Our Father and our God, this is our declaration today, we shall hold the fort, we shall keep the flag waving, we shall not be distracted, we shall not lose our focus because we know You are coming soon; coming soon to that situation, coming soon to that circumstance, coming soon to address that issue in the mighty name of Jesus.
Thank You heavenly Father; as we go into Your word this morning, speak to us, oh Lord. Speak in a way that will be clear to us, speak in a way that will positively affect us; as Your words come forth let Your children hear the message, the message that will do them good, that will address their situation and bring glory to Your name, oh Lord. Thank You, precious God, blessed be Your name, mighty Father, in Jesus name we prayed.
Before we take our seats, let’s just take these two quick prayers; is a month of our divine rest and we’re going to say Father, please give me rest on every side. Your word says My presence will go with you and I will give you rest, please give me rest on every side, oh Lord, give me rest, where Your presence will not go, let me not go there; where Your presence will not go with me, Father, in this month of divine rest, let me not go there, and if I want to go to where Your presence will not go, Father, block my way.
If I want to be stubborn, block my way from going where Your presence will not go. Lead me with Your presence, oh Lord, let me go only according to Your will for me, Father. Help me, oh Lord, let me not go against Your will, give me rest, oh Lord, on all sides, let me have rest, in Jesus name we prayed.
We are going to pray for our nation, we are going to say Father, give rest to our nation; Lord, give rest to our nation from those who trouble it. Father, the bandits and their sponsors, let them face Your fury; all who trouble our nation who will not allow our nation to have rest, Father, trouble them oh Lord, trouble the bandits, trouble their sponsors, trouble all those who will not allow Nigeria to have peace.
Father, give our nation rest; in the south, in the east, in the north, in the west, let there be rest in the nation. Grant us rest, oh Lord, in Jesus name we prayed.
Welcome to church this morning, God bless you richly. I want to appreciate our father in the Lord, the Assistant Pastor in Charge of Region and Pastor in Charge of our Province for this opportunity to bring the message this morning; I want to also appreciate the pastorate, those who hold his hand and appreciate all who support him, his wife and all members of his family. I pray that God will continue to uphold him in ministry in Jesus name.
Let’s open our Bibles to our main text, Revelation 3: 7-13, (but because of our time, I’ll read from 11, we can look at 7-13 when we are reviewing this message later). Behold, I come quickly (NLT says I am coming soon, same with NIV says, I am coming soon): hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown. 12Him that overcomemeth will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and I will write on upon him my new name. 13He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.
Title of the message is, I Am Coming Soon; no, it’s not a message about rapture, it’s not a message about death, but it’s a message about endurance, message about steadfastness, about fortitude and faith, especially faith in God. Praise the Lord.
The hymn we took before the message talked about hold the fort; what does it mean to hold the fort or who are the people that hold the fort? They are the unyielding, the committed, those who are truly surrendered, these are people that have abandoned themselves to the Lord.
What is a fort? A secure place, a place of refuge, a strong or fortified place usually occupied by troops, soldiers. But what is a fort to us? The fort is our mind – your mind, my mind; that song says, “Hold the fort, hold your mind, keep staying strong, keep the faith. Why? Because I am coming soon. Coming soon to do what? To address that situation that’s troubling you, coming soon to address that trouble, coming soon to address the issue of that child that’s giving you trouble, coming soon to address that sickness. I’m coming soon, not necessarily to take you home, but to address that troubling situation in your life. That’s the promise of God for somebody here this day, and I pray it will work for you in Jesus name.
He says the answer is on the way, that hymn song says so. If you look at the story of the Shulamite woman in 2 Kings 4:28-37, I assume we know the story very well; her child died, well she did good to Elisha, accommodated him, fed him and so on and so forth. Then her child died and she had to send for Elisha to come and address the issue; Elisha stretched on the baby one time, the baby did not come to life, he had to do it the second time before life came into the baby.
What does that tell us? It tells about tenacity. The woman kept waiting, even when he sent Gehazi first time, she said no, I’m going to wait for your oga to come and address this issue. We know the story of Elijah too, how his servant had to go seven times to go and check the cloud to confirm there was going to be rain, seven times. What happened there? He was tenacious, he kept sending the servant that go and look again, go again. Praise God.
