THE GATE OF THE YEAR 2023 + (Miracle Service)
THE GATE OF THE YEAR 2023
Pastor Carolyn Sissom
Sunday, January 1, 2023
(With Miracle Service)
For at least the past ten years, it is now a tradition for me to start the year with a quote from Minnie Louise Haskins (1875-1957).
"I said to the man who stood at the Gate of the Year, 'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.' And he replied, 'Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the hand of God. That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way." (Minnie Louise Haskins) read by King George VI during the Blitz, 12/29/1939.
As we seek the LORD for the year 2023, let us know that He has a path of destiny for each one of us and a path of destiny for our nation. Let us stay on the path and put our hand into the hand of God. Yes, I believe the LORD has set at each Gate of the Year angels for the earth, His Kingdom on earth and in Heaven, and in each of our lives personally as well as the nation. Seek Jesus Christ. Hold His Hand and it will be the Way of joy, peace, victory and happiness as we overcome the world.
If we will seek the Lord for our destiny and purpose, He delights in our desire for Him. He has already promised to guide us into destiny and His glory.
Psa. 139:10-12: Wherever I go, your hand will guide me; your strength will empower me. It’s impossible to disappear from you or to ask the darkness to hide me; for your presence is everywhere bringing light into my night! There is no such thing as darkness with you. The night to you, is as bright as the day; there’s no difference between the two (T.P.T.)
I have often shared with you a vision the Lord gave me in 1989. However, the vision is as applicable to 2023 as it was 34-years ago, because the darkness of evil has intensified in the earth.
In an open-eye vision of the night, I had a visitation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Vision: “He was standing by my bed. He was all light. He had in his hand a blanket of light. He covered me with the blanket of light and spoke this scripture to me:
“Arise; shine; for your light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. Darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people; The Lord shall arise upon you,” “Your light will shine in the darkness”.
This visitation was a few weeks before the call came to start the first church.
It is my persuasion from that visitation as well as other subsequent visitations that the church has entered into the glory of the Kingdom of Christ. In the year 2000, the Lord spoke to me to “declare the Glory of God wherever you go”.
Jesus the light (Jn. 8:12) shines on the Church, and the Church shines in the earth.
The Parousia of His Glory has been experienced by the remnant, but not by the masses. We have certainly seen the escalation of darkness, evil and sin covering the earth and gross darkness over the people. The moral compass of the Holiness of God is even absent from the preaching from many a progressive and apostate pulpit.
The day of the Lord is light and darkness at the same time!
Without “the preaching of the gospel through the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven (1 Pet. 1:12), there is no voice to convince the people of their sins that they may receive the glory of the salvation of Christ.
Those who seek after the things of the world are transformed into the image of the world, becoming earthly, unspiritual and compromising. For those who have filled their hearts with love, worship and desire to behold Christ’s glory, we are being transformed into His image.
For those who are walking after the Spirit (the Word of God), the Light is getting brighter.
Psa. 139:5: You go before me and follow me. You place your hand of blessing on my head. (N.L.T.)
For those who are walking after the flesh (their five natural senses---the circumstantial realm), it is getting darker.
We who are here have passed over into 2023. In the last days of 2022, many saints as well as leaders passed over into Heaven. Sandra Farley gave a “WORD,” “A changing-of-the-guard.” Well, we are still here. We were given the privilege of life first to have fellowship with God and second to reveal the light of Jesus Christ to the world.
Psalm 139:16: “You saw who you created me to be before I became me!” Before I had ever seen the light of day, the number of days you planned for me were already recorded in your book (T.P.T.)
Acts 17:26: He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings.
This is the blessing, assurance and security of the Lord’s Beloved. This is the promise of God. We, who walk in faith will be called upon to apprehend these promises because the darkness will challenge with the intent to kill, steal and destroy. However, the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. Not now, not ever! We stand in the gates of heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22)! We stand in the gates of Righteousness! (Psa. 118: 19-24 T.P.T.). We have come to Mt. Sion! (Heb. 12:22). That is the faith we must apprehend, decree and walk in, Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of God.
Isa. 60: 2b-5…His glory shall be seen upon you. The Gentiles shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Lift up your eyes round about, and see; all that gather themselves together. They come to you. Your sons shall come from afar, and your daughters shall be nursed at your side. Then you shall see and flow together, and your heart shall fear, and be enlarged; because the abundance of the sea shall be converted to you, and the forces of the Gentiles shall come to you.
This is the glory of the light of the Gospel Church.
Psa. 139: 17-18: How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! I can’t even count them; they outnumber the grains of sand! And when I wake up, you are still with me.
Isa. 14:24: The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed so shall it stand.
