Big Trouble Ahead - Storm Season [Staying Spiritually Healthy]

[Music] it's good to be with you again we're still walking through this study on the big trouble ahead we're looking specifically at storm seasons you know i lived in oklahoma for a while and we used to have tornado season lived in florida for a season we had hurricane season times of the year when you were on a heightened alert because you knew storms were more probable well i think we're walking through a spiritual storm season not negative i also think it's harvest time which is exciting to me i grew up in a rural setting my father was a veterinarian we were always cutting hay or had a garden there was something that we were tending or watching and harvest time was a busy time and it's an exciting time because there's some rewards that come with it we're in a season where god is moving the spirit of god is moving in a unique way you don't want to just maintain the status quo you want to be saying yes to the lord with some new new responses to him grab your bible and a notepad most of all let's open our hearts and be willing to say yes to the lord the topic is big trouble ahead it's really kind of a contemporary expression of a biblical word it's tribulation it causes christians to put their fingers in their ears we start looking for reasons why we don't have to be bothered with that either there's an airlift that's going to get us out of it or it just won't we have reasons and i'm not really here today to argue the timing of that or the sequence of that i'm not even here to argue with you about end times in your eschatology i'm of the opinion that we're approaching the end of the age but if i'm wrong if i missed it by a thousand years these are your last days i mean i say it respectfully but if we were so privileged to be called to be the generation that stood on behalf of our lord and king prior to his return i hope you would gladly stand up to whatever that season brings but if we're wrong it's our last season to stand up for our lord and king jesus christ and i hope you'll stand for whatever that season brings you don't have to be particularly prophetic or insightful or discerning to understand there's trouble amongst us all around us in fact i think it's easiest for me to understand this is a storm season culvert is relented to a great extent thank god a year ago right now we were on the front end of a pandemic and we didn't know a great deal the the information we had was incomplete and the the concerns of those who had expertise was very high and our lives were drastically and dramatically altered and we were waiting for the science in my opinion last spring was less threatening than this spring because last spring i had the hope that laboratories and very well-trained medical personnel and scientists and researchers would come back with solutions that would help us understand the pathway forward and we understood what the adversary was it was a virus introduced to us from wuhan this spring i think we're far less aware of what the adversary is and we're so tired of the other that we want to rush back to some place we want to rush back to what we think we missed we want to get back to normal whatever that looks like but the storm hasn't abated so i have some concern for the body of christ i'm going to hold with that analogy of a storm for a minute we're kind of storm crazy in america these days meteorologists have become rock stars i mean if there's a thunderstorm in kentucky they will dominate your television set for two or three days right they'll show you pictures of what happened four states away and you'll go sit in the closet sun's out the sky is blue but somewhere it is lightning and then there's those mega storms that change lives in the directions of cities and states hurricanes we live far enough away from the gulf coast that they don't directly impact us with much more than a lot of rain occasionally but most of us understand the impacts of those they've changed the destinies of cities katrina did that changed the whole region i bet there's some people listening today in the house that are in tennessee because of that storm change to destinies well the highest the highest category the most destructive hurricane there's a category five storm in my humble opinion i think there's a category five storm howling around us right now if it was a hurricane you know what that is sustained winds storm surges lots of rain tornadoes spawned on the periphery of that destructive forces being unleashed now there are specific climactic conditions that contribute to those storms development thus we have a hurricane season a season of the year when those storms are far more prevalent than in other seasons of the year the temperatures are right the water temperature is right the conditions are just right to spawn and sustain those storms to heightened intensity well if you'll allow me i think spiritually we're in one of those seasons tremendous opportunities as we'll see before we're done it's not just ungodly spirits that are moving the spirit of god is moving in unprecedented ways but i want to caution you not just to hurry back to some previous routine we can celebrate the loosening of the grip of covet on our lives and the hard work of those who have served on our behalf i think that's appropriate but i don't believe the goal is to rush back to where we were i believe the point of the shaking that was introduced was to awaken us to what god is doing in new ways now in a in a physical hurricane there's some factors that increase or decrease your vulnerability one has to do with the season i've mentioned that there's times of the year storms are more prevalent location makes a difference your location makes you more or less susceptible to the damage of the storm if you're in key west you're a little more vulnerable to a storm approaching southern florida than you are in murfreesboro we won't board our windows up here location makes a big difference in fact if you live in an area where those storms are frequent even the construction schedules are changed houses are built differently buildings are constructed differently the codes are different the other contributing factor is your awareness it's why so many millions and millions of dollars are invested in anticipating storms when they're emerging the path they're going to take you've all seen those fancy models on television with the possible paths of the storm and when it will approach land and these are the possible options and people need to get ready from this space to this space have you seen those well if you're not aware of that if you didn't know it was coming if you were just trusting your trick knee or your pet squirrel to inform you of the storm you would be at a tremendous disadvantage well many of us have a spiritual discernment and awareness that's kind of like a trick knee or a pet squirrel and we're at a disadvantage again my opinion is that we're in a storm season and i don't say that because of politics or political leaders i say that because i believe god is moving in the earth god is initiating changes please don't relinquish the aflarina floor to