THE YEAR OF THE LORD’S FAVOR

[SW498] 10/16/2021 message notes by

Pastor Susan J. Wynn

The Year of the Lord’s Favor

Text: Isaiah 61

All humanity is in a period in history called, “The Year of the Lord’s Favor!” That sounds great, but what does it mean?

— What is this favor that the Lord offers to you? 

— Why does He offer you His favor?

— What must you do to receive it? 

— Why is this not preached at all times in all churches?

— What are the consequences if you refuse to humble yourself and repent?

 I will show it to you, just as He has shown it to me.

What is this favor that the Lord offers you?

Isaiah 61:1  The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon me, 

Because the LORD has anointed me 

To bring good news to the afflicted; 

He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, 

To proclaim liberty to captives 

And freedom to prisoners;

²  To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD

And the day of vengeance of our God; 

To comfort all who mourn,

³  To grant those who mourn in Zion, 

Giving them a garland instead of ashes, 

The oil of gladness instead of mourning, 

The mantle of praise instead of a spirit of fainting. 

So they will be called oaks of righteousness, 

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified.

Now let me read it to you, with the Hebrew-to-English definitions, and with the truth that we are in the days when the Father, the Son and the Spirit fully indwell those who obey Christ’s commands to stay and wait (John 14:17 & 23, Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5) —

Isaiah 61:1 The Spirit of the Lord GOD is within me, 

Because the LORD has anointed me inwardly, by filling me with His Spirit!

To announce glad news to those who have become humble and contrite (repentant); 

To firmly wrap (to heal) hearts that are broken into pieces because they have seen their spiritual poverty 

To proclaim complete freedom to captives of sin (John 8:36)

And complete opening of  those who are bound by spiritual blindness (just as Jesus Christ announced in Luke 4:18).

²  To proclaim the favorable year of the LORD (the year of jubilee, when slaves to sin are set free) (Leviticus 25:10ff)

And the day of punishment of our God (for Satan, for he is powerless against those who are set free and no longer slaves to sin); 

To comfort all who mourn (over their spiritual condition)  

^3a  Tomaking a decree for those who mourn(again, mourn over their spiritual condition) in Zion, 

Giving them beauty instead of ashes (a sign of mourning), 

The anointing of rejoicing instead of mourning, 

The robe of praise instead of a spirit of darkness. 

Why does He offer you His favor?

^3b So they will be called oaks (strong with His strength) of righteousness (trees that bear the fruit of His righteousness, having become the righteousness of God, in Christ, per 2Corinthians 5:21), 

The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified! 

He is glorified by what He does in you when you humble yourself and repent,  because He is the only One who can make you a tree that bears His righteousness! 

He is glorified by what He does in you who become humble and repentant, for He anoints you inwardly and permanently by filling you with His Spirit, and you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory (1Peter 1:8)!

He is glorified because they become His witnesses here (Acts 1:8), ones through whom the world will know that the Father sent the Son (John 17:21)!

He is glorified because He does not rebuild your ruined heart, but replaces it with an entirely new heart and puts His Spirit within you (Isaiah 61:4, Ezekiel 36:26-27)!

He is glorified because you become His priest and minister to Him (Isaiah 61:6)!

You minister to Him because He has filled you. And it is only by your ministry to Him that ministry flows from you to others!

Then you will —

— Reign with Christ (2Timothy 2:12) because you have become a fellow heir with Him (Romans 8:17)!

— Have a pure heart because your sin nature has been crucified (Galatians 5:24, Acts 1:15), so you are able to stand in His presence and hear and see Him!

— Sup with Jesus Christ and He sups with you (Revelation 3:20)!

What must you do to receive His favor?

Humble yourself and repent for your continued sin after confessing Him as your Lord, for your sin has revealed that you are spiritually poor and blind —

1Peter 5:6   Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you at the proper time . . . 

What is the proper time? It is the time after you have humbled yourself, repented, and asked Jesus Christ to crucify your sin nature, purify your heart and fill you with Himself and the Father and the Spirit. There is no higher spiritual position on this earth, and those who are in this position will be exalted in the day of judgment, for they will hear Him say, “Well done!”

