Sermon Central
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Pentecost 2018
Contributed by Mark Aarssen on Jun 25, 2018 (message contributor)
Summary: Saints we are seeing an ever growing shift in spiritual focus in our world, one that is off the Church and on to Jerusalem. In the eyes of the world “The Church” is becoming less relevant and Jerusalem is becoming more and more relevant.
Pentecost 2018
Get Fired UP!
As I share and review the glorious news of Pentecost today I must also prepare you the Church for the glorious end of “The Church Age” which we see all around us. Time as we know it is near an end for the "Church Age".
We “The Church” marvel at this eventuality and are somewhat dumbfounded by it. There is a denial of sorts going on within Christendom. We are denying God’s “Prophetic Clock” as it ticks off the seconds in our lifetimes.
The Jewish leaders of Jesus day were also guilty of a similar state of denial concerning Jesus coming as Messiah. We “The Church” are grasping at straws trying to avert the inevitable truth of prophecy.
We seem to think we can reverse or stall off the “End of the Church Age”. What we should be doing is to act with furor and urgency as a flame of fire instead of as a sputtering spark as our time is in fact running out.
The Holy Spirit - the Restrainer - will be removed from the earth as “The Church” is “Raptured” and then “The Holy Spirit” will revert to His Old Testament role as witness to Israel instead of witness to both the Jewish and Gentile worlds as has been the case during the Church Age.
All this is part of the office of “The Holy Spirit”.
This is a time for Holy Spirit fire within us and not the little spark we so often present in our testimony.
Hal Lindsay in his weekly commentary of world events spoke about trends that point to this prophetic reality as he looked at what happened last week.
“It was an interesting three days. Sunday was "Jerusalem Day," when Israelis celebrate the unification of Jerusalem (1967). Monday was the 70th anniversary of the founding of the modern state of Israel (May 14, 1948 on the Gregorian calendar) and the day the U.S. opened its embassy in Jerusalem May 14, 2018. Tuesday was "al-Nakba" or the day that Palestinians mourn the great "Catastrophe" or the birth of the State of Israel.
As I watched these events unfold, I marveled at how entrenched certain assumptions have become in the world's thinking. In fact, the conflict that seems to preoccupy the world is predicated on an enormous lie. More ominously, 'The Modern Lie' is rooted in and animated by 'The Everlasting Hatred.” End of quote.
Saints we are seeing an ever growing shift in spiritual focus in our world, one that is off the Church and on to Jerusalem. In the eyes of the world “The Church” is becoming less relevant and Jerusalem is becoming more and more relevant.
This dear Saints is the “Spiritual Battle” being played out in real time as our Heavenly Father moves to align history with prophecy.
Yes it is sad to see the Church in decline in our western world but it is in ascendancy in other parts of the world.
God is reaching out by the Holy Spirit with arms wide open into areas of the world as He gleans the remnant of our brothers and sisters in Christ to become the Body of Christ with us called “The Church”.
We must not lose heart but rather respond with a spirit of revival.
We must respond with the power and message of “The Holy Spirit”.
That message is that Jesus saves and wants to save all who would repent of their sins and trust Him as their Savior. It is the simple central message of the Gospel and the continuous crimson thread through out the Word of God.
We however have become distracted by our cultures indifference to Jesus message and we have let that indifference diminish our spiritual fire.
Now more than ever we must proclaim the truth and liberty that is available to all who trust in Jesus.
Now is a time for a simple message that focuses on who Jesus is not on what the church is or isn’t.
Those matters have long been resolved but our culture wants to dampen the truth with the waters of controversy.
So, I say let there be no controversy concerning Christ or the Body of Christ.
Let the world see Jesus in you and in me as we live out our faith openly and unashamedly to a culture that is dying. Now is the time to invite those who would come to the Wedding Supper of the Lamb.
We were witness yesterday to a Royal Wedding but Saints such events are but a little thing compared to “The Marriage Supper of the Lamb”.
6 Then I heard what sounded like a great multitude, like the roar of rushing waters and like loud peals of thunder, shouting:
