Before I share God’s message with you, I want to tell you about a wonderful miracle from God that happened only a few days ago.
God has placed a desire in my heart to evangelise. The idea was to give gifts to mums from Monaghan Town, and also mums from our Church, on Mother’s Day.
So we got everything ready, the gifts, the bags, a message of love for each, and we prayed and fasted so it would not rain on the day of the evangelism.
You know, we are in Ireland, and here, it rains every day… It seemed crazy to think that it would not rain on that one day in March. But we prayed for it. God is a God of miracles, amen?
I’ve saw many miracles like that before, like when a group of people and I were going to evangelise in Brazil. When it would rain, we would pray and many times we saw the rain stop and the sun come out…
So, I invited my family to pray for the sun and also our whole church was praying for this miracle (our church had 12 hours of prayer this day) . We prayed that whole week.
The day of the event came around and when we were setting up the tent in front of the Court house it was snowing and raining… But we had already prayed, so, we didn’t stop. The moment we finished putting up the tent and started placing the gift bags down, we looked at the sky and we realised that the rain had stopped and the sun was out shining! Praised be God! We had sunshine until the end of the event. When we finished the rain started again! There is power in Jesus name. And I am telling you this to inspire you to believe, to pray and experience miracles in your life. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. Amen?! So rejoice in him!
May the Lord bless you and speak with you right now, in Jesus name!
Let’s read Ephesians 6:13
“Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.”
Ephesians 6:13
Apostle Paul wrote this letter to the Church of Ephesians.
Ephesians’ letter is first and foremost a very encouraging letter for those who read it.
In this Chapter, Paul is reminding the readers to be ready to face the day of evil with the full armour of God.
You can later read the entire chapter 6. It’s an encouraging and marvellous chapter. You can learn a lot, but today I want to focus on verse 13.
The bible says: When the day of evil comes…
It means me and you will have days of evil. They will come…unfortunately we will face bad days.
And when that day comes, Who will help you? Who will stand for you? Who will fight for you?
You’ll find out today…
The message is: On That day, they will not help you!
Have you ever been tested? Have you ever had a problem so big, that in your eyes it was impossible to solve?
Have you ever stood before a giant, with trembling legs, weak knees, your heart beating really fast? It seemed as if God had not heard your prayer, it seemed like God was not there for you?
If you have lived through something like that, you have faced the day of evil…
Do you know that on that day your faith will be tested?
The bible says:
“In all this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honour when Jesus Christ is revealed.” 1 Peter 1:6-7
Like Gold that is purified by fire, our faith will be tested to result in praise, glory and honour to Jesus Christ.
But, my question To you is: When the day of evil comes, and it will come, on the day your faith is tested, what are you going to do?
Many people are putting their trust on things of this earth. Maybe you are excepting that some help from the wrong sources, and today I’m here to point you to the right way.
I have a list here, and none of these things will help you on the day your faith is tested.
I’d like to share it with you, and Please open up your heart while I am preaching to enable God to search you, search your heart, to examine you completely and approve you on that day.
So, when the day of evil comes…
–Be careful with your faith on Money: It will not help you.
Look what Jesus said about money…
“No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”
Matthew 6:24
Many people says they love God, but their trust is actually on money, on their careers, their jobs.
Did you know you can be worshiping more than one God? This is what Jesus said: No one can serve 2 masters. If you love the one you will hate the other. If you love your money too much, or your Job, you hate God.
I was a Bank Manager in Brazil. I had many Clients who were millionaires. They had a lot of money.
One day, one of my clients came to my office. He was very rich, he had great wealth… And he asked for my help, I helped him, and suddenly he says to me:
Paulo, How much do you earn here at the bank? He was my friend, so I told to him my salary.
Later, he made me an offer.
He told: If you want to be a millionaire, you have to do what I did in your age. He looked into my eyes and said: Do what I did: Sell your soul to the devil.
I got scared and I asked: What did you just say to me?
He said it again: if you want to be a millionaire like me, sell your soul to the Devil. He had given the advice to the wrong person. Of course I didn’t do that. I could not do that, because My soul was bought by Jesus blood on the cross. I know he paid a high price for me, and I’m not available. I have an owner and He is Jesus!