the devil and his host god is initiating changes in the earth if you're doing the bible reading with us as a church and i hope you are we're currently reading through the book of exodus is it safe to say the book of exodus describes for us a storm season whichever side of that equation you're on if you're egyptian or you're a hebrew slave you'd say it was a pretty stormy season but the instigator of the storm was god it wasn't something satanic it's my opinion it's harvest time in harvest time spiritual harvest time is a time of increased spiritual activity both good and bad god is very busy gathering his people at the same time satan is expressing his hatred for those who love god makes for a stormy world so how do we respond to that how do we understand this season i'm glad you asked because it'll make your outline more relevant one of the challenges that god's people have had through the ages it's not new to the 21st century is we typically have little interest in spiritual seasons we're much more interested in our own calendar god almost has to break in upon us he had to intrude upon moses moses had a good life going in fact he kept declining god's invitation until god got mad at him little interest i would submit to you that in the 21st century the church in our culture really has had very little interest in spiritual seasons i mean there's a peripheral group that does but for the most part we just want god to bless us help us stay healthy help our bank accounts grow help our kids do good and whatever they're interested in doing well at not new matthew chapter 16 verse one the pharisees and the sadducees came to jesus and they tested him can you imagine having the hood spot to test jesus you want to play double jeopardy with jesus not clever they came to test jesus by asking him to show them a sign from heaven and he said well when evening comes you say it'll be fair weather for the sky is red and in the morning today it'll be stormy for the skies red and overcast you know how to interpret the appearance of the sky but you can't interpret the signs of the times jesus was talking to the pharisees and the sadducees you're better at predicting the weather than you are spiritually being spiritually aware and it's very clear from the context jesus says that's not a good thing now you could say well those were the religious leaders we expect religious leaders to be more in tune good observation obi-wan look at luke chapter 12 verse 54. jesus said to the crowd to the hoi polloi to the general public when you see a cloud rising in the west immediately you say it's going to rain and it does and when the wind the south wind blows you say it's going to be hot and it is hypocrites wow you pay attention to weather patterns and now jesus is getting agitated about it hypocrites you know how to interpret the appearance of the earth and the sky how is it that you don't know how to interpret this present time two parallel passages similar message but very different audience one is to the religious leaders and jesus said you should understand what's happening spiritually and if you don't imagine yourself to be a spiritual leader you think well yes they should and then we find this other awkward passage where jesus is just talking to the general public and he said you're hypocrites you're spiritual hypocrites if you're better at interpreting wetter weather patterns then you are interpreting the present spiritual season that you're walking through very clearly jesus has an expectation that we lead spiritually aware lives amen all right again no guilt and no shame if you haven't been overly spiritually aware just begin to say to the lord lord i'm sorry help me to see and hear and understand help me to see beyond the reports that are being given help me to see the world i'm living in from your vantage point from your perspective with a biblical worldview with a biblically informed perspective what makes you happy what are you grieving about these days what are you celebrating and what are you getting ready to respond to lead spiritually aware lives you see seasonal awareness will either bring tremendous opportunities to you or they will present great losses to you but i don't believe there's a neutral ground i don't believe there's a third option i think your spiritual awareness will either bring tremendous opportunities from the hand of god or great forfeitures from your life not just my imagination luke chapter 19 it's jesus triumphal into the city triumphal entry into the city of jerusalem perhaps his most celebratory day prior to his resurrection great crowds line the mount of olives if you enter jerusalem from the east you'll descend the mount of olives into the kidron valley and then climb back up into the to the city and that's the path jesus is on and as you come down the mount of olives even today i wish we could go there the whole city of jerusalem is spread before you as he comes down that path on this day when he sees the city he begins to weep there's people cheering and they're laying their cloaks in the street and palm branches jesus begins to weep and he said if you had only known on this day what would bring you peace the prince of peace is here if you had only known it but now it's hidden from your eyes and the days will come upon you when your enemies will build an embankment against you and encircle you and hem you in on every side they'll dash you to the ground you and the children within your walls they'll not leave one stone on another why because the romans want to exercise their military might because they'll be annoyed with your politics no there's a spiritual motive behind the physical activity that's going to describe their future folks we have got to wake up to this idea that spiritual forces are shaping the world we're living in and your spiritual ideas your spiritual dna your spiritual activity is going to shape your future the academic future that is available or not available to your children the freedoms and liberties that will come to you the economic circumstances under which you will live are going to be shaped by spiritual forces jesus said there's a day ahead of you when they're gonna dash your children's heads against the rocks of this city because you didn't recognize the day of the lord's coming to you and he's weeping because of it it's been way too long we've come to church and done our little bible studies and and debated you know who can remember the 12 tribes and what's isaiah's middle name and do you know greek and can you read masoretic hebrew and i love to learn and study i'm not opposed to any of those things but the point of the scripture is to help us understand what god is doing in the world today the unfolding history of jerusalem was dictated by the responses of the inhabitants of that city to god jesus opinion and i would submit to you the same thing is happening in our world today our future is going to be dictated by the responses of god's people not the politicians or the ideologies or the political parties matthew chapter 9 verse 36 when jesus saw the crowds he had compassion on them they were harassed and helpless like sheep without a