A highlight from Evangelist Searita Jones’ sermon, “Revelation 19: Time to Celebrate,” shared at The Lakeside Church in Toronto on March 13, 2022.

Click here to watch the full sermon.

Revelation 19 – Time to Celebrate Video Transcription

You know what? Some of you may be suffering today. You may be faced with a situation. You just don’t know what to do. Be encouraged because do you know what they call that man that’s riding in on that white horse? The scripture said he is faithful and true. Faithful and true will never desert you. Faithful and true will not leave you alone. Faithful and true will stand by your side. He will walk through the fire with you. He will go through the waters with you and you will never be alone. Hallelujah.

This time Jesus is showing up as a mighty warrior. When you see a white horse, Jesus is coming in on this white horse. That is a sign of victory. It’s like you have prevailed long enough, Satan. You have ruled over this earth long enough. Now you are about to be demolished. See, the first time he came as the Savior of the world. Jesus came the first time to lay down his life for you and I, so that we might be saved. He came. They beat him. They whipped him. They spit on him. They hung our Savior to the cross. The man that came to save you and me, they hung him to the cross. They nailed his feet. They put a crown of thorns on his head.

But let me tell you something. But oh, not this time. This time Jesus came in from Heaven. He came riding on that white horse and not only did he come riding on the white horse, he had a army of angels behind him on white horses as well. He came to wage war and whenever Jesus comes to wage war, he will always win. Amen. Glory to God.

You see the word was in the beginning and now the word is fighting. This is the war of Armageddon. This is the war of Armageddon and our Savior is victorious. Amen. He comes in all his glory. He’s wearing crowns. He’s wearing many crowns on his head and what God is doing, God is actually revealing himself to us, through his son. He’s revealing himself to us and Jesus is victorious.

As he rise through, it says that he has a name written on him that no one knows. No one knows, but him. He had on a robe that was stained with blood and the blood that was on that robe is from his enemies. He crushed them like grapes in a wine press. Jesus wins the battle of Armageddon. And as we say, “Jesus is fighting in this war,” I want you to know he’s not physically fighting. His tongue. All he had to do was speak and they all died. Glory to God. I want you to know that God is coming to judge. God will judge every man, every woman, every boy, every girl. Every human being will stand in the judgment of God and his judgment isn’t for a certain class of people. It does not discriminate. Each and every one of us will be judged.

But the good news is, those of us who have accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, even though we’ve sinned, even though we have done wrong and we have disobeyed him, God pours out his grace and his mercy onto us. We don’t deserve it, but that’s how much he loves us. God does not want any of us to perish. He wants each of us to make it into Heaven and that is good news. Amen.

I’m going to ask the praise team to come on back down. Hallelujah. And our text tells us that Jesus takes captive the false prophet and the beast. And we know the beast is the anti-Christ and they are the first two, to be cast into the lake of fire. This is the final and permanent place of punishment for anyone who refuses to submit or accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior. This is it. And just in case anyone is confused, I don’t want you to be confused. Hell is real. Hell is real. Anyone who does not accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior, will spend eternity there. And don’t have the notion that maybe, okay, we go to hell. We’ll be thrown into the lake of fire and burned up and that’s it. No. I want to make sure everyone knows that our souls will live forever and ever, and ever. It will never die.

God has given us many opportunities to get it right. He has given us numerous chances to say, “yes” to his will and if you have not said, “yes” to God’s will, you have an opportunity today. You know, when unbelievers die, their souls go to a place called Hades, which means a place of the dead. And soon we’ll let you know when Hades will be emptied into that lake of fire. But when believers die, we go immediately into the presence of the Lord. I just want you to think about when you die, where will you be?

Will you go to Hades or will you be in the presence of the Lord?

I’m going to ask you to stand to your feet, please. I cannot express how important it is for us to be ready when Jesus comes. And what I like about God is, he wants us all to be ready. It’s not like he wants to… God does not want anyone to perish. No one. He wants us all to be saved. That’s why in the beginning of Revelation, the letters to the churches were written. He had them, had John pen those letters to the churches because he wanted us to examine ourselves. We have to examine our hearts. And the churches, you know for yourself, the studies, they thought they were doing everything right, but Jesus found something wrong with each and every one of them, except for one. And that was the church of Philadelphia. And he didn’t find anything wrong with that church because they kept God first and they always kept the vision for souls; for savings souls.