Why is this not preached in all churches at all times?

I began announcing this good news since it was worked in me 20 years ago. I cannot stop speaking about what I have seen and heard (Acts 4:20)! Yet I can count on one hand the number of present-day proclaimers I have found, among all the leaders and teachers in today’s church. Why?

— Because they have not experienced what I have just shown you. You cannot teach what you have not personally experienced. 

— Because they don’t want anyone to be offended by any mention of sin, though they continue to sin, ignoring the truth that He has the cure for their sin. So He is angry at their sin, and the sin of their followers.

— Because they don’t believe hell is real and judgment is coming for all who have ever lived, or they would certainly warn them to repent.

— Because they fear that their followers will hate them and no longer follow them, but do not fear that they will be hated by God unless they exhort their followers regarding their sin and warn them of the consequences of it.

But the Lord says He has 7,000 besides me who are true servants of His, ones who have not bowed their knee to or kissed the Baal of today’s church — the god of self which is readily taught and gladly accepted by today’s self-worshipers (see 1Kings 19:18)! So I know I am not the only one left (1Kings 19:14)!

What are the consequences, if you refuse to humble yourself and repent?

John 8:34   Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin. ³⁵ The slave does not remain in the house forever; the son does remain forever.” 

If you continue to sin, you remain a slave of sin. And He says you will not remain in His household. You will not enter His kingdom, if you sin, as Paul warns —

1Corinthians 6:9   Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

And you will be judged by Him, in the day of judgment, and thrown into hell —

Matthew 7:23 “And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS (you who sin).’”

Matthew 25:12 “But he answered (the virgins who had gone to buy oil and were at His closed door), ‘Truly I say to you, I do not know you.’”

Matthew 25:30 “Throw out the worthless slave into the outer darkness; in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

It is a place where the worm never dies, and the fire is never quenched (Mark 9:44, 46, 48)!

Therefore, humble yourself, O sinning churchgoer! Repent while it is still today (Isaiah 55:6)!

Amen, Lord Jesus!

THE SCATTERERS

[SW497] 10/09/2021 message notes by

Pastor Susan J. Wynn

The Scatterers

Text: John 10, Acts 20, etc.

Who are the scatterers? How will you know them? Why are they able to scatter churchgoers away from Jesus Christ? Is there no one to search and seek for them? The Lord has directed me to answer these questions, so you may know the danger you are in, and know how to become one who cannot be scattered away from the Lord!

Who are the scatterers?

Jeremiah 10:21 For the shepherds have become stupid (consumed by fire)

And have not sought the LORD; 

Therefore they have not prospered, 

And all their flock is scattered.

Who are the scatterers? Stupid shepherds, who do not seek the Lord. They will be consumed by fire because they have scattered His flock.

Jeremiah 23:11 “For both prophet and priest are polluted; 

Even in My house I have found their wickedness,” declares the LORD.

Who are the scatterers? Those who are polluted, corrupt, defiled, soiled, profane. Even in His house! Even in today’s church! What has He found? Their evil.

Jeremiah 23:21 “I did not send these prophets, 

But they ran. 

I did not speak to them, 

But they prophesied.

²²  But if they had stood in My council, 

Then they would have announced My words to My people, 

And would have turned them back from their evil way” 

And from the evil of their deeds.”

Who are the scatterers? Those who were not sent by the Lord and do not stand in His council. But they run with their own message that they have created from their own imagination.

How will you know them? 

Matthew 7:15   “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ “You will know them by their fruits.”

Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them.

By their words and deeds — their fruit. They will speak contrary to the Word of God, because there is no light in them.

Is there no one to search and seek for the ones they scatter from the Lord?

Ezekiel 34:5 And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. ⁶ My sheep wandered through all the mountains, and upon every high hill: yea, my flock was scattered upon all the face of the earth, and none did search or seek after them.

None of the scatterers will search and seek after His sheep who they have scattered!

Do Jesus Christ’s sheep do not follow such ones!

