Pastor Matt Hagee – “Day of Decisions, Part 2”
In a powerful message, Pastor Matt Hagee calls believers to make a pivotal choice. Drawing from the story of Elijah on Mount Carmel, he urges us to stand boldly in faith amid today’s divisive world. Just as Elijah challenged the people of Israel, our society’s moral decay and spiritual compromise reminds us that now is a time to choose whom we will serve. With comparisons to historical and biblical figures like David, Moses, and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, we learn the importance of unwavering faith, obedience, and prayer in facing modern-day challenges. The “woke” agenda, the erosion of traditional values, and the struggle for religious freedom require that believers not to be silent but declare their faith in the God who answers by fire. The message is clear: now is not the time to waver. God’s miracles in the past assure us of His power today if we will stand firm and pray for His intervention. Explore passages from 1 Kings, Acts, and Psalms that outline five steps to spiritual victory: confronting our challenges, having faith, obeying God’s Word, praying earnestly, and persevering. With conviction, Christians are to remain steadfast, and are warned that, like Israel in Elijah’s day, our nation faces a defining moment. This powerful message is a rallying cry for those who long to see God’s truth and righteousness restored in the world.
in just a few
days the answer to the question who will
be the next president of the United
States will be
answered but right now for all of the
nation it’s a day of
decision and this decision is not a
greater or lesser this decision is an
either or you could not have two
positions that are more opposed than the
ones that we face in the United States
right
now it a matter of fact creates a number
of questions about what will be the mood
in this nation with the transition of
power as the results get announced how
will the world
react but I want to take you to a place
in the Bible where this type of decision
has been addressed
before it’s in the book of First Kings
the 18th chapter the 21st
verse many of you have heard the story
about Elisha on top of Mount
Carmel the nation has been in a
drought Israel is economically suffering
because it is turned away from Jehovah
God the creator of Heaven and Earth to
Baal a false god Now understand this
Baal was the preferred God of
Jezebel she was the wife of Ahab when
she came to power she persecuted the
priests in the temple who worshiped
Jehovah she killed them she imprisoned
them and intimidated anyone who was a
professed believer in Jehovah because
she wanted baale her God to be God you
say that sounds
ridiculous but isn’t that what’s
happening
now aren’t we being forced to remain
silent about the faith that we possess
being mocked publicly by candidates from
an Open Stage saying that we’re at the
wrong place at the wrong time and should
go somewhere else in a land that
celebrates freedom of speech we’re being
told to be
quiet while the woke agenda a Godless
agenda it’s
almost followed with the same devotion
of a religion it takes more faith to
believe that someone born a man can
become a woman and someone born a woman
can become a man and that there’s now
dozens of genders for you to choose from
it takes more faith to believe that than
it does believe in the evidence of what
God’s word teaches so ask yourself are
things any different now than they were
then as you know Elijah the prophet goes
to King Ahab and he says it’s not going
to rain unless I say it’s going to rain
and for 3 years it didn’t rain in Israel
now the reason why rain was such a
significant thing is because the economy
of Israel was an agrarian economy in
order for the crops to grow in order for
their Farms to prosper they needed rain
in the Bible rain in its season is
always a blessing from
God Only God can water the
flowers and so when Elijah says it’s not
going to rain Not only was he announcing
an
economic
disaster but he was saying to everyone
who believed that Baal was
God that he was not because while god
Jehovah created the heavens and the
Earth those who woried Baal said that
baale was in charge of all of creation
he was the one that told the son when to
shine baale was the one that told the
ground what to grow baale was the one
that you should worship and thank when
you harvested baale was the one that you
should pray to when you had a child as a
matter of fact there were elements of
baale worship that required those
children who were conceived at Services
honoring Baal be brought back to the
temple and sacrificed alive to him now
while that sounds graphic is abortion
any less graphic
is that not a live sacrifice of a human
being to the god of self so here in
First Kings chapter 18 there’s been
three years without
rain Israel is in an economic
catastrophe their ground is
be and Elijah comes to the people and he
tells them very quickly it’s a day of
decision here’s what the Bible says and
Elijah came to all the people and said
how long will you falter
between two
opinions if God is God follow him but if
Baal follow him and the people answered
him not a
word Elijah was extending a challenge
not to the government but to the
citizens and he was saying don’t be on
