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Sermon of the Week 
Tuesday, August 09 2022

Prepare Your Nets

Monday night, the Lord spoke to me in a vision, and said “Prepare Your Nets”...

This was especially attention getting, after the word I shared at the end of my message last Sunday....I don’t think I have ever repeated a word that I received, but Let me review that word with you and you’ll see why I’m excited about what the Lord said this past Monday night.....

“The seed that you have sown in the past is being called forth in this season for it is your season of crossing over.” You have been through some things that you thought would kill you and you thought you might not recover, but God said “I am going to restore the years that the locust has eaten, for My word does not come back void, but accomplishes what it is sent there to do and what you sowed in your earlier days is now going to bear fruit in these days. Many have been in a pruning season so that now in this hour you will bring forth “much fruit!” The correction that I brought into your life was not to kill you, but to heal you!! So there fore now I will bring forth the seed of the past that was sown in love and I will multiply your seed sown in this new season and it shall spring forth together! Get ready to see and know the reason for the last season is about to be made manifest to you and why you had to even become a seed that was hidden in the ground will be understood, and a great sense of loss came in your spirit and you mourned a great mourning, but I tell you unless a seed falls to the ground and dies it abides alone, but if it dies it will bring forth much fruit!! You still don’t understand many of the things you had to walk through, and you may never understand. But know that your God is faithful and He will take what was meant for harm and turn it for good. Know that God has said that ‘you would not go under but would come out with plunder.’ You have often felt you would not make it through to the other side, the loss was so great and the pain so heavy. But you are still here, still serving God, still loving God, still trusting God. Your faith is greater than it has ever been. What meant to destroy you, only made you stronger in God. You have allowed this process and yet have still gone forth after Him with all of your heart and now the time of the greater works of God is upon you!! I say to you the reaper will overtake the sower in this hour!! For this is the time of the rain, the former rain and the latter rain in the same season. This is the time of the harvest for my harvesters! This is your time for multiplication! This is the time when a small one will become a hundred and a hundred will become a thousand. For my math is not your math! My multiplication is not limited! I give you the heathen and the scoffers for your inheritance, so enlarge the place of your tent for you shall break forth on the right hand and on the left and your seed shall inherit My promises in this day! Get ready you are about to come under an open heaven. Know this and receive it for your God will accomplish it in your time!! This is the set time of favor!! Hallelujah! Come on, get your excitement back, and give God praise for the seed covenant that is even now at work in your life, in your body, in your finances, in your home, your career, your relationships, and your destiny!! Don’t let Satan muzzle your shout, your praise and your declaration!!! Some boulders that looked unmovable are being broken by the power of the seed you have sown. What looked irresistible, is having to yield to the seed covenant God made with you. The reapers are bringing your harvest, it is your season. Somebody needs to praise God for your seed covenant being activated, It’scoming forth, it’s springing up!

And He said to me again “Prepare the Nets”....

So in this vision, that I received on Monday and then it reoccurred on Tuesday night, I saw myself throwing out a net, then pulling it in full of fish. Then I saw myself going to each of my children and helping them pull their nets in. Then I went to each of my grand children and did the same. Then I went to each one in the church and helped you pull in your nets full of fishes. It seemed like hours went by, and I’ll tell you, my arms and my shoulders were getting tired and sore from pulling in nets of fishes....

The lord said to me....”My first call to the disciples, was a call to evangelism”. I looked up Matthew 4:18 “As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, He saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 19“Come, follow Me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” 20 And at once they left their nets and followed Him.…

Then He had me turn to … Luke 5:4 “When Jesus had finished speaking, He said to Simon, “Put out into deep water and let down your nets for a catch.” 5“Master,” Simon replied, “we have worked hard all night without catching anything. But because You say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to tear”.…And He said again “prepare the nets”

There was a guy who called his boss and told him “I can’t come to work today” The boss asks why and the guy says “it’s my eyes.” “What’s wrong with your eyes?” asks the boss. “Well, I just can’t see myself coming to work”, he said, “so I m going fishing instead…”

I wonder perhaps, if too many Christians, have eye problems, because they just can’t see themselves winning souls for the Lord even though He clearly told us that that was our mission and purpose. 