No, because they know His voice. But those who do not know His voice will follow the scatterers.

John 10:3 “To him (the shepherd) the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice, and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. ⁴ When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him (are united with him) because they know his voice. ⁵ A stranger they simply will not follow, (unite themselves with him) but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me (they are united with Me) . . .”

How do they know His voice? 

They have obeyed His commandments regarding the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5)! Therefore, the Father, the Son and the Spirit fully and permanently indwell them (Acts 14:17, 23), and they hear the Lord’s voice continually!

What do His servants do, when they see churchgoers who are being scattered by the wicked scatterers who deceive them?

They stay with them and teach the truth to them. They exhort them to flee from the voice of strangers, and warn them of the consequences, if they refuse to listen and choose to follow (unite themselves with) the voice of strangers. Hear Paul!

Acts 20:18 And when they had come to him, he said to them,“You yourselves know, from the first day that I set foot in Asia, how I was with you the whole time, ¹⁹ serving the Lord with all humility and with tears and with trials which came upon me through the plots of the Jews; ²⁰ how I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you publicly and from house to house, ²¹ solemnly testifying to both Jews and Greeks of repentance toward God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 20:26 “Therefore, I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men. ²⁷ “For I did not shrink from declaring to you the whole purpose of God. ²⁸ Be on guard for yourselves and for all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. ²⁹ I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; ³⁰ and from among your own selves men will arise, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after them.

³¹ Therefore be on the alert, remembering that night and day for a period of three years I did not cease to admonish each one with tears.”

What are the consequences, if they refuse to listen and follow (unite themselves with) the voice of strangers?

Matthew 7:13   “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. ¹⁴ For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.”

How do you find the narrow gate?

He is standing right in front of you, calling out to you! Turn away from the scatterers and return to Jesus Christ. He is the narrow Gate — the Way, the Truth, and the Life — that leads to eternal life.

John 14:4  “I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me.”

Therefore, repent and obey His commandments regarding the Spirit, and you will know His voice and be united with Him completely! Then you will never again listen to the voice of strangers. 

Amen, Lord Jesus.

LIARS

[SW496] 10/02/2021 message notes by

Pastor Susan J. Wynn

Liars

Text: John 8:41-45

I expect those who are of the world to lie. They are not of God, because they have rejected God the Father and God the Son. It is because their minds are blinded by the god of this world (2Corinthians 4:4), the prince of the power of the air (Ephesians 2:2) — Satan. So they are his children, and do as their father does.

But brace yourself! Most leaders and members of today’s church also lie! They have rejected God the Father and God the Son, using their own imaginations to create counterfeits of God, even another Jesus (2Corinthians 11:4)!

Are they children of God and lovers of Christ, as they will argue? Not at all! They are children of Satan. I will show it to you, through Jesus Christ’s words to the liars of His day. 

The liars of Jesus Christ’s day sought to kill Him, as I will show you. And indeed the Roman soldiers crucified Him, just as they wanted. But He rose! 

Today’s liars in pulpits and church and ministry headquarters also “kill” Jesus Christ! How do they do it? They invent a counterfeit Jesus from their own imaginations, with a little help from their father. 

Who is their Father? They say that God is their Father. But Jesus called out the liars of His day, and has commanded me to call out the liars in today’s church. 

Hear His words —

John 8:40 “But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do. ⁴¹ You are doing the deeds of your father.” They said to Him, “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father: God.” 

Jesus Christ was a threat to the religious leaders of the day. He spoke the truth, contradicting their lies. So they accused Him of being a bastard, though Mary was a virgin when she bore Him, just according to the Lord’s words through Isaiah in Isaiah 7:14 —  that a virgin would bear a son.

But if God was the Father of the Jewish religious leaders who accused Jesus Christ, and rejected Him, they would not have tried to murder Him, but would have loved Him —

⁴² Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for I proceeded forth and have come from God, for I have not even come on My own initiative, but He sent Me.” 

If God were their Father —

— they would not reject Him,

— they would identify Him as One who was of God,

— they would know that Jesus fulfilled all of the prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament,

— and they would know that His words were truth.

