He’s God of The Next Time

Let’s launch right into this with Genesis 17:21 But my covenant will I establish with Isaac, which Sarah shall bear unto you at this set time in the next year. (Let’s all say it, “a set time, next year”….)

God has made covenant with Abraham concerning his descendants, and now He is making covenant through Abraham, with Isaac, before Isaac is even born. God is preparing Abraham for the “NEXT TIME” that He will enter into covenant with the child that has been promised.

What I want us to see here…. Is that in every current move of God, there is embedded a next time covenant. With every fulfillment of promise, there is embedded a next time fulfillment! Before you even get to the last promise, He’s already working out the details for the “Next Time”…..

Now, would you follow with me, to the passage of scripture in Luke 2:36. The infant Lord Jesus is being taken to the Temple for dedication, and we are introduced to a woman named Anna. "Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity; and this woman was a widow of about eighty four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day. And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him (Jesus)to all those who looked for redemption in Israel".

There are many who are sensing that God is going to do something on a seismic scale, very soon... many prophetic people - who seem to have their ear tuned to the mouth of God's, are receiving the message that there is coming a dramatic shifting and repositioning.

I believe this is going to be in two areas. The two areas are: in the area of accountability and the area of blessing. Let's deal with the first one first, accountability.

If you read Romans chapter 1, you will see that the withdrawing of His gracious influence on society, and the headlong dive into depravity, is not a sign that accountability is coming, it is a sign that a time of accounting to God and accounting for our actions on a global scale, has already begun. The spiral of moral degeneration, is testament to the fact that God must now hold us accountable, particularly in the Western world, for eliminating Him from our affairs. We are at the threshold of a time when God will let us see as a global community, that when we abandon God, He will step back and allow us to receive the consequences of our own actions. When He has given us warning after warning….

Pastor John had been advised by his doctor to lose 50 pounds or risk serious health consequences. The good pastor took his new diet seriously, even changing his driving route to the church building to avoid his favorite bakery. One morning, however, he arrived for Bible study carrying a gigantic devil’s food cake. The class chuckled and chided him, but the good pastor’s smile remained unchanged.

“This is a very special cake,” he explained. “I accidentally drove by the bakery this morning and there in the window were some amazing cakes. I felt this was no accident, so I prayed, ‘Lord, if you want me to have one of those delicious cakes, let me have a parking place directly in front of the bakery.’ And sure enough,” he continued, “the eighth time around the block, there it was!” (we can find a way to justify anything)

We are living in very historic and monumental days...The world we live in seems to be determined to rush headlong into a perfect storm. Do you know what a perfect storm is? It is a rare combination of circumstances where there is a dove tailing of events that results in a dangerous environment of unusual magnitude.

The term 'perfect storm' has become synonymous with the worst case scenario. And it's an appropriate description of what Jesus talked about in Matthew 24 on the Mount of Olives, where prophetically, He told the disciples what type of signs to expect before His imminent return. He taught about the 'perfect storm'.

This perfect storm that Jesus spoke of, will combine five factors. First of all there will be a religion of deception, or a false religious movement which will control people’s belief systems. This will be combined with a politics of mind control, great political movers and shakers will come to the forefront and shape the thinking of the multitudes. It will also have troubling economic factors that we are seeing already in world. Another means of controlling the lives of people will be through their ability to buy and sell. There will be war - there has always been wars and rumors of war, but there will be worldwide war on a global scale that has never been seen before. This is control through destabilization of people’s everyday lives. There will also be geophysical events that will take place, earthquakes, pestilence, various natural disasters on a level that is unprecedented. Everything that folks have come to trust in will be ripped from them.

This perfect storm, and these five factors, will all have national and international effects. Jesus says there is a time coming, if it's not already here, when men will be so gripped by what is going on around them that their hearts will fail them for fear. We are living in very uncertain, precarious times. But this does not need to be a time of fear or a time of despair, because on the contrary,

for the Christian, this time of all times, is a time of hope, it is a time of excitement, it is a time for those who know their God, to do great exploits for Him. You see, this isn't only a time of God bringing people to a time of accountability, this is a time - I believe – which mandates His blessings… To put it another way: it is a time to shine God's light in even greater ways, under the menace of the darkening storm clouds around us.

