I DON'T CARE ANYMORE ABOUT THIS LIST.

I'M ASKING her out. There was a banquet

coming in a couple of weeks and so I

took out a tithe envelope. Do you all

know what that is?

Cuz everybody gives money now with with

with QR codes you know. We don't we

don't we return with QR codes and stuff.

But I took out one of those old dinosaur

envelopes and I opened it up and I wrote

I wrote I asked her out would you go

with like a little five-year-old would

you go with go with me to the banquet?

And then I put up two boxes yes no.

I'M TELLING Y'ALL THE TRUTH AND SHE

she wrote back to me

she clicked she checked yes

and then she wrote I'll be happy to go

with you if you're okay with what I'm

going to wear.

And I thought to my

well this one's interesting.

And in those two weeks we started to

really get to know each other and she

and I have been together this year is

our 30th year of marriage.

Good things happen in church.

Good things happen on the Sabbath day.

God is an amazing God mighty acts of God

that we can't even understand

are at work when we least expect it the

fingerprints of God are all over the

place if you look close enough. I happen

to work for the Ellen G. White Estate

and it is my privilege to represent this

wonderful organization the Ellen G.

White Estate was established by Ellen

White's last will and testament. It's in

her will. She wanted an organization

that would take care of her writings and

make those writings available to the

world and she did not want the church to

own it.

So she set up a clear break between the

church and the White Estate. The White

Estate works very closely with the

church but it's a a distinct independent

501c3 organization. Even though we are

we we we occupy the basement level of

the General Conference. We like to think

we are foundational to the church

and that we are holding it up. That's

what we thought THAT'S WHAT WE TELL

OURSELVES. But I want you to know,

beloved, THAT THAT LITTLE LADY is no

ordinary lady.

Uh uh

THEY THEY THEY VOTED HER OFF THE ISLAND

AFTER 1888. Did you all know that? After

the righteousness by faith conference,

she fell out with members of the church

and some of the lead especially the

LEADERSHIP BECAUSE SHE SIDED WITH THE

MILLENNIALS OF HER DAY, with the young

adults. You know, SHE SHE SUPPORTED

JONES AND WAGNER and their their belief

in righteousness by FAITH THAT THE LAW

WAS NOT THE only thing that was the

focus of our church, BUT THAT

RIGHTEOUSNESS BY FAITH IN JESUS CHRIST

WAS THE HEARTBEAT of the scripture.

After 1888, they had a little problem

with Ellen. And when they got an

opportunity, they said, "You know, Ellen

Sister White, 1890 1891, we perceive

that the Lord is calling you to

Australia."

She was

SHE WAS 64 YEARS OLD AT THE TIME. CAN

YOU IMAGINE?

THEY GIVE YOU YOUR CALL TO GO I MEAN,

DOWN UNDER UNDER, AS FAR AWAY FROM THE

GENERAL Conference as we could get her.

The Lord wants you all the way in the

South Pacific.

Ellen White would later write to

Elder Olsen, our General Conference

president around 1895-96.

She'd already been in Australia a few

years. She told him, "I had no light

that God had told me to go to Australia.

But because the church voted it, I

went."

ISN'T THAT SOMETHING?

BECAUSE I BELIEVE IN GOD'S CHURCH, AND I

BELIEVE THAT HE'S WORKING THROUGH THE

CHURCH, I WILL GO EVEN WHEN I DON'T

UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY'RE DOING.

AND IF you look at this church

sometimes, you might wonder,

is the Lord really leading this thing?

But I want to encourage you, don't jump

off the ship just cuz it rocks a little

bit.

Don't get off THE SHIP CUZ YOU THINK YOU

COULD YOU COULD NAVIGATE BETTER. THIS

SHIP OF ZION IS GOING THROUGH.

She boards a boat.

Begins to head to Australia with her

son, Willie.

64 years old. At the time that Ellen

White gets to Australia, we might have

might had 200 Adventists in the whole

South Pacific region.

As Ellen White is going there on that

boat,

she is taken away in vision. She sees a

man,

and God begins to tell her, "Write down

what I'm showing you."

Ellen White begins to write

while she's on that boat. She writes

50-something

pages

about one man.

She gets to Australia,

and they begin to take her around.

Ellen White gets very sick in her first

year in Australia, extremely ill. Almost

at the point of death. They take her

around to visit some of the entities and

the institutions, and she sees a man

there.

AND SHE RECOGNIZES HIM FROM VISION.

And she PASSES SHE IS TEMPTED TO GO TALK

TO HIM. The Holy Spirit says, "Not yet."

Do not.

Ellen White does not. FOR AN ENTIRE

YEAR, SHE DOES NOT.