So why did they not understand? Jesus tells them —

⁴³ “Why do you not understand (absolutely know) by what I am saying? It is because you cannot hear (understand) My word. ⁴⁴ You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature, for he is a liar and the father of lies. ⁴⁵ But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me.”

Why did they not absolutely know that Jesus Christ was God the Son, the Messiah for whom they had been waiting? Because they did not know God. They only knew about Him. They did not understand, because God was not their father. Who was their father? The devil. And they did what the devil wanted them to do. 

That is true of all the liars in pulpits and denominational or ministry headquarters today! Today’s leaders have turned the gospel upside down. They have humanized Jesus, making Him like us. But we are commanded by Him to become like Him by being filled with the Holy Spirit!

So, like today’s liars who teach and preach in today’s church, they do not believe in Him because they do not belong to Him. But who do they belong to? Jesus tells them bluntly —

⁴⁵ “But because I speak the truth, you do not believe Me. ⁴⁶ Which one of you convicts Me of sin (fornication)? If I speak truth, why do you not believe Me? ⁴⁷ He who is of God hears (understands) the words of God; for this reason you do not hear them, because you are not of God.”

They are not of God, they are of their Father, Satan! Therefore, they do Satan’s desires, not the Lord’s!

He who is of God hears and understands the words of God. So when Jesus Christ speaks, they know that He is God the Son. 

But those who are not of God, but are of the devil and are his children, do not want to hear anything but the devil’s lies. 

Hear Paul’s warning to the church at Corinth —

2Corinthians 11:13 For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. ¹⁴ No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. ¹⁵ Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds.

Hear Jesus Christ’s warning to you — 

Matthew 7:15   “Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves. ¹⁶ You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they? ¹⁷ So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit. ¹⁸ A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit. ¹⁹ Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. ²⁰ So then, you will know them by their fruits.”

What are their fruits? Lies! But you will not be able to detect their lies unless you know the Word of God and are filled with the Holy Spirit, for it is He who will teach you all things (John 14:26, 16:14-15).

O today’s churchgoer, turn away from false teachers! They tell the devil’s lies, so by their words they will kill you! How? If you do not turn away from the false Jesus taught by today’s liars, you will be judged in the day of judgment, and will perish forever!

Therefore, repent and stay and wait to be filled with the Holy Spirit!

Then you will you know the voice of your Good Shepherd, and will turn away from the voice of strangers —

John 10:4 “When he puts forth all his own, he goes ahead of them, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice. ⁵ “A stranger they simply will not follow, but will flee from him, because they do not know the voice of strangers.”

John 10:27 “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; ²⁸ and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. ²⁹ “My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

When you are one of His sheep, you will never perish, but will have eternal life, because you will love Him and have heard His voice and have obeyed His commandments regarding the Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5). 

But hear this truth! You are not His sheep if you are following liars who teach you lies! They are liars who have humanized Jesus so He is just like you, liars who have invented another Jesus, as directed by their father, Satan.

O churchgoer! Whose voice are you listening to?

I tell you the truth, it is only when the Father, the Son, and the Spirit fully and permanently indwell you (John 4:17, 23) that you will know the truth and live the truth and speak the truth. It is only then that you will be His sheep who know His voice and never follow the voice of strangers. 

Therefore, repent and obey Jesus Christ commandments regarding the Spirit. Amen, Lord Jesus.

REPROVING GOD

[SW495] 09/25/2021 message notes by

Pastor Susan J. Wynn

Reproving God

Text: Job 40:1-8, etc.

NOTE: Reprove means “correct.”

Who would be so foolish as to reprove the one true God? Only those who trust in their own righteousness. 

To trust in your own righteousness is to trust in your own ability to do right and to be good. That is the fruit of pride. Why do I say that? Because apart from the Lord and what He is able to do in human hearts, none of us is righteous, not even one (Romans 3:10, 12). 