If ever there was a time to be bold, and be strong in the strength of the Lord, it is now! If ever there was a time to know that God is for us, and nothing can stand against us, that time is now!

Time is important in all of our lives…. I heard a story about a man who worked at a factory. One of his main jobs was to blow the factory whistle at exactly 5:00 to let everyone know the workday had ended. He walked to work each day and passed a jewelry store where a prominent and beautiful grandfather clock was displayed in the window. Every morning, he stopped and set his pocket watch to match the time on the clock in the store window. One morning the storeowner was out front sweeping the sidewalk and the factory worker asked him how he managed to keep such accurate time on the grandfather clock. The jeweler said, “Oh, I set it every afternoon when the factory whistle blows at 5:00.” (What is your source for information, in these critical times)?

Have you ever asked, “Whatever happened to the Time”?

Well, when we were children, we ate, cried and wept, and time crept.

◦When we were teens, we dreamed and had foolish talk, and time walked.

◦When we became a full grown person, oh man, time got up and ran.

◦And later as we older grew, it was then that time really flew.

◦Soon we shall find while traveling on, that time will be completely gone.

So before we get to the final act, remember there is no going back….

We hear stuff all the time, like “If only I'd lived in some other place”. “If only people were friendlier to me”. “If only I had more money or a better job”. “If only I were younger”. “If only I were older”. “If only people really knew what I was capable of”. “If only”--and it goes on and on…..

A Bible study group was discussing the unforeseen possibility of their sudden death. The leader of the discussion said, ” We will all die some day, and none of us really know when, but if we did we would all do a better job of preparing ourselves for that inevitable event.” “Everybody nodded their heads in agreement with this comment.” Then the leader said to the group, “What would you do if you knew you only had 4 weeks of life remaining before your death?”

One gentleman said, ” I would go out into my community and minister the Gospel to those that have not yet accepted the Lord into their lives.”

“Very good!” ,said the group leader, and all the group members agreed, that would be a very good thing to do. A lady spoke up and said “I would dedicate all of my remaining time to serving God, my family, my church, and my fellow man with a greater conviction.”

“That”s wonderful!” the group leader commented, and all the group members agreed, that would be a very good thing to do. But one man in the back finally spoke up passionately and said, “I would go to my mother-in-laws house for the 4 weeks.” Everyone was puzzled by this answer, and the group leader ask, “Why your mother-in-law’s home?”

He said, “Because it would make it the longest 4 weeks of my life!”

What if instead of saying “If only”, we said “next time”. There's a world of difference between saying "if only" about disappointments, delays and things that didn’t turn out the way we expected…and instead declaring "next time." "If only" looks backward; "next time" is a look forward. "If only" is a word of defeat; "next time" is a word of hope. I believe we serve a God of the “Next time”….The next great outpouring, the next miracle, the next turn around, the next chance to get it right!

Joseph never saw himself going from a pit of betrayal to Prime Minister of Egypt…but God did. I guarantee you David never saw himself going from a shepherd boy to slaying Goliath and becoming King of Israel…but God did. I’m sure Billy Graham never dreamed that God would take an ordinary country boy from NC and use him to impact millions around the world with the gospel…but God did.

You may think you aren’t important, that God couldn’t have much of a plan for you, that you don’t really matter…but this morning I want you to know that your “next time” moment is about to shatter your “if only” blues, blahs and unfilled expectations….

Every time you see a rainbow, you’re looking at a physical sign from God and a covenant promise, that He gives us a “next time”…. And your next time will be a “never again will you go back there…time”. Never again will you be brought under the power of that habit, that intimidation, that self-destructive cycle. For 4500 plus years the rainbow has hung in the heavens but many have never really accepted that after the storm has passed, there is another day of covenant blessing that is promised. God wants to transform “If onlies” into a glorious “next time”…..

Psalm 46:2 “Therefore will not we fear, though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea..v10 “Be still, and know that I am God…I will be exalted in the earth. v11 The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge”. We can know that God is our refuge and our strength, and He shall continue to be our guide even unto death - we can be still and know that He is God!