FINALLY, THAT MAN comes to her, and he

says,

"I HAVE THE IMPRESSION THAT GOD HAS

GIVEN YOU A MESSAGE FOR ME."

Out of nowhere.

She says, "Well,

that's a good impression.

Because the Lord has given me 50-plus

pages just for you."

Can you imagine?

You know, beloved, I'm going to tell I'm

not sure I would have wanted to be a

pastor when Ellen White was alive.

BECAUSE ELLEN WHITE, I CAN TELL YOU

STORIES. I'm supposed to get to my

message.

I can tell you things that would amaze

you.

That you know, Ellen White would walk

into services and she'd walk down front

and she'd, you know, I can see I can see

James. This this is a story that's

interrupting the story I'm already

telling you. But

I James would walk INTO THESE AND I KNOW

HE WOULD THINK to himself, "Please sit

down. Please sit down. Ellen, please sit

down. Come sit by me. Come sit by me.

Sit by me, honey. Don't don't don't And

he would sit down and Ellen White would

walk, she'd walk up to the front like

she did at one camp meeting and she told

she she told she told the man speaking,

the preacher, she said, "Um

you you have you have not been with

God."

Can you imagine?

But then she said this. She said, "Not

only that, but but but but you have two

families."

You have the one that's in here, but you

have another family and you've been

hiding it.

Yeah, uh-oh.

Even he knew that was bad.

And it was absolutely true.

That's Ellen White.

She she she talks about the pain of

having to tell people hard things. That

she said it was ever against my natural

inclination to have to give messages of

reproof to people. I hated it.

She tells this man she sees, "The Lord

has 50 plus pages just for you."

And then she begins to tell him about

his life.

The Lord showed me that you are a part

of a secret society.

And that you and the others in this

society

behind closed doors, you guys you all do

certain things. And then Ellen White

begins to to to to make gestures with

her hands that no one knew

beyond the secret society.

Nathaniel Faulkhead is that man's name,

and he had to admit on the spot he was a

member of the of the Masonic order in

Australia, and he was one of the highest

Masons in the entire nation.

And she

called him out for messages received on

a boat

going to a place she had no light to go.

That's Ellen White.

From 1891 to 1900,

she is on

that territory,

Australia.

It is in that time, her most difficult

sojourn in ministry, that we get every

book on Jesus.

Steps to Christ,

Christ's Object Lessons,

The Desire of the Ages, Thoughts from

the MOUNT OF BLESSING, ALL OF THEM

COME WHEN she is IN HER WORST MOMENT,

BECAUSE IT IS THEN THAT SHE IS CLOSEST

TO JESUS.

And I came to tell you, I DON'T CARE HOW

BAD IT GETS,

IF YOU CAN LEAN INTO JESUS

WHEN IT GETS BAD,

IF YOU CAN PRESS YOUR WAY TO THE CROSS

WHEN IT GETS TOO HEAVY, IF YOU WILL NOT

LET GO OF THE SAVIOR

WHEN IT GETS ROUGH,

YOU WILL PRODUCE AMAZING THINGS FOR THE

CAUSE of Jesus Christ,

and God will use you as never before.

That little lady IS AMAZING. THE MIGHTY

ACTS OF God

are evident in the world we see around

us today, and I want you to know beyond

any shadow OF A DOUBT, GOD IS NOT DONE.

AMEN.

HOW MANY know in this sanctuary THIS

MORNING THAT OUR GOD STILL GOT MIGHTY

STUFF HE WANTS TO DO IN US? AMEN. And

wants to do through us. AND THAT

MCDONALD ROAD IS A LIGHTHOUSE. AMEN.

THAT'S MEANT TO LIGHT the way and lead

men and women to Jesus Christ. I came to

tell you this morning you are a mighty

act in the making

of your God.

Scripture tells us that this God whom we

serve has revealed himself to us. Ellen

White says in her writings that his

final great act upon this earth WILL BE

THE REVELATION OF HIS CHARACTER.

THAT MEN AND WOMEN MAY SEE EXACTLY who

he is. And I came TO TELL YOU THIS

MORNING THAT GOD HAS GIVEN US THE

BENEFIT OF GREAT REVELATION.

We have what some call general

revelation. That's God's revelation in

nature.

Psalm 19 verses 1 and 2. We have heavens

Psalms 19:1

that declare the glory of God and the

earth THAT SHOWS HIS HANDY WORK. AND DAY

UNTO DAY IS SPEAKING TO US. AND NIGHT

UNTO NIGHT IS GIVING US KNOWLEDGE. WE

HAVE, WHEN we look around us, a mighty

mighty act of God. Amen.

I heard today that before this day is

out some people are going to get off

road. That's what I heard.

I heard they're going to get out in

nature today.

