INTRODUCTION.  

Let us pretend we are walking in a garden and there we meet with Jonah, Lot, Jesus and John. Our first conversation is with Jonah. That same Jonah who was in the belly of the big fish for three days and three nights.
Jonah, we ask him, “Do you have any advice for us as Christian’s today”
Jonah replied: “You Christians, yes you Tia and most of you who sit here to-day, you have often asked for The Lord’s presence to go with you. You must do it more and more till it becomes a reality to you. I was a prophet who tried to run from His presence. Many of you are doing the same, when things become a bit hot and Jesus say to you come closer my child, closer, you run. I had come to understand the responsibility that comes from being close to him. In His presence all wood, hay and stubble is consumed.
He is a Holy God and if you want to walk close to Him you must live Holy too and follow His instructions. There is no place for HIDDEN SIN. If you have a hidden sin, He may send a great beast out of the sea and you may land in the belly of the beast. It will swallow you for a time and you will be at a dangerous place. But you will be vomited out and then you will be ready to go and tell, to follow His instructions and to preach His message. You don’t need to be swallowed you can repent to-day here in this church and go the way He wants you to go from today. It may not be so easy and comfortable in the beast’s belly it may be really difficult. Repent now, change your ways and follow Him. Don’t let the beast, as a result of your sin or your unwillingness to change, swallow you. People run to Him and not from Him as I did”.
Then Lot said: Remember the mercy the Lord had for Nineveh. He had mercy because Jonah preached. Tia, you asked why you always have to bring these difficult words, God said to Jonah “Arise go to Nineveh, that great city and cry against it, for their wickedness has come up before me.”  When he was out of the belly Jonah did what God asked him to do and Nineveh listened. Everybody including the King dressed himself in sackcloth and cried out before the Lord – they travailed as Babette said. And they turned from their wicked ways. And God saw that they turned from their wicked ways and repented and saved the city. Can we do it Church? Yes sister, you must preach the Word and prevent the Lord’s people from perishing.
Jonah preached the word of God. There is power in the Word. The Lord saved me, Lot, in a wonderful miraculous way. And you people of this church?  I first had to be obedient and listened to His word. There is power in the word. There is no darkness so dark that He cannot penetrate it. Abide in His presence always. He is the Lord of all.
Jonah interrupted: He is the Lord of all and not our servant. We must everyday ask Him what He wants and not always and only ask things from Him. We must call on Him and ask what He wants for Himself and what He wants us to do. A closer walk with Him – a turn away from sin – that is the main message from me to you.
Too many of us do our work without Him. He must be first in our lives. God does not exist for the sake of His house. His house and His children exist for Him. Those who hear the Lord’s voice and open to Him will sit with Him at His table.
Then I (Tia) said to Jesus: Jesus have mercy on us  - we repent today. We need your mercy and your forgiveness. Is there any chance that we will receive forgiveness?  And Jesus answered me “Believers will be given mercy. I will forgive you if you are really sorry and repent. THE TIME WHEN I COME AGAIN IS NEAR. The end times are times of great trouble and you cannot make it without me. Stop wasting your time.Those who seek to save their lives will loose it, but those who loose it, yes those who loose their lives for my sake, will find true life. I will give them an abundant life even more than they have asked for. I want you to talk to John and tell my people what I told John at the Island of Patmos”.
I asked John:  John,   What is it all about in Revelations?
And John said: “It was wonderful to listen to Jonah and Lot telling you to follow Him, to move closer to Him.
 I had a wonderful experience at Patmos. Jesus telling me all these wonderful things – giving the last prophecy to appear in His Word. I saw Jesus dressed in a robe reaching down to His feet and with a golden sash around His chest. His head and hair were white like wool as white as snow, and His eyes were like blazing fire. His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace and His voice was like the sound of rushing waters. In His right hand He held seven stars and out of His mouth came a sharp double edged sword. His face was like the sun shining in all its brilliance.
Do you know it is all about Jesus? Read Revelation 1 verse 11. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last
Jesus wants you to read Revelation. It has a  blessing to those who read it,  Blessed is he who reads aloud the words of the prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written therein; for the time is near (1:3)… because it essentially shows the triumph of Jesus Christ in His Church…
    … And Satan does not want us to read nor understand it, because it shows the total failure of Satan and his followers… and for centuries Satan has almost succeeded… but he always eventually fails!… read Revelation with much love and a little humility, and you will understand it as a glorious tool to help you to go to Heaven.
Sermon starts.
Brothers and sisters do you know that the book of Revelation
is an Apocalypse, a prophecy/revelation on many things - a quick glimpse of the future? Above all, it tells us that Jesus is the King of Kings and the Lord of Lords, our Triumphant King with a total and eternal victory with his Church, for his Church, in his Church and to his Church…with the total and eternal defeat of Satan and his followers.
In the book of Revelation Jesus is speaking to His people facing persecution, facing death, to a people under all kinds of pressures and he said to them as He is saying to us today and this is the crux of the message in this book: It is all right, I have taken the heat, I come down to the place where you are, I come down into the furnace of your despair. I come down into the furnace of your heart and I will bring you out. The good news for us is that in whatever circumstances we find ourselves, under whatever pressure we are, however hot it is getting wherever we are Jesus says I am with you, to save you, to deliver you, to protect you.
  In order to any clear understanding of the book we must never lose sight of its object, as stated in the opening sentence, to show to his servants what must soon take place… soon!… for you and for me, the day we die… and at the end of the world, of course.    But even before that, the book is The revelation of Jesus Christ, as He is now, as He will be all eternity, and what he is doing now for you and me…