both sides of the
fence he was letting them know you don’t
really believe in what Jezebel says
about Baal but you’re afraid to stand up
against her and yet you don’t have
enough courage to practice your faith
publicly so you won’t stand up for
God you won’t stand against what you
don’t believe and you won’t stand up for
what you do believe and I believe that
there’s a lot of similarities we see in
the world around us today people are
afraid to tell you who they’re going to
vote for because they’re concerned that
you might Outcast them or that you might
not talk to them families are literally
divided to such an extent that they
won’t talk to each other because of how
polarizing this issue is people are
afraid to announce their support for one
candidate or the other in the workplace
there’s a number of things that we see
happening where intimidation means that
you don’t stand against something but
then a lack of Courage means you won’t
stand up for it and in order for
you to be the vessel of Salt and Light
the change agent you were created to be
the soldier in the army of the Living
God who takes a stand in the day of evil
you cannot be afraid to stand up and be
the redeemed of the Lord who say so and
yet in this verse the Bible clearly says
the people answered him not a word we
know the rest of the story Elijah
challenges the 450 prophets of Baal and
the challenge is very simple you offer a
sacrifice I’ll offer a sacrifice The God
Who Answers by fire
He Is God When Elijah puts his sacrifice
on the altar God sends fire from heaven
and the Bible literally says In This
Very chapter that the tongues of fire
licked up the stones and with that
miraculous evidence all of the people
then fall down and declare that God is
God and they turn against the prophets
of
Baal my question is why does God have to
do so many miraculous things for us to
admit that he is who he said he
is why does he have to send fire from
heaven before we believe that his word
is true why does he have to rescue us
from destruction before we’ll obey him
today is a day of
decision and there’s five things that
you’re going to need to do in order to
come through every moment of conflict as
more than a conqueror when you come to a
decision the first thing that you have
to do is admit the problem that you need
to face you have to face the problem
you’ve heard Pastor heggy say you cannot
change what you will not confront how
did this nation get so far a drift from
its foundation we refused to confront
the problem until the problem got so
large it seemed insurmountable verse 21
it says Elijah came to all the people
three years these people have been
suffering
and Elijah hasn’t been suffering he went
to the brook kedron where he had water
he was fed by the Ravens for three years
these people had a famine Elijah didn’t
have a famine Elijah was sent to the
widow woman’s house where the barrel
never went empty and the oil never ran
dry whenever Elijah stood up in front of
this entire nation could you imagine how
alone he
felt how much courage it took to face
that hungry
crowd they’re hungry for food they’re
starving for change they’re looking for
Relief and Elijah confronts them he
doesn’t say I know what you need and I’m
going to give it to you that’d be a
campaign
promise Elijah says how long will you
falter between these two positions until
you confront a problem you can’t solve a
problem the Bible teaches this over and
over how did Moses
solve the problem of the children of
Israel in Egypt he confronted Pharaoh
how did Joshua and Caleb solve the
problem of claiming the promised land
they confronted those who had built
cities there how did David solve the
problem of Goliath he didn’t negotiate
with him he confronted him and in every
decision that you’re going to make in
your life whether it’s a business
decision or a family decision a
financial decision a political decision
you cannot solve the problem until you
confront the problem there isn’t a
better time to address the issue than
right
now why because all you do by putting it
off is making it easier to live with
have you ever noticed how the longer
somebody lives with a problem the easier
it is to accept to the point that
whenever they get relief they really
can’t remember what good was like
because they’ve always been it’s always
been this way I remember in my childhood
when I first got a set of prescription
glasses as I was able to bring my eyes
back into 2020 Vision it was amazing to
me how definitive the leaves on the
trees were because for so long the trees
had just been masses of green I had
adjusted to seeing things unclearly and
accepted that as normal but then when I
was brought back into full Focus I was
amazed at how Vivid all the details were
today is the best day to confront that
problem because when you do you’re going
to realize that the longer you live with
it the more acceptable it becomes you
may have a problem that others don’t
know about you may have a problem in
your professional space you may have a
problem in your marriage whatever it is
I assure you God knows about it and he’s
waiting for you to have the courage to
stand up and address it the next thing
that you need to do when it comes to
confronting a
problem is that you must make up your