I believe The Lord was telling me in this vision, that we need to start seeing ourselves involved in this last days harvest, because the time is short, and He’s saying that this harvest is going to be a supernatural harvest. We have looked at the task of harvest in the light of our own strength and ability. But the Lord is telling us that this is something supernatural. All we need to do is show up and do what we normally do, but now do it in the power, and anointing of the Holy Spirit. Miracles are not what we do, it is what He does. We need to just believe enough to show up!!

Here what the Lord is telling His church today....                                                   Matthew 9:36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. 37 Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. 38 Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

The church without evangelism, is like, well, let me tell you what the Lord did to me to emphasize this....

He took me to a restaurant, that had a menu displayed in the front, but when I went in, no one was there to greet us so we had a seat, the waitress came over and said, “Sorry we have no food”.... So I thought “what is a restaurant, with no food”?                                                                    And I went into the kitchen, and the folks in the kitchen were talking and playing cards and some were dancing and singing, and having a good time, but no one was preparing any food for the people in the restaurant, so folks were leaving without being able to eat. 

Then I went down to the ocean front, where all the fishing boats had their signs up, and people were getting on the boats for the fishing trip. So I got on too, cause I love fishing. The strange thing was that there were no fishing rods and no bait on the boat. But everyone was dancing, and eating fish sandwiches which no one caught and no one was fishing. And I thought, this is weird.... And the Lord said, this is the church without evangelism. They have lost their real purpose.

Then He quoted Luke 14:23 to me....”And the lord said unto His servants, Go out into the highways and bi-ways, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled”.

The work of Evangelism is not an accident, it is done intentionally. It is not a side issue on the church program, it is the heart beat of the gospel

It was brought back to my mind, the vision that changed William Booth’s life, who was the founder of the Salvation Army. After his conversion Booth, began to preach the salvation message at 17, on the streets of London.                                                                                                    Booth said of the Salvation Army, what should be said of every Christian organization.... "We are a salvation people - this is our speciality - getting saved and keeping saved, and then getting everybody else we can, saved as well.”                                                                                                                             In His vision, He saw I saw a dark and stormy ocean. … In that ocean he saw multitudes of people perishing in the dark waters, shouting and shrieking, cursing and struggling and drowning; and they cursed and screamed until they sank to rise no more.  And he saw out of this dark angry ocean, a mighty rock that rose up with its summit towering high above the black clouds that overhung the stormy sea. And all around the base of this great rock, he saw a vast platform. Onto this platform, hesaw a large number of the poor struggling, drowning multitude who were able climb out of the angry ocean. He saw that a few of those who were already safe on the platform, were going in and helping many who were still in the angry waters to reach the place of safety …As he looked on, he saw that the occupants of that platform were quite a mixed company. But only a very few of them seemed to make it their business to get the drowning people out of the sea. … though all of them had been rescued at one time or another from the ocean themselves, nearly everyone seemed to have forgotten all about those who still needed rescuing … These people did not seem to have any deep concern to do anything about the poor perishing ones who were struggling and drowning before their eyes… They were so caught up with praying about their problems, and church fellowships, and meeting at the rescue station, and feeling good about their salvation, they were not mindful of reaching out to rescue the perishing.                                                                                                                                  Because of the vision, he started the Salvation Army in 1865, which originally, went all around the various cities singing, and preaching the salvation message. They started thrift stores to provide finances for the ministry 13 years later.

Mark 1:16-20, “As He walked by the Sea of Galilee, He saw Simon and Andrew, his brother, throwing a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. 17 Jesus said to them, “Come, follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” 18 Immediately they left their nets and followed Him.  19 When He had gone a little farther from there, He saw James the son of Zebedee and John, his brother, who also were in the boat mending their nets. 20 Immediately He called them also. And they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed Jesus.”

The nets spoken of here represent evangelism. And you will notice that these fishermen spent a lot of time mending their nets, so that they might effectively contain the catch of fish. If there were holes in their nets, of course the fish would escape. 

I want us to look at The Enemies of Evangelism......There were many things which would damage their nets, and make them ineffective, for the fulfilling of their purpose, so let’s check outsome of the things which are the enemies of our nets, which would cause them to need mending....Again, The Lord Said “Prepare Your Nets”.....

Our next scripture deals with several of the enemies of evangelism...   Matthew 9:37-38 The harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.  Pray the Lord of the Harvest, therefore, to send out workers into His harvest field.” 