The Lord’s grace toward us is magnanimous in that He continually speaks to us giving messages (His thoughts). Psa. 139:17: How precious are your thoughts unto me, O God! How great is the sum of them! Isa. 55:9: For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are God’s ways higher than my ways, and God’s thoughts than my thoughts.
“We are everywhere surrounded with God’s thoughts. The world of nature is a majestic volume of these. His sublime thoughts are the everlasting mountains---His lofty thoughts the distant stars---his dreadful thoughts the lightning and tempest, the earthquake and volcano---His loving thoughts, the blue sky, the quiet lake the sunny meadow, the budding blossoms and beautiful flowers---His joyful thoughts, the singing streams and sparkling waves---His unchanging thoughts, the rock in mid-ocean, on which the waves are in vain spending their fury” (MacDuff).
He “has in these last days spoken unto us (given expression and utterance to His thoughts) by His Son.” It is in Christ that each thought of God becomes “precious,” ---a ministering angel of comfort and hope, a deep pool of unfathomable grace.
Heb. 1:3: Who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high.
Jesus is the true ladder of Jacob, upon which thoughts upon thoughts of unutterable tenderness flood down from His Majesty on high. The Lord God awakens us morning by morning. He awakens our ear to hear as the learned ---confiding to us one blessed thought after another, that He may speak them as words in season to him who is weary (Isa. 50:4).
God thinking of us before the birth of time---even then mapping out all our future happiness on earth as well as through eternity.
2022 was a hard year, as I looked back on my January message for 2022, I had written that the prophets said it would be. Some are weary, even some who are faithful. We must never become weary in well-doing. We must always seek the Lord for those words in season to encourage one another. We should never speak words of defeat, discouragement or depression. I never want to hear any of you say, “The Devil is attacking me.” He should be eating our dust and we should stay above and ahead of his attacks. We should be on the offense, never on the defense. Yes, in in this world (kosmos), we will have trials and tribulations, but be of good cheer, Jesus Christ has already overcome the world.
I pray your faith is lifted that you will join your faith with mine today and we will lay hold of gift of miracles.
The Holy Spirit has given gifts to the church that we may be victorious. One of those giftings is the Gift of Miracles:
Mark 16: 17-20: And these signs shall follow them that believe…and they went forth, and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. “Signs and wonders are a natural result of the preaching of the gospel. We should expect them to be there. And we should not expect just one or two. One miracle should lead to another miracle. God wants to give us an increasing progression of the miraculous, until we come into the supernatural, the realm of the miraculous” (Ruth Ward Heflin-Golden Glory).
As the servants of the Lord and Sons of God, we must burn all of our exits, moving forward in faith that our economy and security is in the government of the Kingdom of God and come out from the place of placing our faith and well-being in the hands of the world system, “Babylon” (the kosmos). Come out of her, my people, that you be not partakers of her sins, and that you receive not of her plagues. (Rev. 18:4)
Spiritual ministry means a ministry that meets the needs of man through the anointing and the manifestation of the Holy Spirit. It is the gospel of the Kingdom in supernatural demonstration and power. It is the Gospel in action.
The demonstration of the Holy Spirit is a “Doing” and “Practicing” of that which we teach.
1 Cor. 2 4-5: My speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power; that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power (dunamis) of God.
Gift of Miracles is most often manifested through the Office of the Apostle and the Evangelist. It is also a separate body ministry described in 1 Cor. 12:29 as “Workers of Miracles”. We are told to earnestly desire this gift (1 Co. 12:31) and to not neglect the gift. It can be imparted by grace through prophecy and laying on of hands (1 Ti. 4:14); or as the Holy Spirit wills. The Evangelist is the gatherer in the 5-fold ministry. Gift of Miracles gathers the people, raises their faith level, and then God meets them. The Apostle governs. As we are now experiencing the restoration of the apostolic power to the church, we will continue to experience an increase in miracles, signs and wonders. The stumbling block of those in the flesh will be if they use the Gift for fame or gain. Through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people…believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women (Act. 5: 12-14).
Faith says that when we know something is from God, we can run straight forward into it.
He that ministers to you the Spirit, and works miracles among you, is it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? (Gal. 3:5)
A miracle is a free gift from God. It can’t be earned, bought, or deserved. This particular gift knows no respecter of persons. It is a great equalizer. An 80-year-old saint and a new born Christian receives of this free gift equally. This same grace was made available to the Gentiles when they received the Holy Spirit by faith in Jesus Christ and all the benefits of the Kingdom of Grace. God was and is no respecter of persons between the faithful Jew who obeyed the law and the pagan Gentiles.
Carolyn Sissom, Pastor
Eastgate Ministries Church, 10115 West Hidden Lakes Lane, Richmond, TX
Scripture from K.J.V.; T.P.T.; N.L.T. – I made note within the message of those who I entered into their labors. This sermon is a compilation of several of my other sermons.