So, that your situation that seems to be unyielding to prayers, God is telling you today that stay the focus and stay the course, stay focused, the answer is on the way. Hannah had to wait for Samuel while her mate, Peninnah, made life very difficult for her; we know the answer to Hannah’s prayer, God showed up for her eventually.
Joseph while suffering as a slave and prisoner endured pain of ‘unanswered prayer’; he thought his prayer was unanswered but God was taking him via a particular route to the palace, the dream was seemingly not coming but he waited and he got his answer. You will get your answer in Jesus name.
God is saying to you today, that your answer is on the way, hold the fort for I am coming, I’m coming to that situation. Hold fast to what you have, I am coming soon, don’t go look for help where there’s no help, don’t be like Sarah and Abraham and seek to play God with all the evil consequences, we are still suffering the consequences of Abraham and Sarah trying to play God today.
Don’t play games like Jacob who had to pay for his deceitfulness. Imagine if Jacob had not deceived Esau, God will still have been God; God said in His word, Jacob I’ve loved, Esau I have hated, so he doesn’t have to deceive anybody, he doesn’t have to take his brother’s position through the wrong way but he suffered for it and God still was God, He still pets Jacob. Praise the Lord.
So the word of God to you today is be patient; Yorubas call it farabale, tell your neighbor farabale, be patient. For those who don’t understand what farabale means, it means calm down. Jacob went to exile, he suffered there and just by grace, still got what God wanted to give him.
Our father in the Lord, Pastor Adeboye, in one of his books, spoke about example of Elisha who had to endure all the jibes, all the taunts of the sons of a prophet. Pastor Wale, last Sunday, also spoke on that same issue, how they said, “Oh, your master is going away today’, it was like taunting him. The man stayed the course, he stayed the course, he didn’t allow himself to be distracted, he waited patiently and was able to inherit the double portion of Elijah’s anointing.
Apostle Paul endured many beatings, pains and hardship for the sake of the gospel of Christ, and was able to say in 2 Timothy 4:8 that he had run his race to completion, he said I have kept the faith.
I’m coming soon is a message of endurance in times of trouble, of patient hope and quiet brave endurance with childlike faith. His ability to look up in faith and the greatest personification and embodiment of endurance is our Lord Jesus Christ; He endured pain of earthly living and gruesome death on the cross for the same people He came to rescue from sin, He held on to the promise of resurrection and triumph over death and Satan. Jesus Christ kept the faith, will you keep the faith? Praise the Lord.
Revelation 3:11 that we read, the Lord told the church in Philadelphia, I am coming soon, hold on to what you have so that no one will take your crown by leading you to renounce the faith (that’s Amplified Version). I pray for you that you will not renounce the faith in Jesus name, you will keep strong to the end, you will finish well and you will finish strong in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
In the midst of great trials and opposition, believers of the time that John the beloved gave this word in Revelation, they clung to God’s promises for them and persevered in faith. I pray also that the church of today will persevere too and remain steadfast to the end in Jesus name.
When our circumstances are harsh and sorrow outnumbers joy, Jesus Christ shouts to us, “Hold everything you’ve got, help is on the way,” and with that promise, we can hold on in faith and then we can rejoice. Praise the Lord.
So what do we do to hold on in faith? What should we do to hold the fort? Or those who hold the fort, what do they do? Number one, don’t lose hope (and I’m going to talk about four of them). Avoid defeatist prayers. You know there are some prayers that are defeatist and I’ll explain them further.
Don’t lose hope in God, don’t ever give up on God because God will never give up on you. Although it might not be easy, remember that your faith, my faith is toughened when it passes through fire. Don’t despair, be steadfast and exercise fortitude. Samson prayed a defeatist prayer in Judges 16:30, it says, “Let me die with my enemies,” that was his prayer, and God answered his prayer. Praise God. He died with his enemies, that was a defeatist prayer. May you not pray a defeatist prayer in Jesus name. He allowed his situation to force him to let go of his hope.
Elijah in 1st Kings 19:4, he prayed that it is enough now, oh Lord, take away my life if I’m not better than my fathers; he lost his life soon after, although God had mercy on him, at least his case was better than that of Samson; when he was threatened by Jezebel, he said God, take my life, I’m tired of life. That was a defeatist prayer.