When you build upon the rock Christ Jesus, that rock won’t shake when the whole world is trembling and collapsing!

We’re not crazy, we’re just convinced…..

One version of Psalm 46:2 says, “Even if the world blows up, and even if the mountains crumble into the sea; though the seas roar and fall, and the mountains shake, we will not fear!'. Amen?

Anyone watching the news, can see the storm clouds gathering, but the disciples of Jesus don't focus on the storm, they focus on the Son! The world is being held accountable, but while it is, there is blessing for the child of God!

Hebrews 12:28-29 says: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe. For our God is a consuming fire”. We are the people of a Kingdom that cannot be shaken.

And let me also add… 1 John 2:17: 'And the world is passing away, along with its desires; but whoever does the will of God abides forever'.

Do you remember how Jesus concluded the Sermon on the Mount? He talked about the wise man and the foolish man. The wise man built his house on the rock, the foolish man built his house on the sand; and when the storm came it was the man who had built his building, his life, on the solid rock, whose house stood firm and endured the storm.

Though we are living, in a time of impending, unprecedented chaos, we are also living in a time of unprecedented blessing. And I believe that there is a revival coming, a time of outpouring, a time of latter rain that the world has not seen since Pentecost (and will even surpass Pentecost, on many levels,).

God is always using endings to create new beginnings. As people of faith, we don’t just come to the end of the road. Always and at all times, there is more, even when it seemed improbable or impossible. I cannot think of a message we need more than the message about starting over when you thought all hope was gone. If we can receive it, we must believe in a God who makes all things new.

Isaiah 43:18 “Remember not the former things, neither consider (or compare this to) the things of old. v19 Behold, I will do a new thing; now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert”.

That's what God is saying: that He wants to raise up a generation that have come through the fire, who will usher in the next new move of God...

God wants to raise up a generation that will operate at another level, who will be the instruments of the next new move of God, a radical remnant who will host what God is about to break forth and is already breaking forth in the earth. The Isaacs of the next generation…Men and women like Anna the prophetess, who are in the world but not of the world.

Acts 2:17-20: 'And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will (not perhaps, or I might, but I will) pour out of My Spirit on all flesh... before the coming of the great and awesome day of the LORD' –

Those saying this under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, were in an environment which was dominated by the cruel, repressive, tyrannical rule of the Roman empire. And yet in those conditions, they saw and experienced an open heaven and a world shaking outpouring of God’s spirit and power!

We are told in Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD will do nothing in the earth, but that He first reveals His mysteries unto His servants the prophets”. God is revealing His plan to those who are watching and listening…. Anna the prophetess, had been widowed early, and we are told that she was very old - but she didn't let her circumstances shut out the voice of God. Here was a radical senior citizen….who sought God for the next move of His spirit…..and lived for those “next time” moments!

But I want you to see that for Anna, fasting and hearing from God, was not some kind of crisis secret weapon – that she pulled out of her back pocket in desperation, when there was something wrong in the family, or in the finances, or in the business, or some emergency situation … Fasting was a way of life! This was one radical Senior Citizen!

Jesus lived a fasted life, and do you know what that meant? He was ready for anything! He was always ready for the new thing that God was going to do. I want to tell you today: if you're going to be one of the welcoming party for the new move of God, you don’t just have a season of fasting, it is a lifestyle for you, because you want to stay ready for God’s new move!

If you're seeking a supernatural acceleration in your usefulness for God, if you're wanting a new level of effectiveness in your prayer life, you will want to make fasting a part of your lifestyle.

If we want to see our marriages healed, if we want to see the divorce rates cut in the church, if we want to see our children converted and the prodigals come home, if we want to see our town and indeed our nation transformed by the grace of God, we need to take on fasting, not as some kind of little season that starts the year in a nice way and gets all the holiday fat off, but we need to see it as a thing that we use as a way of life to be ready for what God is about to do!