And sit around some campfires. YOU WILL

SEE GOD THERE. AMEN.

THE FINGERPRINTS OF GOD ARE EVIDENT. AND

I DON'T CARE WHAT THE ATHEISTS SAY. THE

FINGERPRINTS OF GOD ARE IN THIS WORLD

AND THEY CANNOT BE EXPLAINED AWAY. WE

HAVE GENERAL REVELATION, but that's not

all we have. The Bible teaches us that

we have something called SPECIAL

REVELATION. THAT'S GOD'S actual acts in

the world.

GOD HAS DONE STUFF THAT IS UNMISTAKABLE.

GOD BUSTED HIS PEOPLE OUT OF EGYPT WITH

MIGHTY mighty plagues. You know the You

You know the story. You go to the book

of Exodus, the scripture tells us that

he shoots plagues one after the other

like weapons of mass destruction in

Egypt, but somehow the plagues don't

affect his people.

THEY'VE GOT

WATER THAT HAS BEEN TURNED TO BLOOD.

BUT

THE ISRAELITES ARE DRINKING WATER.

THEY'VE GOT FROGS EVERYWHERE.

BUT THE FROGS HOP UP TO THE BORDER OF

GOD'S PEOPLE AND TURN BACK.

THEY'VE GOT FLIES THAT ARE EVERYWHERE,

BUT THE FLIES FLY UP TO THE BORDER AND

FLY BACK.

GOD IN HIS MIGHTY ACT OF PROTECTION OF

HIS PEOPLE IS SHOWING THEM WHO HE IS.

For 400 years, who he was was wiped away

from them, and now God begins to show

them who he is through mighty acts of

grace and protection.

He takes them out into a wilderness,

and they've got shoes that don't wear

out. Can you imagine?

Oh, Lord have mercy. Just imagine, you

ain't got to go to the shoe store no

more.

Everything God gives you never fails.

THEY'VE GOT CLOTHES THAT WON'T QUIT.

You wash it, it gets better than it was

before it was washed.

Can you imagine? They're walking through

the wilderness now. They don't have any

air conditioning in the wilderness.

But God keeps them cool.

They don't THEY CAN'T STOP AT MCDONALD'S

AND PICK UP SOME Burger King ALONG THE

WAY. GOD IS THE CAFE IN THE CHAOS OF THE

WILDERNESS.

GOD IS THE ONE FEEDING THEM DAY AND

FEEDING THEM NIGHT, AND WHILE THEY

BELLYACHE AND WHILE THEY COMPLAIN, God

is still working for them.

Oh, all throughout the generations, the

people of God would regale their young

kids with tales of God's goodness, of ax

heads that float, and and seas that

open, and people who throw dead bodies

on the bones of God's prophets, and then

they come back to life.

They would talk

about this amazing God and what he has

done.

Do you still talk about what God has

done for you?

Do you still remember the goodness of

God in your life?

CAN YOU TELL SOMEBODY ABOUT THE MIGHTY

ACTS OF GOD THAT HE'S DONE IN YOUR LIFE?

I stand before you. I am a flat-out

miracle. I have no business being here.

And I'm fully aware of it.

HOW HOW DOES HOW DOES LET ME LET ME TELL

you Let me tell you something crazy.

I remember

about to graduate.

I proposed to my

to that beautiful lady in

in my senior year. It was weather like

this. Just just It was like the Lord

said, "Today is the day."

I proposed, she said yes. I didn't even

know what I was going to do after

college. I was graduating. I guess I'm

going to go back home to New Jersey and

and and pump gas or something. I don't

know what I'm going to do.

I get TO I I GO BACK TO THE English

department where I was.

And and my department head said,

"Dwayne,

I have to talk to you."

Before

I got to her office, though,

something came in the mail

to my dormitory.

Opened it up.

It was a letter from Pittsburgh State

University.

Dear Dwayne Esmen,

you have been accepted to Pittsburgh

State University master's program.

You have an all-expenses paid

acceptance.

In fact,

we would like you to teach English and

we will pay you

to be

one of the instructors in freshman

English."

I never applied.

Never.

I didn't apply.

I get to THE ENGLISH DEPARTMENT AND I

SHOW THIS THING, I'M EXCITED, I SHOW IT

TO MY DEPARTMENT HEAD AND SHE SAYS to

me, "Dwayne,

they called

and they said they were looking for

someone

and I chose you.

And I didn't even tell you."

How do you explain that? But God.

How do you explain it but God? THAT THAT

THAT SAME SEMESTER, I'm about to

graduate, I'm telling you about the

mighty acts of God. I'm walking by one

of the buildings. JUST WALKING BY THE

BUILDING AND ONE OF MY professors yells

OUT THE WINDOW, "THAT'S THE GUY YOU

WANT. THAT'S THE GUY RIGHT THERE. THAT'S

HIM."