In the case of Job, his case got so bad that his wife advised him in Job 2:9 that he should curse God and die, choose death; mercifully and wisely, Job refused to take that advice, he said in Job 14:7 that there’s a hope for the tree cut down, that at the of water, it will sprout again. That is somebody that had hope, that is somebody that refused to pray a defeatist prayer. May you never doubt the ability of God to save you in the time of trouble in Jesus name, may your case not get to total loss of hope and confidence in God in the name of Jesus Christ.
Number two, develop the winning attitude. First one is don’t lose hope, second one, develop the winning attitude. Be watchful. You need to develop the winning attitude, how do you do this? By not letting go, by refusing to quit. You need to develop a faith that refuses to quit. David had more struggles than many in life, but he understood this principle of holding on, developing winning attitude.
David said in Psalm 18:39, for thou has girded me with strength unto the battle: thou has subdued under me those that rose up against me; NIV says, you have armed me with strength for battle. This is maintaining the right perspective, he had the right perspective. The grace you receive from God will always be equal to challenges you face, God’s grace is always sufficient, whatever challenge you are facing, grace of God is sufficient for you and for me in the name of Jesus Christ. He gives enough grace to meet every challenge we face. Praise the Lord. So develop the winning attitude.
Then number three, banish fear. You need to conquer fear every day because fear comes every day, we all have our battlegrounds. Like I mentioned earlier, our fort is our mind, the battleground is usually our mind, that’s where the Spirit of God and the flesh contend.
For those of us who were at digging deep on Tuesday, part of what was discussed, there’s a battle always in our mind about what the Spirit wants us to do, what the flesh wants us to do, so, it’s a battleground and that’s where fear comes to – to your mind. The things that cause us to fear, they are in our minds, we not only have to live with them but to conquer them every time they appear. We will always overcome by God’s strength in Jesus name.
Notice that the scripture we read earlier in Psalm 18:39 says you armed me with strength for battle, so it’s God’s strength, it’s not your strength. It’s God that arms you for battle, rely on that strength and win the battle in Jesus name.
Number four, count your blessing. It’s not what you have lost that matters, but what you have left, so what do you have left in addition to life? It’s because you have life that you are here today, so what do you have left apart from life? The wife of the son of the prophet told Elijah, I have nothing in the house; the man had to ask her, check your house again; okay, I have a little pot of oil. What do you have?
And count your blessing, that is the winning attitude. Major on what you have than what you have lost, the major thing you have is life, and because you have life, there’s hope for you. Praise the Lord.
So what do you do when you feel like quitting? I have four things quickly here, I call them the four looks. The first one is look up and pray. We can tell God everything and be honest with our feelings, we can ask Him anything, His answer may not come right away or in the form we want to or expect, but He will not criticize us for asking.
God will never criticize you for asking for something, He might not give you immediately, He might not give you the way you want it, but you will not be criticized for asking. James 4:2 says you do not have because you do not ask, when you ask with the wrong motive – ye lust, and have not: ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain: ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because you ask not (that’s KJV); another version says you do not have because you ask not, that’s what it means, you do not have because you do not ask. So you need to pray, it may not come the way you want, but look up and pray.
Number two, look back and remember. Remember what God has done in the past for you and others; testimonies you’ve heard in church, things that have happened to your neighbors, remember God’s past dealing. In Psalm 77:11 – 12, it says, I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago, so remember past victories, remember what God has done for you.
When you feel like quitting, remember how He has helped you, how He has helped that brother in church, how He has helped that person that came to give that testimony and encourage yourself that the same God will do the same for you.
Then the third look, look forward, think about the good that might come out of that situation. That seeming problem, that seeming disadvantage, look at what will come out of it because there’s always something that can come out of our situation. Praise God.
It was because Joseph went to prison that he met the butler, if he had remained in Potiphar’s house, he wouldn’t have met the butler. Praise God. So something can come out of that thing that is troubling you, that situation; I’m not saying you encourage sickness or any evil thing, but look at what can come out of it and be hopeful that something good can come out of that thing that’s troubling you.