And yet many of today’s churchgoers are just like Job. I used to be like them, but then I turned to the Lord. I was desperate to know Him intimately by experiencing Him personally, for I learned that I could know Him that way, by being filled with the Holy Spirit. When I learned that truth, I obeyed His commandments regarding the Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5).

Now I freely confess that I have no righteousness of my own! But because I obeyed, He and the Father and the Spirit fully indwell me, so His righteousness fully indwells me. I trust in His righteousness that is in me. 

Job did many outward good works to please the Lord. But the Lord allowed Satan to afflict Job for months. Why? To reveal to Job that Job trusted in his own righteousness. I will show it to you, just as the Lord has shown it to me from the Book of Job.

After Job had defended himself before the Lord throughout his troubles, exalted himself with a hymn to himself in Job 29, and accused Him of wrongly judging him, the Lord spoke to him  —

Job 40:1   Then the LORD said to Job,

²  “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? 

Let him who reproves God answer it.”

Job 40:3   Then Job answered the LORD and said,

⁴  “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? 

I lay my hand on my mouth.

⁵  “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; 

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

Job 40:6   Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said,

⁷  “Now gird up your loins like a man; 

I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

⁸  “Will you really annul My judgment? 

Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?”

Job’s three friends had accused him of sinning in various ways, and Job had denied all of their accusations. But they had missed the underlying cause of Job’s self-defense — the sin of pride, which Job revealed when he accused God of being unfair to him as he argued his case before Him, as if in a court of law (Job 23:4)!

Elihu, who had heard what Job’s three friends had said, and had heard Job’s replies, spoke from God after his three friends had stopped speaking because Job was righteous in his own eyes (32:1). 

Elihu repeated Job’s words to Job —

Job 33:8    “Surely you have spoken in my hearing, 

And I have heard the sound of your words:

⁹  ‘I am pure, without transgression; 

I am innocent and there is no guilt in me.

¹⁰  ‘Behold, He invents pretexts against me; 

He counts me as His enemy.

¹¹  ‘He puts my feet in the stocks; 

He watches all my paths.’”

Then Elihu said —

Job 33:12  “Behold, let me tell you, you are not right in this, for God is greater than man.¹³ Why do you complain against Him (saying) that He does not give an account of all His doings?”

I tell you the truth, the Lord has allowed Satan to sift you like wheat (Luke 22:31), O churchgoer who does the same! He allows Satan to have at you so that you see your pride and self-righteousness, and repent. 

But many of you will accuse the Lord of doing wrong toward you. Do you not see that you are judging the Lord? He shows you your heart! But will you repent?

Your cries are as empty as Job’s, for you accuse God of being unrighteous. I tell you the same truth as Elihu told Job —

Job 35:13 “Surely God will not listen to an empty (evil, false) cry, 

Nor will the Almighty regard it.

¹⁴  “How much less when you say you do not behold Him, 

The case is before Him, and you must wait for Him!

¹⁵  And now, because He has not visited in His anger, 

Nor has He acknowledged transgression well (literally, great stupidity),

¹⁶  Job opens his mouth emptily; 

He multiplies words without knowledge.”

The Lord asks you today, O sinning churchgoer, exactly what He asked Job —

Job 40:1   Then the LORD said to Job,

²  “Will the faultfinder contend with the Almighty? 

Let him who reproves God answer it.”

Job 40:6   Then the LORD answered Job out of the storm and said,

⁷  “Now gird up your loins like a man; 

I will ask you, and you instruct Me.

⁸  “Will you really annul My judgment? 

Will you condemn Me that you may be justified?”

Job was shocked, appalled, and convicted  at His words. But will you also be shocked, appalled and convicted because He says the same words to you?

Job 40:3   Then Job answered the LORD and said,

⁴  “Behold, I am insignificant; what can I reply to You? 

I lay my hand on my mouth.

⁵  “Once I have spoken, and I will not answer; 

Even twice, and I will add nothing more.”

Again, O prideful and self-righteous churchgoer, will you repent, as Job did?

Job 42:1   Then Job answered the LORD and said,

²  “I know that You can do all things, 

And that no purpose of Yours can be thwarted.