shepherd and he said to his disciples the harvest is plentiful but the workers are few ask the lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into his harvest fields jesus saw the crowd differently than his disciples did again we have these false categories we think of us and them the good and the bad the wicked and the evil and the honorable jesus is looking at his disciples and saying you don't see the world in the right way it's appropriate for you and me to begin to say to the lord lord help me to see the world this and right now as you see it jesus said the fields are white with harvest and the disciples going uh huh if you follow them through the gospels they struggle consistently jesus had a much different vision than the disciples did and he's trying to change their understanding i can give you an example they're traveling through samaria on the way to jerusalem the jews and the samaritans don't get along too well the disciples are very anxious and jesus stops at the well on the edge of town and he sends the disciples in to get dinner it's the end of the day they're hungry go get dinner they come back jesus has had a conversation with a woman at the well oh and with not an overly godly track record is that safe i mean she had more husbands than you had fingers on a hand and and jesus interacts with her and by the time he's done with the interaction the woman has brought the whole village the disciples came back with dinner and jesus came back with a village of people hungry to know the truth the fields are white you see spiritual awareness seasonal awareness will either bring great opportunity or forfeiture you want to begin to say to the lord help me see now what i'm going to suggest to you and i'll try to support it biblically is that i believe we're just at the precipice on the front end of the of great harvests in the kingdom of god more than one there's evidence of that it's not just a feeling it's not my trick knee and i gave my pet squirrel away there's abundant evidence in matthew chapter 13 jesus is told the parable it's a parable of the end of the age you know the story he does it in the context of a field that has been sown and when the crop is ripe it becomes apparent that the field was sown not only with wheat but there were also weeds sown in the field the servants are anxious they're afraid there will be some punitive response from the landowner so they come and say we don't know how this happened do you want us to pull the weeds and the in the parable it said no leave it we'll separate them at harvest time when they're alone the disciples say we don't understand your word picture can you tell us what it means and jesus explains it it's in matthew 13. i put it in your notes verse 38 he said the field is the world and the good seed stands for the sons of the kingdom and the weeds are the sons of the evil one and the enemy who sows them is the devil some of you are too sophisticated to believe in the devil i would just gently remind you that jesus believed in him and if you're more sophisticated than jesus that's not sophistication it's pride repent the enemy who sows them is the devil the harvest is the end of the age and the harvesters are angels so jesus says that at the end of the age there's going to be a great harvest but there's two components of the harvest there's a harvest of the the wheat the righteous and there'll be a harvest of the weeds of the wicked now that's not the only place in the scripture i'll tell you revelation chapter 14. i'm not going to read it in great detail but i'll introduce you to the principles you can read it and reflect on it at your leisure the book of revelation bounces back and forth between perspectives on the earth and in heaven so often time the the writer john as he's telling us the story says i looked and i saw in heaven or i saw on the earth and you know the arena the stage on which the activity is taking place but where he focuses your attention and this happens to be activity on earth that's being driven from heaven and i'm going to keep reminding you that what's happening in our world is not the result of political parties or politicians or ideologies or corporate america or a big tech god is moving in the world don't be frightened don't be overcome with anxiety be excited revelation 14 verse 14 i looked and there before me was a white cloud and seated on the cloud was one who like a son of man with a crown of gold on his head and a sharp sickle in his hand another angel came out of the temple and called in a loud voice to him who was sitting on the cloud take your sickle and reap because the time has come for the harvest of the earth is ripe now this my simplest response to that is i don't know a better way to understand that individual we're introduced to there that looks like the son of man with a crown of gold other than our lord and the call comes from heaven it's time to harvest the earth wow the spirit of god initiating a harvest of souls for his kingdom at the end of the age it's a significant promise in scripture but that's not all that's there look in verse 18 still another angel look at verse 17. another angel came out of the temple in heaven and he too had a sharp sickle and still still another angel who had charge of the fire came from the altar and called in a loud voice to him who had the sharp sickle take your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of grapes from the earth's vine because its grapes are right it's a second harvest different from the first the angel swung his sickle on the earth and gathered its grapes and threw them into the great wine press of god's wrath this is a very different harvest and i won't take the time to go into the harvest cycles of israel but the grapes and the grain come in different seasons but this is a judgment this is a harvest of judgment so it's similar to the passage in matthew the parable that jesus was talking we see now being presented to john these two great harvest a harvest of mercy and a harvest of judgment and they come very close together let me pose a question is it possible that we could witness those harvests if you imagine that and you need to know one other thing or at least begin to think about one other thing you haven't been invited to be a spectator in the bible the spectators have stepped out of time in romans i mean i'm sorry in hebrews when it says we're surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses those are the witnesses who have served their season in time and they've stepped into eternity if we're still in time we are intended to be participants are you ready for that you see i'm a little dissatisfied with the way we've been coached towards christianity we pay people to be spiritual for us kind of like you pay doctors to make you healthy they can't do that when you break yourself they can help you but you have to accept responsibility to be healthy if you're determined to be unhealthy a doctor can't fix you they can give you some guidance they can give you some counsel they can tell you what normal looks like and perhaps how you could change behaviors to to gain a healthier normal response as god