Then the fourth look, look again, then use your faith. Having prayed, encouraged yourself, shown hope, then look again, this time, look at your circumstances with eyes of faith, remind yourself that God is a God of great wonders and can be trusted. That will help you to remain focused, it will help you to keep focused and remain steadfast instead of quitting.
When you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and then hang on. That’s a quote from the 32nd president of the United States of America, FD Roosevelt; he says when you get to the end of your rope, tie a knot and then hang on; you know a lot of us said I’ve gotten to the end of my rope and then I’m letting go, that wise man said, tie a knot, hang on, wait for God, because He says I am coming soon, He will come to that situation in Jesus name.
Help is on the way, back to the full resource of heaven, help will come for you in that situation in the mighty name of Jesus Christ. That’s what God is saying to somebody here this morning, maybe that’s why you are here, you need to be encouraged that help is indeed coming for you soon in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
As we begin to close, I read the story of one man who was planning to emmigrate with his family to another land; he had made all the plans, sold what needs to be sold and done everything and the last minutes his plan just fell through and he thought he could never recover from the blow. Imagine you’ve sold your house, you’ve sold your car, you want to emmigrate to somewhere, somebody has assured you they will give you visa and last minute they didn’t grant the visa. So he was devastated.
However, within the next three months, with God’s divine direction, he found himself in a new career that took him beyond his wildest dreams; he now said to himself, I believe God allowed my plans to be shattered because He had bigger and better ones for me. How many of us have stories like that? God stopped you from what you thought was a good thing because He had better plans for you.
God is talking to somebody here today, that dream that you thought God had not helped you through, maybe that marriage proposal that did not come, that relationship that broke up, God has better things for you. That is the message for you today, I don’t know maybe it’s just only one person that that message is for, God is saying don’t worry, don’t cry about any spilt milk, I have a better plan for you and you will make it through in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
As we bow our heads to pray this morning, Jesus says I am coming soon, hold on to what you have, stay in faith, occupy till I come. Are you occupying? Are you doing the will of God? Are you busy serving Him? Are you expectant? Reconsider your way today. He says I am coming soon, it may be this year, it may be this month, it may be this day, it may be this hour, are you ready for Him? Like I said earlier, it’s not a message about rapture, is a message about getting ready to receive from God and for Him to meet you at that point of need.
As we bow our heads to pray today, I want to appeal to you if you’re here this morning, are you ready for God? Because He says I’m coming soon, He will not come to the situation of the one that is a sinner, He will not come to the situation of one that is disdainful of His coming, are you willing to receive Him? Are you willing to receive His offer of salvation?
[Altar call]
Let’s pray this morning that Father, grant me grace to be steadfast in my trust in You, let me remain unshaken, let me remain committed. Help me, oh Lord, I can only do this by grace, I cannot do of my power, I cannot do of my strength, Father, grace to be steadfast, grant to me, oh Lord.
Pray that prayer where you’re sitting. Grace to remain steadfast, grant that to me, oh Lord, grace to remain unshaken whatever may be the circumstance. In Jesus name we prayed.
Another prayer we’re going to pray. Say Father, You are a faithful God, help me to remain faithful in my commitment to You, in my commitment to say hold on to what you have, hold the faith, be steadfast, be committed, be faithful. Father, help me to be faithful, oh Lord, help me not to lose my strength in the time of trouble, help me to remain strong, help me to be able to say like Apostle Paul, I have kept the faith, help me to keep the faith, oh Lord.
Deliver me, oh Lord, help me Lord to keep the faith, help me to remain strong to the end, help me to finish well, help me to finish strong, help me, oh Lord, to meet You in glory. Father, Lord Almighty, help me with strength to do this, deliver me, oh Lord. Thank You, mighty Father, blessed be Your name, King of glory, in Jesus name we prayed.
Our Father and our God, we want to thank You; we thank You for Your word to us this morning to remind us about the need to remain focused, the need to remain steadfast, the need to stick to You as we learned last week, to remain committed in our service to You because You are coming to meet that situation, that persistent trouble, Father, we believe You today that is over now in the mighty name of Jesus Christ.
We shall come back to testify to the praise, to the glory of Your name, in Jesus wonderful and precious name we prayed.