This pleases Jesus. And you know, in the end, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. I don’t care if you’re an atheist or Christian, you can believe or not believe. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus is Lord. Amen. So this is how it is. You can either bend the knee now, or you’re going to bend it then. I believe that is the one and only time that God is going to actually demand that be done.

You’re going to be made. Every person will bow and confess that Jesus is Lord.

If you’re watching at home or if you’re in house today, we want to give you the opportunity to give your life to the Lord. It is not too late. Only thing is we don’t know when Jesus is coming back. There’s nothing else biblically to be fulfilled before his return. We do not know when he’s coming back. We do not know the day, nor the hour.

Searita Jones preaching at The Lakeside Church in Toronto on December 19, 2021.

Of all the characters in the Christmas story, the wise men are the most enigmatic. We know very little about them. They appear out of nowhere from an unnamed country. Because of their aristocratic background, sometimes pictured by their long-flowing robes and ornate crowns, they seem out of place in the nativity scene. Yet it is their search for Christ and their response when they found Him that reveal to us the essence of true wisdom.

The Wise Men men were very highly intelligent. They were well educated, they were wealthy, and some biblical scholars even referred to them as dignitaries in the east. And they were known as men of high esteem. But these men in the midst of their wealth, and their education, and their knowledge of the stars, knew enough that they needed a savior. And they were not so high up on their horses, and so high in statue that they could not go and search for the king.

Never let your position, or your status, keep you from seeking the Lord. The word of God says, “It’s easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to get into the kingdom of heaven.” But these men were very well knowledgeable of the stars. They were known as stargazers, they had studied the stars, this was their area of expertise, which is why they were able to identify the rising star. And they were able to connect that star with royalty. Because they knew what that star would lead to the savior.

Whenever we know God and we spend time with him, nobody can tell you what thus says the Lord, because you already know for yourself. If you don’t know for yourself, they can tell you anything. That’s why it’s so important for us to remain in the word of God. And have you ever been at a point when you’re reading the word, then you start praying, then that prayer turns to worship, and then that worship turns to praise. Have you ever caught yourself in that position? I don’t know about you, but I have. There are times when I have shut myself up in the room and the next thing you know I’m shouting, hallelujah, praise you, Jesus, because the word has turned into worship for me. I believe that’s what God is looking for us to do.

And just like these wise men followed that star, that is what God wants us to do with him. You know the word of God says, “The footsteps of a righteous man are ordered by the Lord. These men’s footsteps were ordered by the Lord because they started out in the east, they ended up in Jerusalem, and then from Jerusalem, they were in Bethlehem. And all because they followed that star. They knew where that star was going to lead them. And I believe that God wants you and I to be wise because wise men still seek him.

Watch the video above for the Full Sermon or watch it here on YouTube.

As I’ve stated before, addiction does not only affect one person, but it impacts everyone attached to that person. And seeing a loved one fall into captivity of drugs and become someone that you don’t recognize, is absolutely heartbreaking.

Most family members want to stay in a relationship with the addict, without losing their sanity or enabling their addiction. I highly recommend addiction support and therapy because it can lead to a more permanent healing, not only for the person with the addiction but for other family members as well. So, here are a few things to consider if you have a loved one struggling with substance abuse so that the love can be restored.

Don’t Stop Loving Them

Your feelings of disappointment are real, and we understand that, but that doesn’t mean that you stop loving the addicted person. You have been disappointed probably, or maybe even embarrassed by their addiction. And you know what? That’s okay. There are always going to be ways of dealing with these feelings, and counseling and therapy are highly recommended. Addiction is a disease. It’s not bad behavior.

Understand Their Addiction

And the first step to fully understanding the addiction of a loved one is understanding that addiction is a medical condition. It’s not bad behavior. It’s not just bad choices. It’s not social problems, or morale problems, or criminal problems. It is a brain problem. Addiction is treatable. You can recover and the love can be restored as well. Educate yourself about addiction.

Dealing with an addict in the family can be emotionally and physically exhausting. It usually gets to the point where your loved one’s behavior becomes quite frustrating, just to say the least, and the best thing that you can do is educate yourself about their addiction, the traits, what to look out for the triggers, the red flags; all of these are very important.