intended you to be but you have to choose that the same is true spiritually we're going to have to accept responsibility for our spiritual vitality and our lack of vitality isn't because evil exists evil has existed since the opening chapters of genesis you can be spiritual healthy spiritually vital spiritually effective in spite of the existence of darkness i love you it's true it's important let's talk a little bit about harvest they have some characteristics biblically rain and harvest go together in the scripture they go together israel is a desert country they basically have two seasons they have a dry season and a season with some rain they have a very brief spring hardly any fall from the end of april until the end of september it won't rain there it just won't it's very varying expressions of hot and depending where you are there's some humidity or none and then about the end of september the 1st of october the early rains or the fall rains will come and it typically will rain across the nation it's a small nation not much bigger than middle tennessee but the whole nation will have some rain and then for a while the rains through the end of the year and the beginning of the new calendar that the rains will be intermittent but it's possible that you would have rain and then at the at the as spring begins usually once again there will become the spring rains or the later rains and there'll be another time of kind of widespread rain across the land and that is the rainy season and there is no there is no steady source of water and they don't have the nile river or the euphrates or the tigris if it doesn't rain they will starve the most precious resource in the middle east is not petroleum it's water it's why rain is often used as an expression in the scripture as a visitation of god upon his people because that's what brings life to us so rain and harvest go together the purpose of the rain is that there'll be a harvest israel is totally dependent upon the harvest recent history has changed that in the last handful of years the israelis have built a number of desalination plants along the mediterranean coast it's the first time in the the history of israel ancient or modern where they have been able to provide a water source for themselves apart from god's sovereignty provision it's an interesting chapter in that unfolding narrative in joel chapter 2 and verse 23 the prophet's talking about this he says be glad o people of zion rejoice in the lord your god he's given you the autumn reigns in righteousness and he sends you abundant showers both autumn and spring rains as before the threshing floors will be filled with grain the vats will overflow with new wine and oil so the prophet is linking the the rainy the the pattern of rain and the harvest but he's introducing the spirituality of that you see you can't separate your your secular life from your spiritual life i know we try to do that we do business and we go to church but if you separate them don't imagine you're a christ follower you can't segment your life into your church life and your business life and your recreational life and you can't have christian friends and non-christian friends and imagine that you've yielded your life to the lordship of jesus that'll be a very difficult argument to make when you see the king i'm not picking on you i want you to get ready you have a life and it's open before the lord there's nothing hidden from him we want to yield the breadth of our lives to the lord we do it imperfectly we're in process we can repent and say we're sorry we can change and bring further alignment but we have to have that intent and that objective and the prophet's introducing this idea that the reins are linked to righteousness your status standing with god impacts how your life unfolds now good people have bad things happen to them trouble comes to the wicked and to the righteous the bible is clear on that please don't believe that nonsense that bad things happen to bad people and good things happen to good people if something bad has happened to somebody they must have some hidden badness that you didn't know about baloney it's a greek word it means i disagree it's bad theology but in that same chapter of joel chapter 2 and verse 28 it says afterward i'll pour out my spirit on all your people your sons and daughters will prophesy and your old men will dream dreams and your young men will see visions and even on my servants both men and women i'll pour out my spirit in those days remember we talked about seasonal awareness god says there's a time coming when i'm going to pour out my spirit on all people all people he's using the imagery of the rain and the harvest he said i'm going to pour out my spirits my spirit will reign upon you and there will be a harvest that verse is quoted in the new testament you know where it is it's acts chapter 2 on the day of pentecost peter quoted it he said what you're watching is god beginning to pour out his spirit on all people and as we approach the harvest at the end of the age guess what will precede that harvest the in-gathering of the harvest the outpouring of the spirit of god upon all people in an unprecedented way the biblical characteristics of harvest there are three components if i if i distill it down there's an in gathering there's a collection of people who choose to be identified with the kingdom and the purposes of god there's separation and there's judgment now i tell you that because all of that's going to happen in a relatively brief period of time it's going to all happen simultaneously we tend to think in terms of these broad spans of time the the big trouble that the bible talks about it's only a three and a half year period window of time happened very quickly biblical harvest included in gathering a separation and judgment one of the things that has begun with the coveted challenges is separation i'll leave you to sort out how you're doing with that and where you are with that there's a third characteristic of harvest time harvest time is about tremendous effort it's a relatively brief period of time when the crops have come to the point of being ripe and they need to be gathered or they they'll be forfeited they'll be lost they'll spoil so there's tremendous effort around harvest everything else is stopped all energy is focused whatever other tasks might be necessary for sustaining our routines and other seasons at harvest time they're suspended we've got to step into the harvest fields it's also a time when there's a tremendous expenditure of energy and resources remember what jesus prayed when he said the disciples the harvest fields are white they're ripe can't you see it and the answer was no what do you i don't know what you're talking about we're hungry the harvest fields are ripe proverbs 10 and verse 5 says he who gathers crops in the summer is a wise son but he who sleeps during the harvest is a disgraceful son folks when it's harvest time we've got an assignment we're called into the harvest fields maximum effort realign calendars reassess priorities new focus so you don't want to just accept my opinion you need to be sorting out what the