I know y'all think I'm strange. I know,

I know. I know you're thinking

something's wrong with this Dwayne

Esmon. I agree. I'm with you.

Something is wrong with me.

"THAT'S THE GUY YOU WANT RIGHT THERE."

AND AND THE PROFESSOR calls me back.

When I get back,

I come into the room and there's a man

in there

and she says,

"I think this is the young man that can

handle what you what you're looking

for."

That that man had come to the campus

looking for an intern to come and work

at Review and Herald Publishing

Association in the summer

in the editorial department.

I happen to be walking by

and she chose me.

I spent

the next 21 years of my life working in

that organization

finishing

as vice president over all the editorial

services of Review and Herald.

How do you explain it?

GOD.

THE MIGHTY ACTS OF GOD

are evident in your life and in the

world. AND THE BIBLE TELLS US IN 2

2 Chronicles 20 · chapter mention

CHRONICLES

CHAPTER 20 THAT GOD BEGINS to do

something amazing.

Scripture says in the first few verses

uh verses 1 and 2 THAT THAT THAT

JEHOSHAPHAT IS KING OF JUDAH, BUT in

verse 3 something happens that's bad.

IN VERSE 3 THE BIBLE SAYS THAT HIS HIS

PEOPLE come to him. Some of his leaders

come to him and they said, "Jehoshaphat,

we have a problem."

A mighty army has arrayed itself in

Hazezon Tamar IN IN GETTY JUST A MERE 25

miles away from where we are.

The Moabites,

THE AMMONITES, THE MOUNT SEIRITES, ALL

OF THEM ARE NOW

arrayed and ready to take our lives.

ONE DAY'S JOURNEY, BELOVED. ONE DAY'S

JOURNEY IS ALL IT WAS GOING to take for

them to get to where Judah was.

Judah was in trouble. The scripture says

in verse 4 that

Jehoshaphat

is afraid.

And I DON'T BLAME HIM.

I'D BE SCARED TOO IF I KNEW AN ENEMY

THAT bad was on my trail. Scripture says

that Jehoshaphat does something that

that that is that is not NOT IT IS NOT

NORMAL. USUALLY, IF YOU KNOW an enemy is

coming, you marshal your troops and you

you you begin to prepare your defenses

AND YOU TALK TO ALL of your GENERALS AND

YOU GET EVERYBODY READY TO FIGHT. THE

scripture says he does none of that.

What Jehoshaphat does is

he turns

his attention to God.

OH, THE SCRIPTURE SAYS HE HE

HE DECIDES TO INQUIRE

OF THE LORD.

GOD, THIS THING IS TOO BIG FOR US. LORD,

THERE'S NO WAY WE CAN WIN THIS BATTLE.

FATHER,

I NEED YOU RIGHT NOW. We need a miracle

if we're going to make it.

You ever been there?

Have you ever been in a situation where

you need a miracle from God?

WHERE IT'S ONLY GOD. YOU'RE NOT GETTING

OUT OF IT WITHOUT GOD.

If you haven't been there yet, you will.

It's coming.

But I I want you to know you still have

God.

I want you to know you still have God. I

I I I have a good friend. This this is

this is one of his sayings. He says to

me, "Dwayne,

if your God is not big enough, get

another God."

He says, "Cuz my God is big enough for

everything that's happening to me." And

I want you to know, MCDONALD ROAD, YOUR

GOD IS BIG ENOUGH

TO HELP YOU WITH WHATEVER IS GOING ON IN

YOUR LIFE. I don't care if it's coming

from the north, east, or west, or the

south, your God can handle it.

Scripture says he begins to inquire of

the Lord, and Jehoshaphat does something

I really like. He says, "Lord,

I just want to remind you of who you

are."

I don't know about you. Sometimes you

got to tell God WHO HE IS.

YOU GOT TO TELL HIM. UH LORD, JUST FOR

THE RECORD, JUST FOR THE RECORD, just

for the record, you are the one that

brought us out OF EGYPT.

IS THAT TRUE? YOU KNOW God is up there

saying, "Yeah, yeah, I mean YOU'RE

RIGHT."

UH GOD, AREN'T YOU THE ONE THAT THAT

THAT THAT GOT US

THIS TERRITORY, THESE LANDS IN WHICH WE

NOW LIVE? I'm now in verse 10, verses

11, somewhere around there. AREN'T YOU

THE ONES THAT THAT THAT CLEARED OUT THIS

PLACE FOR US AND GAVE US THESE LANDS IN

WHICH WE NOW DWELL? And the Lord is Yes,

yes, I

I am the one. YOU'RE RIGHT.