mind that you have faith in God put your
confidence in him Elijah presented the
question to the people if God but that
wasn’t a question that he needed to
answer he had already answered it for
himself three three years ago he made
the Declaration to Ahab that it wouldn’t
rain and it didn’t rain then he went
where God sent him to the brook kedron
and then to the Widow’s house and
through his obedience he knew for a fact
that he could have faith in God and God
would not fail him even in this
encounter on top of Mount
Carmel he’s going to offer a sacrifice
that’s supposed to be burned with
fire and yet he says we’re not going to
put any fire under it we’re just going
to let God answer by fire realize that
it’s
450 of baal’s prophets against one
Elijah if they’re wrong and he wins he’s
the man if he’s wrong and they win he’s
dead that’s confidence that kind of
confidence does not come from just
halfhazard decisions
that kind of confidence comes from
someone who has experience with the Lord
consider David how did he have the
confidence to stare in the face of a
giant and tell Goliath you come to me
with spear and a sword but I come to you
in the name of the
Lord he got that confidence because he
had already faced a lion and he had
already faced a
bear and he told King Saul this giant is
going to be just like them because when
God delivered me from The Lion and he
delivered me from the bear he proved to
me that he was faithful consider Meshach
Shadrach and
Abednego how can they stand up against
Nebuchadnezzar knowing that they’re
going to face the fiery furnace they did
it with
confidence I want you to understand that
your confidence not only comes from
proving God at his word acting in faith
upon his promises
but your confidence comes from reading
his word and
praying the Bible says faith cometh by
hearing and hearing by the word of God
the Bible says that whenever you pray
pray in faith believing doubting nothing
because he who doubts is like a wave
that’s tossed by the wind so the first
thing you have to do is admit there is a
problem confront it and then move
forward with the confidence that God is
with you the third thing that’s required
when it comes to facing a problem is
that you have to
choose to stand upon God’s promises it’s
one thing for you to have faith that
God’s with you it’s another thing for
you to be obedient to his word a lot of
times we want to say that the Lord is
with
us but the question should be are we
with him
Jesus said this blessed is he who hears
and does these sayings of
mine understand there’s a difference
between hearing it and doing it if
you’ve got a teenager at home you know
what I’m talking about and I think right
now in this nation there’s a lot of
people who go to church and they hear it
but they don’t go home and do
it and we start to wonder what happened
why isn’t God moving why isn’t his
promise in my life Life coming to pass I
believe God’s with me well the question
needs to be asked are you being obedient
to what he’s asked you to do are you be
being obedient in the small things are
you being obedient in the large
things because he who is faithful in
little will be given much when you’re
obedient to the general will of God God
will start to reveal his specific will
to you when you’re faithful to do what
he calls us all to do give pray fast
read his word these are not special
assignments for special people that’s
something that he wants out of those who
are just simple followers of Christ and
when you’re faithful and obedient in
that then God starts to show you his
specific will for example Peter and John
in Acts chapter 3 when they go up to the
temple at The Hour of Prayer in acts
chap 1 and 2 they’ve been through the
day of Pentecost clothing tongues of
Fire have been upon their head they’ve
got a reason why they shouldn’t have to
go to the temple at The Hour of Prayer
as Jews had been doing for hundreds of
years I mean after all they’ve been in
some pretty Supernatural experiences
with the Lord lately they saw him
crucified and risen again they saw him
Ascend into heaven now they’ve had this
clothing tongues of fire thing we’re too
big for just going to church but the
Bible says that they were on their way
to the temple at The Hour of Prayer and
they hear a man crying for alms and they
turn aside and they tell the man silver
and gold I do not have but what I do
have I give to you in the name of Jesus
Christ rise up and
walk and we read in Acts chapter 3 how
that man was instantly healed and we
hear of how his testimony in the temple
created an opportunity for Peter and
John to share more of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ how did it happen they
didn’t wake up that morning and get a
holy ghost fact from Heaven that said
you’re going to go heal this guy they
woke up that morning and they were
faithful to be obedient to go do the
simple thing of going to church they
were on their way to do the right thing
when they got to find out what the God
thing was so many times when it comes to
a day of decision we’re waiting for God
to give us the direct order and what God
is saying is if you will just be
obedient and start moving in the
direction I send you you I’ll show you
the next step when you get there Elijah
demonstrates this on the top of Mount