spiritual season we're in is about so you understand your assignment so pastor just a minute just time out for a second can we climb off the just a second i said the sinner's prayer and then i went to that class well i got a purple t-shirt and somebody held me underwater and you told me i was a participant in the kingdom of god what more do you want from me now you're talking about me leading my life as if there is a god yes i am i want to invite you away from the notion that you can find the minimal daily requirement and then do life on your terms i understand you have responsibilities and jobs and bills to pay and families and tasks to be done i'm not diminishing that i'm not asking you to to forfeit those responsibilities they're a part of the journey but i am asking you to lead your life with an awareness of spiritual things that isn't relegated to a few moments on the occasional weekend it's harvest time and it takes tremendous effort and honestly it's going to take a tremendous investment of resources and there's no pledge cards taped to your chairs today next week but not today look in matthew 13 verse 44 the kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field and when a man found it he hid it again and then in his joy he went and sold all he had and he bought that field again the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls when he found one of great value he went away and sold everything he had and he bought it jesus is trying to help us establish evaluation on participation in the kingdom of heaven and he said it's worth everything you have again i'm i'm really handing some you some ideas for your own personal reflection do your life choices reflect that and if it were truly harvest time what are we prepared to do what does that mean as you decide the season you're in see there was a tremendous cost to standing next to jesus when he was in jerusalem the people who stood next to him were hunted they were threatened ultimately most of them were martyred it's not lost on the general population they knew jesus was a miracle worker they knew he was a healer they knew there were tremendous stories attached to him but they also understood there was a subtle and often not so subtle undercurrent that if you stood next to jesus there could be a cost involved and the vast majority of people were unwilling to do that now they would do it occasionally when there was emotions and the crowd would spill out onto the mount of olives on that triumphal entry day but when the when it was really time for an accounting when all the cards were to be laid on the table and this is jesus of nazareth and this is barabbas who do you want me to release to you the crowd found their voice and it wasn't jesus my bible says like it was in the days of noah like it was in the days of lots so it will be before jesus comes back there were eight people on that boat that noah and his sons built the only people that got escorted out of sodom were lot and his family and all of his family didn't make it again i don't want you to be frightened i don't want you to live in anxiety i don't want you to live presumptuously though harvest time is going to take a different effort than before it was harvest time it's going to take a different expression of energy it'll be about a different expression and utilization of resources fourth thing i can tell you about harvest time is it's a relatively brief period in comparison to the growing season depending on what you're growing it can take weeks or months or years if you're growing oak trees that's not a 90 day process tomatoes are easier but the harvest is relatively more brief as well but the the harvest time is much shorter typically than the growing season [Music] and i think you have to understand before you think about it in global terms or across a community or even across a congregation we think about harvest time and and the separation that comes with that i think we have to begin with that in the most personal way in your life where is my life where are my life decisions where is my courage where am i in relation to the kingdom of god and i know we're in church on a holiday weekend so the answer to all the questions is jesus but as you have a little bit of time to reflect where are you really what are you dreaming about what are you aspiring for what are you longing where are your emotions attached what are you what are you hoping comes true where are you is it really harvest time in your heart but the thing is the kingdom of the things of the kingdom are they coming to fulfillment are they ripening or are you in a place with greater momentum than you've ever been and greater aspirations and you're where are you in that see before we can talk about it on a broader scale it starts within us i've been saying to you for months that it's the conditions of god's people's hearts it's going to determine the outcomes around us so in the context of this discussion harvest time is a relatively brief period if you've been ignoring those invitations from god if you've been turning down the volume on it if you've been engaging in in uh entertaining the the spirit of the world more than you've been entertaining the spirit of god understand this those choices have consequences you're either forfeiting or you're embracing god's opportunities and don't imagine that that gentle nudge that invitation from god should be extended to you indefinitely it's harvest time i can give you a couple of examples biblically acts 26 the apostle paul has been arrested in jerusalem he's been falsely accused he's made his way to caesarea because of the assassination plots against him that were being spawned in jerusalem they're taking him to caesarea to protect him caesarea is in israel ins it's a city in israel but it's a secular city where jerusalem was a much more religious place they've taken paul to a secular place to protect him from the angry religious zealots and a king visits the city and he's heard of paul's story and he wants to hear paul speak so paul is on trial for his life and rather than then point the finger at his accusers he tells his jesus story it's an interesting perspective you can tell what has hold of paul's heart but the king he's presenting to is agrippa and in acts 26 and verse 28 agrippa said to paul do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a christian standing before the king that day whether he knew it or not was arguably the the man who had an anointing from god himself to reach the non-jewish world his impact on the non-jewish world is unparalleled there's a bit of irony in that god chose a pharisee of the pharisees someone steeped in judaism trained in rabbinic judaism from his childhood until his adulthood to become the advocate for jesus of nazareth to the non-jewish world and he's standing before king agrippa making an impassioned presentation of jesus from firsthand experience i met him he said on the road to damascus and my life made 180 degree turn i i had to separate myself from the people who were bringing all the momentum to my professional life all of the avenues for success and achievement i had to turn my back on them and