AND GOD,

AREN'T YOU THE ONE THAT TOLD US TO BUILD

THIS TEMPLE IN JERUSALEM AND THAT IF WE

EVER RUN INTO TROUBLE, THAT IF WE COME

TO THIS TEMPLE and pray and seek your

face, that you God would help us. Aren't

you the one that said that?

And I know by this time God is saying,

all right, there, you're okay. I get it.

I get it. Yes, that's me.

And then he says, Lord, will you not

judge our enemies?

You mean to tell me you're going to let

this thing come upon us and wipe us OFF

THE MAP?

GOD!

WHY WOULD YOU PUT ALL OF THOSE PROMISES

IN THE BIBLE IF YOU DIDN'T INTEND TO

FULFILL THEM?

WHY

WOULD YOU ALLOW YOUR SERVANTS TO WRITE

ABOUT US AND THEN END THE STORY HERE?

Sometimes you got to put God on the

spot. You do. You need to tell him WHO

HE IS. NOT BECAUSE HE HAS FORGOTTEN, BUT

BECAUSE YOU NEED TO remind yourself of

who he is.

God, aren't you the one that paid that

bill?

Aren't you the one? Aren't you the one

THAT HEALED MY CHILD? AREN'T YOU THE

ONE? AREN'T YOU THE ONE THAT DID THAT

THING? AREN'T YOU THE ONE?

I REMEMBER WHEN ONE OF my brothers was

acting crazy. I have three older

brothers. I'm the youngest boy. My

sister is the youngest girl.

She She had a hard life. She She did.

When you're the only girl among boys,

you're going to have a hard life.

I mean, she couldn't She couldn't even

date anybody cuz the all the protectors

were always in sight, you know.

One of my brothers, the one who's right

before me,

you know, he he he lost his mind.

He was a teenager, pastor, and you know

how it is.

Sometimes you lose your what the old

black people call your cotton picking

mind. You

You know, that's that's a different

level when you lose that. You know.

He didn't lose it. He lost his cotton

picking mind.

And he I'm telling YOU HE WAS

DISRESPECTFUL TO MY PARENTS.

And all of us wanted to minister unto

him.

Do you hear me? I'm talking about

hands-on ministry.

We

We wanted to beat the devil out of him.

IT'S WHAT WE REALLY WANTED TO DO. BUT MY

PARENTS SAID, "NO. DON'T TOUCH HIM."

DISRESPECTFUL.

Coming in all hours of the day and

night.

And one day I saw my mother.

I saw her. I walked by his room.

And my mother was on her knees by his

bed.

She had opened up the Bible.

And she just began to

pull on God about him.

Pray for him. I I was so moved. I walked

in. You know how you can't leave a good

moment alone. I should have left it

alone. I walked in.

And I And you know, she got done

praying. I asked her. I said, "Mom, what

are you praying?" She said, "I'm praying

for your brother."

I said, "Well, what is What are you

looking at?" She said, "I'm I'm looking

at Genesis 3:15."

Genesis 3:15

"I will put

enmity

between thee

and the woman.

Her seed, your seed." I said, "Well, why

would you pray that?" She said, "Because

it's that girl he's dating."

HAS GOT HIS HEAD MESSED UP.

She said, "SO, I WILL PRAY THAT THE LORD

WILL PUT ENMITY

BETWEEN HIM AND THAT CHICK."

I SAID, "MOM, I didn't know the

scripture could be applied like this."

I didn't know this WAS IN THE BIBLE THAT

YOU COULD JUST APPLY IT THAT WAY, you

know.

THE THE THE PROTO-GOSPEL, YOU KNOW, THE

the evangelion, the the savior to come.

She said, "No, that's not the part I'm

claiming. I'm claiming the part where he

separates him from that influence that's

messing him up."

Beloved, that relationship ended.

In less than 2 weeks, she was poof. He

came in the house one day, and I'm

telling you no story. He came in the

house, he dropped down to my mother's

ankles.

He grabbed her around her feet and wept

and cried and begged her forgive It was

so bad it made all of us cry. It was a

ugly cry. I MEAN, HE WEPT.

BEGGED MY PARENTS FOR THEIR FORGIVENESS.

AND FROM THAT MOMENT UNTIL THIS MOMENT,

HE HAS NEVER been the same person.

Takes care of my parents like they are

gold.

GOD

SOMETIMES HAS TO DO THINGS you can't.

SCRIPTURE SAYS JEHOSHAPHAT DOES NOT TRY

TO FIX IT, JEHOSHAPHAT FACE IT.

HE DOESN'T TRY TO FAKE IT, HE FACE IT.