Hang In There

It’s not unusual for relationships with loved ones to collapse, but efforts to reveal what has been lost can take place. Rebuilding the relationship is what can take your treatment to the next level, and it’s worth the effort because it lets the person addicted know that, “My family still loves me.” If the addict is your child, forgiving them is usually faster than other family members. That’s just what parents do. Parents seem to have what we call this endless love through relapses and recoveries. Other family members become tired faster and are ready sometimes to throw in the towel on the addict’s recovery faster than mothers and fathers, but we want you to hang in there and don’t give up on them.

We’re Here to Help

At Burning Love Outreach, we are here. We’re here to help you overcome your struggles, and we want your recovery to be successful. We speak out loud, so others don’t have to suffer in silence.

If you need additional help, please do not hesitate to reach out to Burning Love Outreach.

You can leave a comment below, submit a prayer request, or even share a testimony or a praise report with us.

Also, we would love to have you, partner, with us by donating to this outreach with either a one-time donation or become one of our monthly donors.

So you completed the treatment program successfully and you say to yourself, “I got this.” And one night you run into a friend that you haven’t seen in a while.

And they ask you if you’d like to get high?

You think to yourself, “One hit won’t hurt. I got this.”

One thing leads to another, which leads to another. And the rest is history.

Well, when you finally come down from this high, you are beyond disappointed in yourself. You can’t believe you gave into temptation and one thing you learned in recovery was, you have to disassociate yourself from certain people. Those who still use, you can’t be in their company.

A relapse is one of the most frustrating experiences that you have to deal with in any recovery from any habit. And you will most likely feel guilty.

You’re going to feel ashamed, or you may even contemplate throwing in the towel.

Don’t do that! In other words, you may feel like giving up on your recovery.

Many of you go through addiction treatment programs, slip up at least once. And actually, some have numerous setbacks before reaching a full recovery. A relapse is not uncommon. If you relapse, here are some tips to help you get back on track.

You have to forgive yourself…

First of all, you have to forgive yourself. We are human and in every fight, we have to fight to keep ourselves going. And if you feel like you’re in the fight of your life and you’re losing, don’t give up, don’t give in, and don’t give out. You’ll probably feel ashamed and disappointed because of the progress that you had previously made. Prepare yourself for these types of feelings. Lots of feelings actually motivate you to get back on track. Don’t sit around and just have a pity party and feel sorry for yourself. Get up, get back on track and say to yourself, “You know what, I got this.” And just like you did when you completed the treatment program, remind yourself, I can get through this.

Contact someone to help you…

If you need to, contact someone to help you. If you’re in a treatment center or a recovery program, you would have a coach or a sponsor, or a counselor, someone should be available to you if you’re finding yourself in a crisis situation. You may have to schedule a face-to-face meeting. If you’re too embarrassed to meet with them face to face, make sure you call or email, or text them. It’s important to let them know that you are struggling.

Get more treatment…

Consider returning back to treatment if you need to. Just like every addiction story is different, so is the treatment. Some places offer aftercare services as part of their original treatment plan. Think of your relapse as a part of your treatment.

Don’t look at it as a setback, just think of it as a way to complete your recovery.

So remember here at Burning Love Outreach, we’re here to help you overcome your struggles. We speak out loud, so others don’t have to suffer in silence.

If you need additional help, please do not hesitate to reach out to Burning Love Outreach.

You can leave a comment below, submit a prayer request, or even share a testimony or a praise report with us.

Also, we would love to have you, partner, with us by donating to this outreach with either a one-time donation or become one of our monthly donors.

This is our first day of outreach as an organization and as a ministry. We went out to Queen street, downtown Toronto and I want to tell you, I have been deeply moved today by what I see in the background – these tents, these people’s homes. This is where individuals are living. We have houses to live in and food to eat, but they don’t.

We handed out treats, gift cards, and tracks to give individuals support. This will be a monthly outreach, and when you partner with us, your donations are going towards reaching those who are underprivileged and addicted to drugs.

I want you to know; we have met several people today with pipes in their hands. There’s a tent where they’re just getting high. We are going to spread the word of God. We are going to be Jesus’ hands and feet out here to them.

Thank you so much for your support.