If you repent, you will quote the Lord and confess that you were stupid to accuse Him —

³  ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’ 

“Therefore I have declared that which I did not understand, 

Things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.”

⁴  ‘Hear, now, and I will speak; 

I will ask You, and You instruct me.’

⁵  “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; 

But now my eye sees You;

⁶  Therefore I retract, 

And I repent in dust and ashes.”

Do you hear Him today? Does your eye see Him today? Then do as Job did! 

I tell you the truth, if you receive the truth He has asked me to speak today, and repent and return to Him and obey His commandments regarding the Spirit, He will surely release you from Satan’s grasp and change your heart! 

You will no longer rely upon your good deeds and your own righteousness, but upon His righteousness, for He will fill you with His righteousness! Then you will be right in His eyes, and when you stand before Him in the day of judgment, He will say, “Well done!” 

He has shown you that you are trusting in your own righteousness. But if you stubbornly continue to do it, He surely will let Satan sift you like wheat. If you still refuse to repent, you will face His righteous judgment in the day of judgment, and the Lord will sentence you to hell.

He does not desire that any perish, but that all come to repentance (2Peter 3:9). Therefore, repent! Amen, Lord Jesus.

NO ONE CAN THWART HIS PLAN

[SW494] 09/18/2021 message notes by

Pastor Susan J. Wynn

No One Can Thwart His Plan

Text: Ezekiel 2 &3, Jeremiah 29:11-19, etc.

NOTE: Thwart means “overthrow.”

As Jeff and I were taking the Lord’s Supper after last Sunday’s evening prayer, the Lord said to me, “No one can thwart My plan.” I immediately knew that was the title for today’s message from Ezekiel and Jeremiah. 

That word is a great encouragement for those who love and therefore obey Jesus Christ! And it is a warning for those who continue to sin.

Behold His plan! He formed His plan before He and His Son created the cosmos (Hebrews 1:2)! And no one can thwart His plan!

Behold His plan! Before anything was created, a slain Lamb stood with the Father, in heaven — His Son, Jesus Christ (Revelation 5:6). He was the perfect, sinless offering for your past sins, if you believe into Christ and obey Him. No one can thwart His plan.

Behold His plan! Before anything was created, He knew that the rebellious would continue to sin and would reject the words of those He sent to warn them to repent. So why did He send them? To be His witnesses against them, so they could not say, “We did not know the truth.” No one can thwart His plan!

For those who have sought him with all their hearts and were found by Him, it gives me great pleasure to say that no one can thwart His plan! I will show it to you.

For those who say they are His but stubbornly rebel against Him, it gives me no pleasure at all to say that no one can thwart His plan for those who say they are His but stubbornly rebel against Him. I will show it to you.

Behold His plan! Where can you find it? In the Word of God! 

In the days when both Ezekiel and Jeremiah faithfully served Him, Judah had rebelled against the Lord by going after false gods, and refused to repent. And because He knew from before creation that they would rebel, He had already established their punishment — they would die, unless they repented. No one could thwart His plan.

He commanded Ezekiel to speak to Judah —

Ezekiel 2:1   Then He said to me, “Son of man, stand on your feet that I may speak with you!” ² As He spoke to me the Spirit entered me and set me on my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me. ³ Then He said to me, “Son of man, I am sending you to the sons of Israel, to a rebellious people who have rebelled against Me; they and their fathers have transgressed against Me to this very day.” 

⁴ “I am sending you to them who are stubborn and obstinate children, and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord GOD.’ ⁵ “As for them, whether they listen or not — for they are a rebellious house — they will know that a prophet has been among them (that is, the prophet was the Lord’s witness against them).”

What kind of house was Judah and members of all the 12 tribes that resided there? A rebellious house filled with rebellious people — the Lord uses that word 17 times in the Book of Ezekiel!

Behold His plan! Just as the Lord called Ezekiel to exhort and warn rebellious Judah, I am called to exhort and warn today’s rebellious churchgoers. I speak the same thing the Lord commanded Ezekiel to speak to Judah. If I do not, I will be held responsible for your eternal perishing (see Ezekiel 3:18-19).   