HE PUTS HIS TRUST IN THE GOD WHO HAD

DONE STUFF BEFORE, AND HE REMINDED HIM

OF WHAT HE'S DONE. AND SOMETIMES, YOU'VE

GOT TO MARK THOSE PLACES IN YOUR

SPIRITUAL LIFE WHERE GOD HAS DONE THINGS

so you can give him back his mighty

acts.

Lord, you did it before, you could do it

today. If you You that back then for us,

you could DO IT NOW. GOD, THERE'S

NOTHING TOO HARD for you.

You are the Lord God of all flesh. There

is nothing too hard for you.

Scripture says that Jehoshaphat calls

the people together now and they begin

to pray and seek the Lord.

Calls a fast and people come from

everywhere. You know when destruction is

coming, you don't have time to be on

Netflix. Do you know that?

You will get off when it gets bad enough

and you will plant your flag right next

to God and seek his face. AND THEY BEGIN

TO TUG ON HIM AND PRAY TO HIM.

The Bible says when that altar rises and

they begin to pray, the spirit of God

now descends on the prophet Jehaziel in

the midst of them. And the prophet of

God RECEIVES A MESSAGE FROM GOD. AND

JEHAZIEL RISES UP IN THE ASSEMBLY AND HE

SAYS, "I GOT A MESSAGE FROM GOD."

NOTICE THE ORDER NOW. Notice the order

now. He has sought the Lord because of

God's goodness in the past. And he is

giving God back his word about WHAT HE

SAID. AND HE HAS COME to God in worship.

I CAME TO TELL YOU, IF YOU WILL SIMPLY

FOLLOW this script,

great things will happen.

It might not happen when you want it to

happen, BUT IT WILL HAPPEN BECAUSE GOD

DOES NOT CHANGE.

HIS AMMO IS THE SAME. THAT IF YOU WILL

GO TO HIS WORD AND IF YOU WILL GET ON

YOUR KNEES and pull on Superman's cape,

he will show up.

Jehaziel rises up. He says, "The Lord

has told me to tell you, be not afraid.

Do not BE AFRAID, FOR GOD IS GOING TO

DELIVER US FROM THIS ENEMY." AND

JEHAZIEL TELLS THEM, HE SAYS, "UH

TOMORROW, GO OUT TO THE BATTLE.

AND DON'T FIGHT.

THE LORD TOLD ME YOU WON'T HAVE TO

FIGHT. THE BATTLE IS NOT YOURS.

THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S.

YOU WON'T HAVE TO FIGHT, BUT WHAT I NEED

YOU TO DO IS JUST POSITION YOURSELF and

look like you're going to fight.

Isn't that something? Isn't God crazy?

God must be crazy. Oh, wait a minute. I

know what all the generals are saying

when they hear it. Can we Can we have a

talk with you, Jehaziel? Come in.

Joshaphat Can we talk?

Um

I don't think it's wise for us to just

show up

without any kind of gear or weapons. I

think at least we should have SOME

WEAPONS. NO.

THE LORD SAYS, "WHAT I NEED YOU TO DO IS

JUST LOOK LIKE YOU'RE GOING TO FIGHT.

I'LL FIGHT FOR YOU."

I WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT EVERY BATTLE

THAT HAS BEEN WON FOR YOU, YOU HAVE

NEVER FOUGHT.

I FOUGHT THE EGYPTIANS.

I FOUGHT ALL YOUR ENEMIES. I HAVE GIVEN

YOU VICTORY, AND I DON'T CHANGE. WHAT I

do need, however, are witnesses to my

glory.

What I need are people who will position

themselves to see the glory of God and

then tell the world the mighty act they

saw.

That's what I need.

Scripture says by the time they got out

there, every single one of the enemies

had died. They had killed themselves

even before the Israelites rose early in

the morning and showed up at the battle.

Singing their praise songs. They had a

praise team going into war.

Singing their praise SONGS. THE BIBLE

SAYS GOD HAD ALREADY GIVEN THEM VICTORY

BY THE TIME THEY SHOWED UP.

RIGHT BEFORE THEY WENT OUT, the king

stood up that day and he said, "LISTEN.

I'VE GOT ONE THING TO SAY TO YOU."

Second Chronicles chapter 20 AND VERSE

2 Chronicles 20 · chapter mention

20. BELIEVE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD

AND YOU WILL BE ESTABLISHED. BELIEVE HIS

PROPHETS and you will prosper.

Let's get ready to go. Believe in the

Lord your God

and you will be established. Believe his

prophets and you will prosper.

I thought to myself, I'm closing now.

Lord, how in the world

can I find anything new in the

scripture? The white estate loves this

scripture.

Because it talks about believing in

God's prophets.