My brother, be careful with the money and all the offers you will receive along the way… It can seem like a good thing to be rich, but you can lose your salvation… You can live without God forever.
Don’t let money take over you.
Don’t think money can do everything or you are the one who’s going to end up doing everything for money. Have balance in your life and know this: On the day when your faith is tested, money won’t help you.
The bible says that we have a Provider. He cares about us.
Jesus said: “Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry, and whoever believes in me will never be thirsty.”
John 6:35
Trust in God who is your Provider.
Another lesson:
When the day of evil comes…
–Social class will not help you
The bible says that a young man once had a chat with Jesus. He had a good social class, but his heart was far away from God.
He asked Jesus: What must I do to inherit eternal life?
Read Jesus’ answer with me:
Mark 10
“You know the commandments: ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, you shall not defraud, honour your father and mother.’ ” “Teacher,” he declared, “all these I have kept since I was a boy.” Jesus looked at him and loved him. “One thing you lack,” he said. “Go, sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” At this the man’s face fell. He went away sad, because he had great wealth.”
Mark 10:19-22
Oh my friend, Social class means nothing to God. When the evil day comes, it doesn’t matter if you are the President, a manager, a super star… social class means nothing.
Do not run after it. Invest your time in God’s presence more than your Job.
Because of Covid, many people are dying, unfortunately, and many people who had good social classes have equally died because of the lack of something that is free to all: oxygen. Business men, Doctors, lawyers, they could not breath. Air is free, but they had no air, so they died, unfortunately…
My brother, the evil day will come and social class won’t help us. So, why waste time in something like status?
Like the Rich man in the book of Mark, he didn’t want to lose his position, his status, so he refused to follow Jesus. He thought only on this earth, forgetting about eternity…
So when the day of evil comes, social class will not help you.
Let God do his plan in your life. He always has the best plan.
The bible says: “He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people. He settles the childless woman in her home as a happy mother of children. Praise the Lord.”
Psalms 113:7-9
The best social class is being a Child of God. He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ashes. Praise the Lord!
When the day of evil comes…
–Your Strength will not help you
Do you think you are strong enough to overcome a bad day?
When Hell comes against you, when you are lost, you have to fight against the darkness… No, you will not be strong enough to defeat the Devil. We have to understand that without Jesus we are nothing. We are weak, we are not strong by ourselves… We need help to overcome bad days.
Look what Paul said when he was praying against a thorn in his body:
“Three times I pleaded with the Lord to take it away from me. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
2 Corinthians 12:8-10
The grace of Jesus is sufficient for us, for his power is made perfect in our weakness.
We are not strong, we are weak, and in our weaknesses the power of Jesus makes us strong. So, when I am weak, then I am strong in the Lord.
Don’t trust in your power… you have no power to fight this battle alone.
Don’t trust in your knowledge. You are not smart enough to overcome it without Jesus.
Ask for help, tell God: I am here, please help me to overcome my bad days, help me to have my faith tested and approved.
The book of Ephesians says:
“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.”
Ephesians 6:10
Be strong in the Lord.
If you are alone, you are weak… If you have God, you are strong in the Lord and in his mighty power.
Your strength will not help you. So, be strong in the Lord!
So, today we learned that we have bad days… The day of evil will come, and we have to be ready to face it.
-Money will not help you
Take care with the offers you receive. Money is not everything in life.
Consider whether this job will help you get closer to God, closer to your family….
Evaluate whether this proposal will be good or not for your relationship with God.
Consider whether this new situation will take you away from your family … Say NO to offers from the Devil!
-Social class will not help you
Do not run after what is fleeting, what does not take into eternity, such as social class, status.
God is your provider. He cares about you.
-Your strength and knowledge means nothing before God
Be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. He will make you powerful in your weaknesses.
So, if you are living a bad day or you if you are going to face it one day, trust in the Lord and declare it:
“You have been a refuge for the poor, a refuge for the needy in their distress, a shelter from the storm and a shade from the heat..
Isaiah 25:4
When the day of evil comes, declare it:
“Keep me safe, my God, for in you I take refuge.”
Psalms 16:1
Declare it:
“I love you, Lord, my strength. The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.”
Psalms 18:1-3
On that day, put the full armour of God on, because he is able to help you.
May the Lord bless you.