walk into the unknown but i did so willingly because of jesus and agrippa responds to him and he said do you think in such a short period of time you can convince me and i'm reading that thinking oh i hope so paul made that change in a very short period of time and one moment he's on the horseback and on the next moment his face is in the dust saying who are you lord and i can feel the emotion when i read that he's saying to agrippa come on and agrippa said do you really think maybe we'll hear some more of this another day we'll talk about it over dessert you can go now [Music] totally unaware of the season that was before him you see harvest starts in your heart what's the crop that's there right now what are you longing for there's other examples the rich young ruler that came to jesus the bible says jesus loved him young man with tremendous spiritual momentum his future was bright jesus saw him he's inquiring of jesus and jesus said come follow me be my disciple come on join matthew and pete and john join the parade come on he said and the young man hung his head and he walked away he did he would determine that his investment in securing his his own personal future reflected too much effort i can't just walk away from that understood i don't know maybe he circled back maybe he got into the story later we don't know i can tell you this harvest time is a very brief period compared to the growing season the fifth point about harvest i would give you is that the lord of the harvest is not us luke chapter 10 and verse two jesus said the harvest is plentiful but the workers refuse ask the lord of the harvest to send out workers the harvest is not under our control we're servants settle it we'll do whatever the lord asks us that we'll have church outdoors indoors it can rain we'll sit in the rain it can get cold we'll put on a coat we like it better with temperature control and indoor plumbing but if we have to we'll use portable toilets and sit by a fire pit we're not in charge of the harvest we used to be we came to church if it wasn't raining and we could park at our spot and we liked the worship song we used to be like that but the lord's waking us up we're changing and we're not done changing we're going to continue growing and strengthening our commitment to the lord because the next point is that harvest is preparatory for what's next the harvest isn't the end it's not the objective harvest is preparation for what's next if you're harvesting a crop you're either gaining seed for the next planting season you're gaining food to sustain you in a season where there aren't going to be as abundance of crops growing seasons coming to a conclusion folks it's harvest time in john 7 and verse 30 jesus is in jerusalem and it says they tried to seize him but no one laid a hand on him his time hadn't yet come times and seasons still many in the crowd put their faith in him and they said when the christ comes when the messiah comes will he do more miraculous signs than this man and the pharisees heard the crowd whispering things about him and the chief priest of the pharisees sent temple guards to arrest him they're not going to have this folks opposition to the truth is not a 21st century thing we're going to have to grow up we've been wilting before the current onslaught of propaganda and censorship it's not a new thing listen to what jesus said i'm with you for only a short time and then i go to the one who sent me you'll look for me but you won't find me and where i am you can't come i'm here for a little while and then i'm gone there's something else coming god's not done in the earth i'm going to send my spirit this story is going to be told to all the nations i'm not done but this season is brief you see we get so anchored into our dreams and our aspirations and what we want that we have such small imagination of what the spirit of god is doing so what's our current assignment acts chapter 1 and verse 8 jesus again his last words before the ascension you'll receive power when the holy spirit comes on you and you'll be my witnesses in jerusalem and judea and samaria to the ends of the earth and after he said this he was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid him from their sight last words have heightened significance we understand that intuitively jesus last words to us as you'll receive power when the holy spirit comes on you you'll be empowered to be witnesses for me that assignment's never been amended nor rescinded as far as i know from scripture that's our assignment exodus 37 i'm sorry exodus 3 verse 7. god's recruiting moses you know the story it's at the burning bush we've just read it in our daily bible reading the lord said i've indeed seen the misery of my people in egypt don't you know moses was glad when he has he steps over to the bush and god said i've seen the suffering of my people and moses goes finally i talked to you about that decades ago that's why i'm in this fine mess i saw the suffering of the people you weren't doing a thing about it god said i've heard i've heard them crying out i was going yes thank you god i'm concerned about their suffering hallelujah so i've come down to rescue them from the hand of the egyptians to bring them up out of that land into a good and a spacious land you could see moses going yes yes yes until you get to verse 10 so now go i'm sending you whoa big fella i was with you all the way through the story till we got to right there they've suffered a lot i'm glad you've heard and i'm glad you're looking for help but no no matthew 28 jesus after the resurrection he came to the disciples and he said all authority in heaven on earth has been given to me yes he's got the keys of death and how a irreversible total complete defeat of satan in his kingdom all authority on heaven and earth's been given to me yes therefore you go you go and make disciples that's our assignment it really is so i pastor i don't have the gift of evangelism i'm sorry did jesus mention the gift of evangelism there i didn't you sound a lot like moshi at the bush when he said you know i don't talk plain if i if i remember correctly god said didn't i make your tongue how about if i stick it to the roof of your mouth for a while that's the living version that's not in there that's the it's the hillbilly translation it's harvest time it's harvest time i think it's just in front of us i think we'll see an outpouring of the spirit of god upon those who are willing to receive amen i know i have to close but i want to close with a question that i'm presented with as frequently as anything these days and for the church in our culture i think it's a it's a question that has to be resolved i'll couch it in terms of the language perhaps we're used to hearing what about the separation of church and state i don't happen to believe that was the intent of those who crafted the documents that shaped the legal status of our nation but that's another discussion i will tell you what i think about separation i learned this in college i was in a chemistry lab i didn't enjoy them they were four hours long and you had to write up a lab report and so i was usually hurrying