The Word of the Lord for 2019
PPT 1 Series Title
PPT 2 Message title and pic of river overflowing berm
Each year pastors in this country and around the world attempt to discern what God is saying about the year ahead.
There will be the usual voices saying, this will be the year of breakthrough, or year of Jubilee, as if nothing but good was ahead for us.
Many resort to numerology, which in my view is little more than a variant of looking at your horoscope.
Numerologists 9 = finality or judgment. Jesus died at the 9th hour.
Day of Atonement 9th day of 7th month
Don't like judgment than you can go with 9 representing fruits of the Spirit, 9 gifts of the Spirit. (So God is only interested in the fruits and gifts in years that end with 9?)
Where are the other 9? Won't hear much preaching on that text.
Numerology is a don't make a big deal out of it area of theology. Did Jesus ever teach on numbers or tell us to pay attention to them? No. There are patterns in ways numbers are used in the bible, but they don't determine or declare what will happen in individual years.
In my prayer for the year ahead, I didn't get any of that, this is what I got:
Danger ahead!
I am not wanting to put other preachers down, but here is an interesting complaint of the Lord's found in the book of Isaiah
Isaiah 56:10 His watchmen are blind: they are all ignorant, they are all dumb dogs, they cannot bark; sleeping, lying down, loving to slumber.
My dog is getting a little old, he used to bark when cars passed by on our road. (We live in a cul de sac not much traffic) Then he only barked when they got in my driveway, then only when they knocked on the door or rang the doorbell. Now he only barks when we open the door. He has lost his bark, like a lot of preachers.
We have spiritualized watchmen on the wall to some special prayer groups, but biblically they were employed to sound the alarm and to alert for danger. They looked for incursions, enemy attacks, and were to sound the alarm on God's holy mountain. Seems like the only message from many is peace and safety.
I asked the Lord for a word and some advice for 2019 and basically He told me to talk about the fact the road ahead is full of danger, AND GRACE.
I felt impressed of a violent rushing river. The river represents the current of the world that is rushing to do evil. The current has greatly increased and we need to be aware and act accordingly was the message I felt impressed with.
The picture that encapsulates this message is of the Mississippi River overflowing a berm that was constructed to keep it in its banks and from destroying farmland, farmland represents our fruit bearing. Here is something amazing about the picture, it was the secondary levee! The flood had gotten through two levels of protection. I chose this image because it visually displays the danger and power of an overflowing river. We are living in a day and a time where the current of the river of life around us has significantly increased. I want to show you a text in the book of Hebrews
PPT 3 text
Hebrews 2:1 For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.
If the current has increased so has the danger of drifting, You better be tying off with a stronger rope! You better anchor yourself more securely.
PPT 4, 5 Los Cabos pics
In May of 2017 my oldest son and I dove Los Cabos Mexico. It is at the southern tip of the Baja Peninsula where the Gulf of California meets the Pacific Ocean. There are some very large rock formations there and it is a very popular diving site. Because it is the place where two bodies of water meet, there are very strong currents active in the area. If fact it was the strongest current I have ever swam against in my life. I was with my son and a dive instructor (we were going for advanced certification) and several times I thought I wasn't going to be able to keep up. It took everything I had to swim against that current. I kept thinking, "When is this going to stop!" That scene for me is a picture of what is happening and what is ahead for believers in the years ahead. The current we have to swim against is getting more and more fierce.
Now for the kicker, I didn't know it at the time but my widow maker (main heart artery) was 95% blocked and within a month I would have a surgical procedure to implant a stint and open up my artery. I was swimming in a very weakened condition. By the grace of God I survived, the challenges ahead for believers and the church will require us to be in top spiritual condition to survive the current we are swimming against.
In Australia every year numbers of people die from rip currents. A rip current is one that pulls you out to sea.
Australia has a web site dedicated to educating people about the dangers of rip currents, I found these myths discussed on their site:
Only tourists get caught in rips
Experienced swimmer can always spot a rip
Myth rips only take the lives of poor swimmers
Fact it is young men that are most likely to die in rips!
As in the natural so in the spiritual. I feel the Lord is telling me to sound a warning that rip currents are going to be ripping through this world at an ever increasing level.
There is a power and a purpose in these currents to pull us away from biblical authority and the presence of God being active in our lives. Hold on God has an answer.
First let me lay out the case about the current current running in our world and then we will talk about God's answer.
I saw this posted on FB the other day, the person who posted it is getting a lot of likes.
PPT 6 pic no explanation
"I don't owe anyone or any single person an explanation for why I am living my life the way I am or why I do the things I do." ((Oh yes you do owe God and explanation!).
That pic and text epitomizes the spirit that is active in this age. The rip tide flowing through this world is away with the rules!
I want us to look at a couple of last days prophecies in the bible:
PPT 7, 8 text
2 Thessalonians 2:1 Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together to Him,
2 Thessalonians 2:2 that you may not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter as if from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord has come.