Carmel he prepares his sacrifice and
then he commands his servant pour
barrels of water on the sacrifice he
wants fire and he’s doing the opposite
of what is required for fire to get
started I’ve heard some theologians say
that he was doing this to dispel any
doubt that it was a miracle I believe
that he was doing
this because what he wanted from God he
had to give to
God before he could receive it this
sacrifice is not just to prove that
there is a Jehovah God and there is no
Baal this sacrifice is to break a
drought and in order for a drought to be
broken it has to rain and so Elijah
pours water on the sacrifice that soaks
into the
ground and he’s saying God I’m asking
you to send rain from heaven and so I’m
going to take this precious water here
on Earth and pour it back into the
ground that you created he gave God what
he wanted and God gave it back to
him in measures beyond what he could
contain in your obedience if you give to
God what you’re looking
for The God Who has all things he can
provide more than you can contain
you need to be
obedient in order to make
sure that you are fulfilling God’s plan
and his
purpose the fourth thing that you do on
your day of
decision is you pray the Bible says that
Elijah after he had prepared the
sacrifice he fell on his knees and he
prayed and in his prayer he clearly
calls upon the god of Abraham Isaac and
Jacob and in his
prayer he tells them very
clearly that he’s
thankful that that God is the god who
hears
him whenever you go before God remember
what the Bible says enter into his gates
with Thanksgiving and into his courts
with praise I believe that God hears
from people all the time who are
complaining about the circumstances and
situations that we have here on this
Earth
trust me he knows more about those
circumstances and situations than we
ever
will but what gets you access into his
presence enter into his Gates the places
of his judgment with Thanksgiving enter
into his courts the places where he
rules and reigns with praise be thankful
unto him and bless his name Elijah
blessed the name of the Lord he
prayed and then God answered by fire
step one face the problem step two move
with confidence live with faith step
three be obedient step
four
pray step five finish the fight as soon
as God answered by fire all of the
children of Israel fall on their knees
and they say God is
God they’ve made their decision God is
God and the next thing that Elijah says
is take hold of the prophets of Baal
don’t let one of them Escape he was not
going to allow the enemy to regroup and
come back for another round of fighting
I think one of the things that we do as
Christians in this world is we are
fabulous
quitters we fight for a little while and
then we get the result we want and then
we
quit in just a few days we’re going to
know who the president of the United
States is going to be
if the result is someone that we believe
will lead us in a good direction it’ll
be amazing how quickly we give up the
fight for righteousness until we see a
new enemy on the horizon that we have to
stand up and resist what would happen if
we would diligently continue to move
forward to return this nation back to
God until we became what we describe as
one nation under God again don’t give up
the good fight of faith just because you
got a small
victory it’s not about winning the
battle it’s about enduring to the end to
win the war for the Bible says he who
endures to the end shall be saved indeed
it’s a day of decision in these United
States but I believe with enough of us
having the courage to face the problem
the confidence to live for God being
obedient to his word giving him what he
requires my people call by my name
humbling themselves and
praying his word will come to
pass he will send healing to this land
whether it’s a fire of Revival or a rain
of restoration he knows just what we
need and he’ll do it if we
ask God bless you and God bless the
United
States a crisis can change everything in
an instant but in that moment a familiar
word comes to mind one you’ve read so
many times that it’s now etched in your
memory this is why it’s so important to
be intentional about strengthening your
faith by reading the word regularly and
spending time with fellow Believers you
equip yourself to face adversity when it
comes this month as a token of our
appreciation for any gift you give we’d
love to send you a brand new Christmas
ornament just in time for the holiday
season for your generous gift of $100 or
more we’re thrilled to offer you our
special Christmas collection as a
heartfelt thank you along with a
beautiful Christmas ornament you’ll
receive frankincense and my oil power to
heal by Pastor John on an elegant
acrylic scripture box and a USB filled
with healing scriptures is an added
blessing we’ll also include the heggy
Ministries prayer journal to support and
guide you in your journey of prayer and
growing closer to God child of God seek
Him in faith believing with great
expectation that what you ask in his
name is already done send your best gift
Now by calling the number on the screen
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wonders hi I’m Kendall haggy thank you
for connecting with us today God bless
you and we pray that you’ll join us
again next week