His messengers and Ellen White is one of

those. So, we claim this scripture. This

scripture means a lot to us. AND I

THOUGHT TO MYSELF, I HAVE PLUMBED THE

DEPTHS OF THIS SCRIPTURE. THERE'S

NOTHING ELSE NEW in here for me.

But then I remembered Ellen White's

counsel that it is impossible to exhaust

the full meaning of a single verse of

scripture.

That you can't get to the depths of one

verse of scripture. If you think you

can, I'll give you the shortest one in

the Bible. Jesus wept.

Try to dig out all the meaning of Jesus

wept.

Why he wept, for whom he wept, how God

can we, WHY WOULD GOD WE?

JUST THAT VERSE BY ITSELF IS ALMOST

impossible to get to the bottom of.

The magnanimity, the love and compassion

of God.

You can't get to the bottom of it.

So, I started to studying THAT

SCRIPTURE. I NOTICED TWO THINGS,

BELOVED. NUMBER ONE, THAT WORD

ESTABLISHED BELIEVE IN THE LORD YOUR GOD

AND YOU WILL BE ESTABLISHED. THAT WORD

"AMIDU" MEANS TO BE TO HAVE A

FOUNDATION, TO HAVE A SURETY, TO HAVE A

GOD WHO IS AT YOUR BACK, GOD WHO IS

BESIDE YOU AND UNDER YOU AND WILL KEEP

YOU. IT MEANS TO HAVE GOD with you.

THAT'S GOOD ENOUGH. THAT'S POWERFUL

ENOUGH. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL JEHOSHAPHAT

SAID. HE SAID SOME HE SAID ONE OTHER

THING. HE SAID YOU GOT TO BELIEVE also

in his prophets and then you will

prosper.

I looked up that word prosper and that's

the word aman.

And that's where I FOUND MY SHOUT WITH

GOD. AMAN DOESN'T JUST MEAN PROSPERITY,

YOU'LL GET a bunch of stuff. Aman means

in the original language, YOU WILL BE

ABLE TO ADVANCE THE CAUSE OF GOD.

And you WILL BE ABLE TO PROSPER IN THE

PURPOSES OF GOD. YOU WILL HAVE POWER TO

DO THE WILL OF GOD. WHEN YOU believe in

God, YOU'VE GOT FOUNDATION. YOU'VE GOT

SURETY. YOU'VE GOT POWER. YOU'VE GOT GOD

AT YOUR BACK. BUT OH OH OH OH OH, WHEN

YOU ACTUALLY FOLLOW WHAT HIS PROPHETS

SAY,

THEN YOU ACTUALLY advance in your life.

You advance in the will OF GOD. YOU

ADVANCE THE PURPOSES OF GOD. YOU ADVANCE

THE KINGDOM OF GOD WHEN YOU

AMAN.

THAT THAT THAT TOUCHED MY HEART. GOD IS

SAYING, "I'M GIVING YOU THE strategy for

how to live your life."

Believe in me.

My promise to you is I won't fail you.

YOU SHALL NOT BE GREATLY MOVED. That's

what That's how That's how David puts it

in the book of Psalms. BECAUSE THE LORD

IS AT MY RIGHT HAND, I SHALL NOT be

greatly moved.

Ah, but that's not all. If you mess

around and actually plant your head down

in his counsels,

GOD WILL 10X YOUR LIFE. HE WILL MOVE you

from this place to the next place.

HE WILL FORWARD HIS WILL IN YOUR LIFE.

HE WILL FORWARD HIS PURPOSES THROUGH

YOU. YOU WILL EXPERIENCE GOD'S

FULFILLING POWER IN YOUR LIFE.

ACTUALLY, how I know?

Because I've seen it.

I've seen it. I was in high school when

I decided to try it out.

I was high school.

An academy.

My father they said they they they took

ME OUT THE CITY BECAUSE I WAS GETTING

into trouble.

I had a hair trigger temper.

And they knew I'm going to be in some

big trouble if they don't get me out the

city.

So they sent me about as far away

behind the Lord's back as they could get

me.

All the way out to Pine Forge,

Pennsylvania.

Nothing out there but cows

and sheep.

I was FROM THE CITY.

THE QUIET SCARED THE LIVING TAR OUT OF

ME. IT WAS TOO QUIET.

It was too quiet, beloved.

I got out there the smells. I said,

"Father,

what are they doing to me?"

I was out I had a little I had a little

rap group. I was rapping.

Ain't it amazing that the Lord would let

this rapper preach his word? You believe

it?

Isn't God amazing?

I was getting into all kind of stuff.

Hey, let me tell you something. My

father said, he said, "Listen,

God's going to touch your life.

I want you to take two things with you.

I want you to take your Bible." I said,

"Yes, Dad, I have to bring a Bible."

Okay, take your Bible.