2 Thessalonians 2:3 Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction,
2 Thessalonians 2:4 who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.
The antichrist is called in this passage the man of lawlessness, and his appearance precedes the rapture of the church. Note two things happening at the same time prior to the rapture the apostasy or falling away, and a person who is the personification of lawlessness appears.
So we have a falling away and lawlessness as two signs preceding the coming of the Lord.
Falling away what does that mean? It means you left your moorings. You have moved away from what you used to be attached to.
PPT 9 text pic fire and ice
Matthew 24:12 And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold. (KJV)
Iniquity = Anomia (Greek) the condition of being without law.
Believers in the last day will suffer from a spiritual disease called being without law. What does it mean to be without law? It means I follow my own rules.
PPT 10-11 text
2 Timothy 3:1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.
2 Timothy 3:2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
2 Timothy 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2 Timothy 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2 Timothy 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.
Without law means that they have an outward appearance of spirituality but inwardly they deny God the power to legislate in their lives.
These people described here in 2 Timothy didn't start out without all these flaws they gradually floated away from the mooring of the word of God as the authority of conscience and behavior until they are so far out to open sea that they come to open and flagrant disobedience. No where is this more apparent in modern society than in the areas of sexuality and drug use. Yet, its roots go much deeper everything that God prohibits society is trying to say is no longer off limits.
Here is another prophecy of the last days from the Psalms
PPT 12-12 text
Psalms 2:1 Why are the nations in an uproar, And the peoples devising a vain thing?
Psalms 2:2 The kings of the earth take their stand, And the rulers take counsel together Against the LORD and against His Anointed:
Psalms 2:3 "Let us tear their fetters apart, And cast away their cords from us!"
Psalms 2:4 He who sits in the heavens laughs, The Lord scoffs at them.
Psalms 2:5 Then He will speak to them in His anger And terrify them in His fury:
Psalms 2:6 "But as for Me, I have installed My King Upon Zion, My holy mountain."
Let us tear their fetters apart and cast their cords away from us. In other words let's get rid of their rules. The question for all of us is have our standards slipped? The world is moving so far from God, that by comparison believers can live a carnal life and yet still feel they are following God. One compromise is built on another and the next thing you know the church is ordaining homosexuals and believing that it is ok. That is an extreme example, but more to the point is that believers who used to condemn drugs are now legally able to buy marijuana in many places and they don't see much difference between marijuana use and drinking a little alcohol. Why is that? Little slips of standards have prepared them for big slips.
The bible is the authoritative sources for all things related to faith and conduct. Many have fallen to the idea that cultural norms are now the authoritative source.
Well pastor, what is God's solution for believers in a season of terrible rip currents.
Humility & Hunger are the keys to thriving is such times.
1. First up humility
God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble. James 4:6
For years I mistakenly believed the thing Jesus repeated the most was:
He that has ears to hear,
8 ears to hear in gospels, 4x's more in the book of Revelation. Total of 12.
Take heed 16x's Take heed or beware of certain dangers.
Jesus repeated over and over again, "take heed." Be on your guard, watch out, be alert, pay attention, be careful, danger is aroung. Watch over yourself and your ways. Take heed!
In connection with the idea that we need humilty for this season of increased currents here is a take heed, but it is not from the teaching of Jesus but from the Apostle Paul
PPT 14 text
1 Corinthians 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall.
Don't assume you can't get caught in a rip tide. Myth experienced swimmers can always spot a rip tide.
Listen to this warning also from Paul
PPT 15 text
Galatians 6:1 Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted.
Paul is warning mature believers that they need to be careful even though they are mature. Sin is a contagion. You don't have to be trying to catch it to get caught by it. Do you go looking for the flu?
God gives grace to the humble. God keep me from rip tides, keep me from lawlessness, keep me from the forces that are trying to keep me from submitting to the authority of scripture.
2. Hunger
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness sake for they will be filled. Mt 5:6
Have you ever been to a restaurant and while waiting to order you see a plate of something that looks and smells delicious go wafting by as it is delivered to someone else's table?
And you say to yourself or others out loud, "Oooo what are they having." I want to close with one last scripture as something to stir your appetite for the year ahead.
PPT 16-18 text
Luke 2:25 And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him.
Luke 2:26 And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord' Christ.
Luke 2:27 And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law,
Luke 2:28 Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,
Luke 2:29 Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:
Luke 2:31 Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;
Luke 2:32 A light to lighten the Gentiles, and the glory of thy people Israel
Notice this man was just and devout, he was getting revelation of what God was doing, he was longing for the coming of the Messiah. If that can be said about you, or put on your tombstone all will be well for you.
But it gets even better:
The Holy Ghost was upon him.
He came by the Spirit into the temple.
Here is a man that is full of the Holy Spirit and is being led to move and act on God's behalf. May we be stirred to hunger by his example. When is the last time you can say God led you to do something?
He was getting revelation of what was ahead, and he was moving at the impulse of the Spirit. He came by the Spirit. Are you getting revelation, are you moving by the impulse of the Spirit?
Close: altar call and a prayer to not drift from our moorings. Commit the year ahead to die daily, take up our cross, fight the current of the world, be full of the Holy Spirit and shine for God.