trying to get through whatever the tasks were and get the report written and get out i turned in a report it got handed back to me by the lab tech one time and several times in that report i misspelled the word separate i felt it consistently i just spelled it consistently wrong and he circled every one of them with a red pin and a big circle at the top of my lab report he wrote there's a rat in separate i never forgot how to spell it again but i never forgot that there's a rat and separate either and if we separate the influence of the church from the the culture in which we live the government that has authority over us will become increasingly oppressive the church is the conscience of the culture and if we want to change the nature of the culture if we want to change the nature of the culture we have to change the influence and the attitude of the church so we're not without power i'm not this is an easier conversation in a non-political year we're not advocating for anyone or any party or any but should the church be aware of what's happening in our world it's an important question or can we gather and sing our favorite choruses and review our favorite biblical passages and imagine that we can shelter from the storm it's an appropriate question well i would submit to you that jesus had a great deal to say about current events in his day that jesus consistently throughout his life and particularly his public ministry challenged the status quo in fact he challenged the existing status quo far more frequently than he conducted reviews of scripture when he talked about scripture he talked about it in terms of current events in his world jesus teaching was in the context of the current events of his day i can demonstrate that i believe consistently but i'll give you a couple examples luke chapter seven it's the story of a roman centurion and capernaum whose servant is healed and he's asked for help from jesus and jesus agrees to go help him now he's an a part of an occupying force the romans are no doubt mistreating the israelites abusing their women exacting taxes it's a very humiliating condition they are hated abundant evidence for that so jesus went with them and he wasn't far from the house when the centurion sent friends to him to say lord don't trouble yourself i don't deserve to have you come under my roof i didn't even consider myself worthy to come to you but say the word and my servant will be healed you know the story the man's servant is healed now at that point i would if i were if i were jesus in charge of jesus pr i'd have just left it you probably shouldn't have talked to that man you certainly shouldn't have gone to his house it would make you unclean your public public advocacy for him is very unseemly he's hated by the general public and he needed help but he's ungodly and wicked and he's outside the covenant he's not a descendant of abraham isaac and jacob he doesn't offer sacrifices in the temple in jerusalem he doesn't celebrate the right holy days he eats ungodly unclean food he's a pagan and if you had compassion on his servant and you had to help his servant okay but enough but jesus didn't stop there the centurion said i'm a man under authority i have soldiers i tell this would go and he goes and that one come and he comes and i say to my servant do this and he does it can you see the eye rolls the crowd around yeah we know big guy we see your authority we know who you are you don't have to gloat in front of us you occupying pagan he's stating the obvious the disciples are pulling on jesus come [Music] on when jesus heard this he was amazed at him and he turned to the crowd following and he said i tell you i haven't found such great faith in israel can you see the disciples now oh geez get him out of here somebody get him out of here do you understand the degree of agitation jesus just introduced this roman pagan has better faith than all of you good godly people do i haven't found faith like this anywhere he says it out loud why do you think if they recorded it in the story there are lots and lots of miracle stories without jesus follow-up sentences to the healing being given to us but in this case luke says that was so bizarre you got to know what he did you can't unring that bell jesus comment regarding the saturian could hardly have been more provocative he's an occupier he could have easily healed that servant and slipped back into the crowd he does it on many occasions don't tell anybody who did this but no i'll give you another example mark chapter 3. another time jesus went into the synagogue and a man with a shriveled hand was there and some of them were looking for a reason to accuse jesus they're looking for anything they could accuse him for like healing a centurion or helping one so they watched him closely to see if he would heal this man on the sabbath and jesus said to the man with a shriveled hand stand up in front of everyone and jesus asked them he turns to the crowd of accusers which is lawful on the sabbath to do good or to do evil to save life or to kill but they wouldn't answer him so he looked around at them in anger and deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts and he said to the man stretch out your hand and he stretched it out and his hand was completely restored so what's the outcome the pharisees went out and began to plot with the herodians how they might kill jesus jesus could have healed that man before the synagogue convened he could have healed him after the synagogue service was complete he could have healed him after sundown when the sabbath was over he was capable the story of the man's healing is secondary to the larger narrative jesus is confronting the evil in the hearts of the people he's not practicing a theoretical discussion on divine healing does god heal or does not god not heal it's clear from jesus life and ministry there's power present to change our physical condition but he's interested in a far greater scenario and that's the the authority that is sitting upon the people if it's righteous or unrighteous if it's honoring god or dishonoring god in a very public place in front of people that you and i would have expected to understand the nature of that debate they didn't stand up in front of everybody i want everybody to watch me break the sabbath rules i'll give you one more example i promise luke 4. this is jesus again he said i assure you that there were many widows in israel in elijah's time or when elijah was hungry god sent him to a widow and said tell the widow to feed you that's awkward enough right there when the sky was shut for three and a half years it was a great famine no rain no crops economies in total freefall [Music] yet elijah wasn't sent to any of the widows in israel but to a widow in zarephath in the region of sidon he went to a foreigner and there were many in israel with leprosy in the time of elisha the prophet yet none of them was cleansed only name in the syria he's in his hometown now these are the people he grew up with and he says all the people in the synagogue were furious when they heard this they got up and drove him out of town and took him to the edge