I said He said, "But I want you to take

take two other things. I want you to

take

Mind, Character, and Personality."

Ellen White has a two-volume set called

Mind, Character, and Personality. I want

you to take those two books and read

them along with your Bible.

I started to do exactly what my father

said.

I STARTED TO JUST

BELIEVE GOD

AND THEN PLANT my head a little bit in

some of her writings.

She In In those books she talked ABOUT

HOW HOW HOW DIET AFFECTS YOUR MIND AND

YOUR TEMPERAMENT.

HOW YOU GOT TO BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU PUT

IN YOUR BODY. SHE TALKED ABOUT HOW HOW

BIBLE STUDY INCREASES THE ELECTRICAL

POWER OF YOUR BRAIN TO GRASP ANY OTHER

kind of information.

THAT IF YOU SIMPLY HAVE A DEVOTIONAL

life with God and spend time with him,

it will up your ability and your

capacity to learn.

And I took it to heart and I tried it.

Came out of that school, I graduated

very high in my class in academy, went

off to college, graduated near the top

of my class in college, and became the

president of the senior class.

I'm not telling you what I DON'T KNOW.

I'M TELLING YOU THAT WHEN YOU BELIEVE IN

GOD, you have support, but when you

believe in his prophet,

you advance.

You advance.

That's been the record of this church.

I'm closing now. That's the record of

this church, that when this church

believes in God, it has support. When it

believes its prophet, it advances.

Little book, 1848, we ought to start a

little printing press, little paper.

James White believes his wife's vision,

follows on and starts it today, 63

publishing houses publishing millions of

literature all across the globe. Believe

in the Lord your God, support.

Believe his prophet, advance.

Church with the strongest health message

on the planet, 1863, she gets a vision.

This church that's chewing tobacco and

and smoking and carrying on really needs

to take care of its body.

And it needs to create institutions to

help people be healthy. 1865 vision, the

church believes that, now it has a

health system that is second only to the

Catholic private system in the world,

AND PEOPLE ALL AROUND THE GLOBE KNOW

ADVENTISTS FOR OUR HEALTH.

Believe in the Lord your God, support.

Believe his prophet,

advance.

I could tell you so much more, but all I

came to tell you today is this, that

when you believe

in God, and when YOU TRUST

THAT REVELATION THAT HE'S GIVEN US

THROUGH THAT MODERN-DAY manifestation of

the prophetic GIFT IN ELLEN WHITE, WHEN

YOU DO THOSE TWO THINGS, God

will do amazing things.

You will see the mighty acts of God in

your life.

If you believe it, would you stand with

me?

I don't know, maybe you need something

from God.

Maybe you were in a place where you need

God to act.

I just want to encourage you and let you

know you have a God who will act.

He may not come when you want him,

but he will be right on time.

Our gracious heavenly Father,

you see your people, Lord.

They're standing because they believe in

you. We believe

in your ability to act on our behalf, to

do the impossible with nothing.

Lord, you did it for Jehoshaphat and the

people of God. You did it back then. You

You showed down through time your mighty

acts. You showed IT

IN THE ULTIMATE REVELATION, Jesus

Christ,

who walked and breathed and talked and

loved men and women on this planet,

WHOSE HEALING POWER FLOWED OUT IN GREAT

acts of of love.

But Lord, you're not done yet.

You're not done yet. You've got more TO

DO. YOU'VE GOT MORE for us to do. So,

I'm asking you now to bless McDonald

Road.

Help each and every person under the

sound of my voice to know that they are

in the very

plan of God,

in the purposes of God,

in the power of God.

Use us, God, to do mighty things

for your glory and your kingdom,

and then take all the praise,

for it only belongs to you. In Jesus'

name we pray. Amen.

God bless you.

Gracious loving Lord,

what an awesome blessing it has been to

be in your presence today.

To be in your house.

Lord, we ask that you will go with us.

That you will show us mighty things

in this new week. Tune our hearts

to the frequency of heaven

that we might hear you and see you, God,

and live for you every day.

In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Thanks so much for joining us here at

the McDonald Road Seventh-day Adventist

Church for worship. Each month we reach

between 25 and 30,000 people with gospel

content online.

We're looking to expand our audio-visual

department this year and looking to

raise $30,000 in this project.

We would love for you to partner with us

on this and consider making a donation

to our audio-visual department as we

look at expansion and reaching more

people with the gospel across the

internet this next year.

You can go to mrcsda.org

to make a donation directly to our

audio-visual department.

Thank you so much for considering making

this donation and the privilege is ours

to partner with you in making this a

bigger and more effective ministry here

at the McDonald Road Seventh-day

Adventist Church.

God bless each one of you and thanks

again for joining us here at the

McDonald Road Seventh-day Adventist

Church.