The first enemy mentioned is PRAYERLESSNESS. How much time do we spend, praying for the harvest,                                                                       The Second, enemy, is lack of workers. When we are finished praying, are we willing to say with Isaiah, “Here am I, Lord send me”...             The third enemy mentioned is failing to see the harvest all around us, everywhere we are. Jesus said it is plentiful... Every day, all day long, we are surrounded with those whom God is dealing with at some level, the only thing they need is someone to show them the entrance sign to salvation and bring them in. Holy Spirit does the work, we just need to show up with our nets, and be the guides.

Another enemy of the harvest, is found in John 9:3....“As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.”                                                                                                    This enemy is a lack of urgency, while we have the opportunities that are given unto us. The time is coming fast, when the opportunities will be over and those people will no longer have a chance. What if we defeat this enemy, by realizing we may be the last hope and chance they have...

There have been multitudes of times when I led someone to Christ and it’s the last time I saw them this side of heaven. But what a blessing to know that I will meet them someday in heaven, because of a few minutes introducing them to Christ. I usually ask if there is something I can pray with them about, and in that prayer I ask them to repeat a prayer after me, accepting Jesus as their savior....

Look at another enemy.. John 6:38-39 “For I have come down from heaven not to do my own will but to do the will of Him who sent me.  And this is the will of Him who sent me, that I shall lose none of all that He has given me, but raise them up on the last day.” 

This enemy is “Forgetting my purpose.... I make a decision to put aside my will, when He asks me to do what He wills. Jesus on one occasion said, “Why call me Lord, if you do not do the things I ask you.” We are not just hanging out somewhere, we are sent to the place we are, for His greater purposes. I go to the grocery store and I ask, “what is your purpose for me being here Lord”.... If I’m on vacation, I ask “What is your purpose for me being here....” John says “this is the will of Him who has sent me, that I shall lose none of those He has given unto me....”                                                                                                                    This also deals with another enemy.... The fear of people.... What if we were more afraid of missing God, than we were of upsetting someone? What if we were more afraid that someone was going to spend eternity in the eternal torment of hell, thanwe were that someone may not like us! (come on now)

Woah, here’s a big enemy, that really tears up the evangelism nets.....                                John 4:35-36 “Do you not say, `Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest..” 

This is the enemy called inconvenience.” Satan loves this one. He will make sure that some emergency, some distraction, some urgent situation, or something you would just rather do or somewhere you would rather be always happens. Just when you lose your patience, when you get angry and get caught up in the thing that is frying your bacon.... OOOPs it was harvest time, but you had the gaping hole called inconvenience in your net!

Isaiah 43:7 says "Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth-- everyone who I am calling, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

This falls under failure to Give God the Glory.....Is there anything more important than giving God glory, or getting Him glory that He is due and deserves. We greatly Honor Him by seeking His pleasure. There is great power, effectiveness and reward in putting the Lord first.            Matthew 6:33 “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these. things shall be added unto you”.

The things you thought you had to do, but you obeyed Godinstead, will be added to you thru your obedience to Him. The things you put first before the Lord, will not be added.... Friend, that’s God’s promise to you. 

My last scripture pretty well sums up what God is saying when He says Prepare Your Nets......It’s not only about obedience, but our motives....

Matthew 22:37 “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. 38 This is the greatest and first commandment. 39 And the second is like it, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. 40 On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” Winnie doesn’t just want me to say “I love you”.... She wants me to show her that I love her! God is no different!

Closing prayer......”Lord of the Harvest, as we live and work in our city, we see so many who are lost and afraid. And yet in our own strength, we know that there is nothing we can do unless you increase our faith and give us the boldness we need to fill this city with the hope of eternal life in Jesus. Father, we pray that as the seeds of the gospel are scattered and planted, they would land on good soil and bear much fruit. We bind and command every enemy of the harvest to leave, in Jesus name. 

Lord help us to not become distracted by the many things Satan uses to keep us from the great calling of the harvest of souls. Put us where we need to be and put the words in our mouth to turn them forever to You.  As we go out from this place, bring us into contact with those who have been given eyes to see and ears to hear. Direct our steps and lead us to those You have prepared. 

Holy Spirit, we know that unless You build the house, our labor is in vain and yet, when You move in power and conviction, the mighty work of salvation shall be accomplished In Jesus name, and for the glory of the Father, Amen!

Now, let us lift our hands and thank Him that He has heard, and praise Him for the harvest that is coming in, for His glory!!! Hallelujah!”

Posted by: AT 12:42 pm   |  Permalink   |  Email
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