Behold His plan for today’s sinning churchgoers! If you turn away from Jesus Christ after you have confessed Him as your Lord, you will die (perish eternally) in your sin and your righteous deed you had done — confessing Christ — shall not be remembered (Ezekiel 3:20)! 

How have you rebelled? By continuing to sin, and then refusing to obey His commands regarding the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5). But if you had obeyed, you would be set free from your rebellion, and set completely free from slavery to sin because sin would no longer be in you (John 8:31-36, Galatians 5:24)! 

I warn today’s rebellious church that encourages self-worship (“What’s in it for me, God?”) and worship of another Jesus (2Corinthians 11:4) that they have created from their own imagination. 

I warn today’s sinning churchgoers about the “once saved, always saved” lie that you have been taught. I tell you the truth, no one can thwart His plan, not even those liars!  

If you continue to sin after coming into the knowledge of the truth of Jesus Christ (Hebrews 10:26) and confessing Him as Lord, do not depend on your righteous act of confessing Jesus Christ, for the Lord has forgotten it entirely!Unless you repent and obey Him, hell awaits you.

Because I warn you as He has commanded me to do, I am His witness, speaking His words of warning. Therefore, you cannot say, “We did not know.”

I tell you the truth, no one can thwart His plan for those who repent from the heart and ask Him to heal the sin-sickness of their hearts. And no one can thwart His plan for those who continue to rebel after being warned. 

O sinning churchgoer, do not be foolish! He does not desire that any perish, but that all come to repentance (2Peter 3:9). 

What is repentance? The Lord describes it in Jeremiah 29. 

Behold His plan for those who are captives of sin but return to Him, seeking Him and searching for Him with all their hearts, and who obey His commandments to stay and wait until they are filled with the Holy Spirit, in a moment of time (Luke 24:49, Acts 1:4-5)! No one can thwart His plan! 

Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans that I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans for welfare (peace) and not for calamity (harm, wretchedness) to give you a future and a hope (literally, a cord, so they are attached to Him forever). ¹² Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” 

¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and I will restore your fortunes (literally, restore you from captivity) and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,” declares the LORD, “and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.”

— They will be found by Him! No one can thwart His plan!

— They will be at peace with Him forever! No one can thwart His plan!

— They will not be harmed and made wretched like those who rebel against Him! He will crucify their sin nature in a moment of time, and purify their hearts (Galatians 5:24, Acts 15:9). No one can thwart His plan! 

— He will permanently attach them to Himself with a cord. Jesus Christ and the Father and the Holy Spirit will permanently and fully indwell them (John 14:17, 23)! No one can thwart His plan!

— He will restore them from captivity to sin, setting them completely free from slavery to it (John 8:34-36), when He crucifies their sin nature and purifies their heart and fills them! No one can thwart His plan!

— Therefore, they will no longer be exiled from His presence. No one can thwart His plan!

But behold His plan for rebellious churchgoers who refuse to listen to His warnings to return to Him, and His plan for those who continue to speak ear-pleasing lies to them and those who love their words! No one can thwart His plan!

Jeremiah 29:17   . . . thus says the LORD of hosts, “Behold, I am sending upon them the sword, famine and pestilence, and I will make them like split-open figs that cannot be eaten due to rottenness. ¹⁸ I will pursue them with the sword, with famine and with pestilence; and I will make them a terror to all the kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse and a horror and a hissing, and a reproach among all the nations where I have driven them, ¹⁹ because they have not listened to My words,”declares the LORD, “which I sent to them again and again by My servants the prophets; but you did not listen,” declares the LORD.

O sinning churchgoer, will you serve the Lord, or continue to serve yourself? Will you heed the warnings He has given me to speak, or reject them? Will you rely upon your confession of Jesus Christ as your Lord, though you continue to rebel against Him and refuse to obey His commandments that would set you free from your rebellion? Or will you repent?

No one can thwart His plan! I have shown you His plan. Therefore, repent and obey Him! Amen, Lord Jesus!