Eagles off endangered list. Wolves off endangered list.
Pay attention to the signs
Fear not
We have a role to play
Joel 2:1-31
We have a part. It is not to proclaim the end of the world. It is to partner with God to redeem His people.
Before we can really help Him, we must know Him. And, to know Him is to know that He is good.
Many people look at the end times as the wrath and judgment of God to destroy man. He is angry and ready to destroy the wicked. This is not so. God wants to redeem all of His children. Be not mistaken. God is just and does not tolerate sin for a moment. We live with our choices. But, His very nature is love.
His heart is good. And it is good towards us.
Yes, we are in the end times. But, we are also in a time where what we have sown over the years is coming to pass in terms of reaping. We have pushed God out of our schools, our government – out of all of society. And, we are now reaping the rewards of that.
God’s heart is good for us, and He wants us saved. Yes, there is tribulation and great and terrible things will happen upon the land. But, the intensity of the trials will produce awesome opportunity for us to minister to the lost and see the great harvest.
If we see God as a judging and mean-spirited God, it will be impossible for us to proclaim His goodness to the lost. We must repent.
God is not waiting to judge people. He already did at the fall. That set in motion His plan for redemption. He already judged and is on a fast pace to bring us back to Him. This is the entire message of Jesus and the good news. God doesn’t need to do anything else, otherwise, Jesus was not enough. Judgment day is for the carrying out of order. Those who are in Christ will live forever with God. Those who are not will be eternally separated. We must bring the lost to the LORD.
We must view God as loving. As long-suffering. As kind. For, it is His kindness that leads to repentance.
If you view your circumstances as being out of spite, you see God wrong. I say repent.
We have a few ways to see God incorrectly:
1) Our pain is from Him because He is mad at us. No, our pain is most likely the result of our decisions. This again is sowing and reaping.
2) Our circumstances aren’t fair. No they are not. We live in a fallen world. We gave the keys over to Satan. Jesus went and got them back. Now, we have to believe and walk out the abundant life that Jesus got for us. If we don’t fight for it, we wont have it.
3) God hates me. In Hebrews 12, it talks about how God, as a father, chastens the ones He loves.
Hebrews 12 1:4-7
A Father’s Discipline
4You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin;
5and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“MY SON, DO NOT REGARD LIGHTLY THE DISCIPLINE OF THE LORD,
NOR FAINT WHEN YOU ARE REPROVED BY HIM;
6(N)FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES,
AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES.”
7It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline?
We are silly to think that life is roses all of the time. We have sinful nature, we live in a fallen world, and we are carnally minded. The LORD is always working to bring about good in our lives and discipline us as a father. It is pride to think that we know better what that discipline should look like.
No, God is for us. He is on our side.
We must see Him as good in order to minister to the lost. We must know that He is for us.
Jeremiah 29:11
11’For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the LORD, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.
So, with that in mind, what can we do?
Let’s look at Joel 2:28-29
The Promise of the Spirit
28″It will come about after this
That I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind;
And your sons and daughters will prophesy,
Your old men will dream dreams,
Your young men will see visions.
29″Even on the male and female servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days.
God is going to pour out His Spirit in the end times and we shall prophesy.
What is prophesy?
1 cor 1
1Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.
What is it for?
1 Cor 14:3
3But one who prophesies speaks to men for edification and exhortation and consolation.
Who can prophesy?
1 Corinthians 14:31
For you can all prophesy one by one, so that all may learn and all may be exhorted;
Why is this important? Well, God said that at the end times, He would pour out His Spirit. It’s a big deal to Him. And, we know that the kingdom doesn’t come in words but in power. Prophecy is a manifestation of the kingdom’s power.
People cannot argue theology when they get their mail read.
They have a direct encounter with the LORD Himself, and life changes.
So, tonight, we will release that Spirit in this house. Tonight, you will see the LORD move prophetically and be activated for your own ministry.
Story about Jack.
Victoria and Richard
Anoint and then pray over people.