\”Apocalypse\” means \”revelation\”, \”discovery\”… and the heart of the book is to discover the final, total and complete triumph of Jesus Christ in his church, with his church, by his church, and for his church… with a final total and complete defeat of Satan and his followers… it is a book of the history of salvation of the church, and of you and me.    Revelation\’s message is that he who is with Jesus Christ will prevail: He will have joy and love and peace in this life, and a glorious eternal one in the New Jerusalem… and he who is in sin, with Satan, will fail: He will have no love nor joy nor peace on earth, and he will go to eternal Hell.
    A Book of Consolation: This is the part that many people never even think of:     Although it has over 300 symbols with mysterious visions and catastrophic cosmic events that seem incomprehensible, it was very clear for the humble people addressed… it was a letter of consolation rather than a book.   ¼br />     It was written for the Christians in a \”great crisis of faith\”: They lived in the catacombs, persecuted and killed by the Romans who threw them to the lions in ridiculous feasts of diversion, and it seemed that Jesus was doing nothing; he was not moving even a finger to help them…     … And here comes Revelation, to assure them, that eventually the final total and complete triumph is theirs.
    As John said  … And Satan does not want us to read nor understand it, because it shows the total failure of Satan and his followers…
Brothers and sisters come let us  understand it as a glorious tool to help many to go to Heaven.
    The value of Sufferings in life: They are the Trumpets of God. God loves us the way we are, right now… but he loves too much to leave us that way!
    - He whispers in our ears with the nature and the Bible… but often we don\’t listen to Him.
    - Then, He talks to us through His Church… and, again, we don\’t listen to God.
    - Finally, God shouts in our ears, with the trumpets of God, the sufferings, pains… they are the megaphones of God. My plea to you today is come listen and hear what the Spirit of the Lord is saying to you His church, His body.
Come to Me Have a close walk with me – turn your back on sin.
 Many Prophecies of Revelation are meant for the End of the World… but also for your life and mine today!… every person on earth will have to suffer his own Abomination of Desolation and his own Great Tribulation… the call of every Trumpet which are the calls of God to repentance… the megaphones of God..Jesus wants us to repent, to follow Him, to walk close to Him to turn our back on sin.
     Here our Lord Jesus justly challenges the same honour and power that is ascribed to the Father. He is the beginning and the end; all things are from him and for him; he is the Almighty; he is the same eternal and unchangeable one.    Brothers and sisters in Revelation as elsewhere in the bible Jesus says in chapter 21 verse 7. He that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. I want to be that son and you?
A story about a girl who had aids. I found the story on the Internet. (a slightly shortened version)
HIV
In the girls words.
From the time I was five years old, I can remember trusting in the finished work of Christ\’s shed blood on the Cross and His Resurrection over sin and death. I had a sense a presence and knew I was never alone since early childhood. I trusted in that still small voice of the Holy Spirit to guide me. Sometimes I just chose to ignore it.
Unfortunately along the road I went astray and often ignored the voice.
One of those instances where I chose to debate that voice was in April of 1983, around Easter. I was 19 years old. I was with my \”friend\”, Roy, staying with him for the weekend. Roy considered himself bisexual. We would often go out dancing to alternative clubs. I had a history of sexual abuse, abandonment and rejection. Like many children, I sexually experimented with other girls as a young girl, but my desire to be with females grew stronger. I was sexually attracted to men but also found I was becoming more emotionally and sexually drawn to women. Roy and myself had sex that night and just before the act the Holy Spirit warned me about a disease but I did not listen and …
After I started school that summer, I began to look at the life I was living. I tried to pull away from being promiscuous and instead became intimately involved with one person. She was my true love and the third woman I had been with as an adult. We remained turbulently together for almost two years. . During this time, I began to get sick. I was sick for months but my family doctors just kept giving me antibiotics that were not working to clear up my cough. I had diarrhea for over a month. The night sweats had me changing at least twice before I woke up to begin my day. That time not much was known about HIV and Aids. But somehow I got tested and got the results back, they were positive for HIV.
I just wanted to run to God and needed to get away from everyone to get a moment with Him, alone. When I finally got downstairs and onto the street my body was walking but my mind was searching for another place. I prayed as I walked up and down 5th Ave.  I finally decided it was time to let go and pray the sinner\’s prayer. I began to whisper, \”Dear Jesus, I confess I am a sinner and have missed the mark in every way. My life has been lived for me and I have not really trusted you with it. Please forgive me.\” I began to think of all the people I had hurt out of my own pain. I could not begin to remember them all. Then, Christ spoke in that still quiet voice. \”Come to the cross.\” As I walked to the top edge of the Hill District of Pittsburgh I stopped in my tracks and saw a picture of Jesus on the Cross. He was broken, bleeding and dying. \”Lay it down here. All of it. You can do nothing with it. Let it go. I have done it all. It is finished. Receive what I have given. Receive forgiveness and forgive yourself. Receive my salvation. I have saved you. Receive my healing. I have healed you. It was all done here. Take it.\” Tears rolled down my cheeks as I began to really understand that no matter what I had done right, I could never do enough. And because I had done so many wrong things, they still were covered by his love.
While I walked, I told God that I wanted to be healed and to heal me. I was overcome with emotions that came from a deep angst in the depths of my heart. My heart was crying out to be loved with the kind of love we can only get from heavenly places. That was the only kind of love that could heal me. I wanted it and I wanted to be able to feel it for others without being afraid.