of the cliff intending to throw him off the cliff they were going to kill him jesus is in the synagogue on the sabbath and he said you know we have a history as a people of god doing things amongst those people you consider to be pagan while he leaves us out and it made them angry enough they wanted to kill him so question i've given you three examples i could give you 15 or 20 more you don't want to wait did jesus engage in current events or did he have theoretical discussions about theological principles separate from what was happening in the world around him when jesus stood before pilate the roman governor and pilate says i have the power to crucify you or to let you go pilate knows he's innocent his wife's had a dream she's come to him she said i had a dream don't touch that man pilate washes his hands he wants to be free he recognizes the jealousy of the jews jesus is standing before pilate and hanging in the balance is crucifixion or freedom high stakes game and the one offense for which he could get crucified is if he has the the audacity to say i'm a king and but think of all the options that jesus has available to him he knows pilate's story i promise you he knows things about pilate nobody knows he could have just said you know i think if i were you i'd release me or i might need to say or he could have turned the he could have taken a cup of water from pilates credenza and poured a glass of merlot and i bet it would have got his ticket punched to freedom he could have caused pilate to grow a second nose out of his forehead he had options available to him but he told the truth he said i'm a king [Music] i have a kingdom from another place but you're right in saying i'm a king and he signed his death warrant folks i don't think we have the privilege of hiding because not everybody wants to hear the truth i don't think we have to be belligerent or obnoxious or condemning or critical but our faith is not theoretical it's harvest time and it's storm season and i believe we'll see an outpouring of the spirit of god and i believe we'll see unprecedented challenges now what will you do what will you do you don't have to be angry or belligerent or critical or hateful but it may be that you need to repent this didn't stop with jesus remember the disciples by acts chapter 4 they've arrested the disciples the same people that had arrested jesus and orchestrated his execution and they stand peter and john before the sanhedrin and you remember what they said to them it's the references i don't know if i put them in your notes or not it's in acts 4. they said god made this jesus whom you crucified both lord and messiah and they brought them in after they had their discussion and they said don't ever mention that name in this city again don't ever mention that name again or we will come for you too remember what they said you do what you need to do we won't stop i don't enjoy the awkwardness that comes when people don't want to embrace the truth i don't enjoy being left out none of those things that come with that but the truth is i don't believe we'll get to enjoy the harvest if we don't have the courage to own the truth i'm going to hush i want you to stand with me i want to pray actually i want to give you an invitation i want to give you an invitation let's make it personal that there's no harvest beyond us until there's a harvest within us and the reality is our own hearts look a lot like that field there's some wheat and there's some weeds and i wonder if we'd have the courage to give the holy spirit permission to begin to weed our hearts are you willing i i wouldn't i don't say things to the lord casually any longer because i think he takes us at our word and i tend to typically if there's things that persist in our lives that are limiting it's because we want them there we've given ourselves permission to be a little carnal a little secular a little worldly after all i'm not going too far with it i'm not going to give it too much space so if we're going to say this prayer i want to encourage you to be willing to say to the lord i don't want to give that any place in me god forgive me i've given myself license maybe you just use you use undisciplined words maybe you're undisciplined with your beverage choices maybe you're undisciplined with your moral choices i don't know it'll be as diverse as we are but don't excuse it don't tolerate it let's let the let's let the reign of the spirit of god begin to soften our hearts let's be the first place where can god can begin that harvest within us you ready to say yes to the lord hallelujah father thank you for your word for its truth and power and authority we thank you for the great honor of being together lord that you've delivered us from that great threat and have kept us we praise you for that today but lord we're aware that the shaking hasn't been completed and the storm clouds are still present but we don't imagine it's someone else's fault or there's someone or something else to blame lord we come today into your presence and ask you to search us search our hearts lord if there's anything in us that separates us from your best we ask that by your spirit you would help us to recognize it lord we ask for forgiveness where we have tolerated ungodliness where we've tolerated carnality where we've tolerated things that we knew to diminish you in our lives but lord we didn't treat it with significance or appropriate attention or respect and we come today to say we're sorry we choose to lay it down and we ask you to cleanse us and to deliver us and to separate us may our longing for you be greater than our longing for anything else holy spirit help us give us a revelation of jesus that is more real may we see him in his glory and his majesty that we might willingly yield our lives to him our dreams to him our hopes to him we would serve him as king and lord as never before we thank you for it we praise you for it that your spirit is moving in the earth in unprecedented ways opening hearts and opening doors of opportunity that no person can close may it be increased father protect us deliver us from evil give us this day our daily bread or as we forgive those that have trespassed against us we ask you to forgive us we thank you for what you're doing may your name be exalted and your purposes break forth in the earth in jesus name amen hallelujah god bless you hey this is pastor allen thank you for watching this video if you enjoyed it like it and most importantly share it with your friends if you want to be notified when there's new content when we post new material if you'll just subscribe to my channel and hit the bell you'll get the notification most of all i pray god blesses you as you continue on your spiritual journey and open your heart to the lord god bless you

Channel: Allen Jackson Ministries

Views: 23,245

Keywords: Pastor Allen Jackson, allen jackson ministries, world outreach church, alan jackson, sermons, preachers, how to be saved, Finding Jesus, pastor allen jackson sermons, Big Trouble Ahead, Storm Season, Staying Spiritually Healthy

Id: PL9PnfFRl-o

Length: 64min 53sec (3893 seconds)

Published: Sun Jun 06 2021