Continuing to pace, as I walked and cried a heat came over me from the top of my head down to my feet. It was as if an electrical bolt had come down from heaven just for me. It left as quick as it came but I still felt hot inside like I was on fire but not burning. It was an incredible feeling. I began praising God quietly, through my tears of joy, from a place of overwhelming gratitude, right there on Fifth Ave. \”Oh, Thank you, Father. Thank you, Jesus. You really love me. I love you.\” I was given divine orders to go home and rest and get in the Holy Bible, reading only the New Testament and specifically the words of Christ. I was not to speak on the phone to my lover, Lila or listen to music that would distract me. That night was the first night I slept sound until morning. I had no more night sweats, dry cough or diarrhea and my throat wasn\’t sore. I was healed. I had to believe in what I could not see before I could see the invisible. My symptoms never came back.
But sometimes loneliness got hold of me and I would go into a state of depression.
Then I attempted suicide because my pain at being gay and heartbroken was so real. Again, God miraculously prompted my little sister to leave her school in the middle of her classes and walk home. She found me unconscious in my bed and the empty pill bottle next to me and called 911 and my mother. The doctors said I was a miracle but I didn\’t feel like it. I felt like utter a failure who had wasted her life and couldn\’t even end it right or stop being gay. Things did begin to turn around because I began to pray and ask God for strength instead of going it all alone until I got in a tight spot. I sought help daily, hourly, moment by moment until my heart breathed new life and my mind marched to new orders. (She was adamant)
 Two years later, 1987, I surrendered completely and began to attend church, got baptized by water and fire of Holy Spirit. That was what I had needed all along. But, I had a hard time trusting and letting go of everything at the same time. Once I got the baptism of power, things that had me bound for over a decade, such as cigarettes and sex addiction, fell off overnight. I quit both almost immediately. But keeping them away took prayer, fasting and the word until I was strong enough to resist without second thoughts and third ones to give in.

God meets us where we are and gives us what we need, whatever the gift is, whether a prophetic word of encouragement or wisdom to take the next step or healing to begin living with a future and a hope.
True love had no conditions and is something given freely…it’s the only thing that can change us. Only by receiving God\’s love and healing can we even begin to think about changing. And some of us are really stubborn. We need all the help we can get. Remember, \”Love Conquers All\” (Omnia Vincit Amor-Latin)! That Love is what faith works by. Faith works by love. That is the only thing that overcomes death, disease, sin…Love! Love covers a multitude of sins and your private burden of sin, disease and death is no exception! Have faith in God…Mark 11:22-26.
I am now God’s child. I have turned my life on sin… I walk a close walk with him.
I took me years and so much love and forgiveness from God. He was there every time I stumbled. I wanted to live victoriously. I now have love and joy and peace.
End of story.

I got the following steps for a closer walk with God from the daily encourager:
SEVEN STEPS TO CHANGE YOUR LIFE

#1  -  Assume Responsibility For Your Own Life! But trust in Him. Let us look at the blind man Bartomaeus: \”When He heard it was Jesus coming… He Began To Cry Out.\” He asked for help. He knew that he had a problem.
Own up to your own responsibility. When you listen to people talk about their problems, do you notice that it\’s always someone else\’s fault? Teenagers blame their parents, Parents blame their children, and Workers blame their co-workers or their boss. Things happen you can\’t control - but you can control your response.

 What did Bartimaeus do and not do.
    1. He didn\’t blame someone else. He didn\’t think that God or anyone else owed him something.
    2. He did go to Jesus. He humbled himself and sought help and deliverance.

#2  -  Believe You Can Change
\”Lord, That I Might Receive My Sight.\”
He believed he wouldn\’t walk away the same.  He believed the promise#3  - Clarify What You Really Need
\”What is it that I Should Do for you?\”
Specific prayers get specific answers. . He wants us to tell him what we need - exactly what we need. Jesus will meet your needs when you tell him what your needs are. But sometimes He doesn\’t meet your needs because you never tell Him what you really want and how you really feel.Notice Bartimaeus\’ cry - \”Have mercy on me\”. Yet notice, he didn\’t cry out for food, or clothing, or money or housing. He was given sight that day. He was healed that day - because he realized that his most basic need was for mercy and grace. He needed what only Jesus was offering.
And because of that, he was healed.