Fasting has to be more than a religious ritual of abstaining from food, because it's far more than that. It is a path of spiritual discipline that you have placed yourself under, as a sign that you yield yourself to the values and principals of an eternal kingdom. You can fast from many things, and fasting - is a demonstration of the sacrificial life of love and devotion to God, that brings freedom.

I’m talking about the joy of fasting! If you want to see a breakthrough in some kind of temptation, you fast. If you want to get deliverance, you fast. If you want to see a turn around in your own life, in your family, in your church, we're going to have to enter into fasting as a way of life - a lifestyle of kingdom living and kingdom thinking.

Don’t make it just about food. Do you know what God's chosen fast is? Here’s the joy of fasting! It's found - in Isaiah 58 God says: 'This is the kind of fast I am after: to break the chains of injustice, get rid of exploitation in the workplace, free the oppressed, cancel debts. What I'm interested in seeing you do is: sharing your food with the hungry, inviting the homeless into your life, putting clothes on the shivering ill-clad, being available to your own families. Do this and the lights will turn on, and your lives will turn around at once. Your righteousness will pave your way. The God of glory will secure your passage. Then when you pray, God will answer. You'll call out for help and I'll say, 'Here I am''.

Anna the prophetess, was living in a way that was open to the Messiah. Her faith expected him, and her faith was rewarded - God is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. Through the Joy of Fasting….She was the first to welcome Jesus into the Temple, because she lived in the joyful expectation of Jesus, and she was in a position to recognize Him when He came - she had a wonderful, glorious revelation of Jesus Christ, God's New Thing, in the earth.

Your expectation will determine how blessed you're prepared to be... and what you're ready to offer up to the King of Kings, as you welcome the new move of God.

In these unprecedented end times, God is calling out another band of radical intercessors who are hearing the voice of God, and are devoted to welcoming the blessing, and preparing the bride to make herself ready to be available and be used in the outpouring that is coming.

I believe this is the explanation for the global prayer movement that has now taken strides right across the world. I believe this is the reason for Houses of Prayer springing up everywhere. I believe this is the reason for the 24/7 prayer movement across the globe. God is restoring His living Temple in preparation once again for the presentation of the Messiah.

In the bible, the Bride’s fast prepared the way for the bridegroom to show up… (it says she made herself ready).

Matthew 9:14 “Then the disciples of John came to Jesus, saying, 'Why do we and the Pharisees fast often, but Your disciples do not fast?'. And Jesus said to them, 'Can the friends of the bridegroom mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast''.

Now is that time! We should be fasting for the Bridegroom's return. The disciples had become so accustomed to His bodily presence, that they didn't want to fast when He was with them - but when He went, they would yearn for His presence again.

You see the Bride’s fast is a fast of love-sickness, fasting with lovesick hearts, yearning for Jesus, yearning for more of Him, it’s all about the heart, not the stomach. I want to tell you: we are in the age of the soon coming Bridegroom, and we await the cry:

“Behold the Bridegroom, come out to meet Him!”. This is meant to be an act of preparation for His return, to welcome Him and to welcome the blessing that will precede Him, such an outpouring of the Spirit that this world has never seen. I believe what we are seeing right now, is a radical remnant that will usher in a great harvest just before the Lord returns.

I want to ask you today: are you one of the welcomers of the next great move of God? There is the sound of abundance of rain, there is a cloud on the horizon, there are many prophetic signs of impending doom - but more than that, and greater than that, there are signs of a promised outpouring. To those who look for it, the rainbow is declaring that, God is getting ready to move in the earth, in this “next time” visitation. I ask you: are you personally positioned, church, and are we personally positioned individually, to welcome the next great move of God?

In World War II the American General, George Patton, addressed his troops before battle. He knew that many of his men would make the supreme sacrifice of life, and they would do it in exchange for the freedom of the nation. Before they went into battle, the General gave them this speech…..

“Men, one day when your grandbaby climbs into your lap, and looks up at you and asks, 'Grandad, what did you do in the great war?', you will not have to hang your head in shame and say, 'I was going about life as usual….'. No, you will be able to look him in the eye and say, 'Honey, I was right in the midst of the battle when the nations of the world were hanging in the balance''. That's what I want to say! Right in the midst of the global battle for souls, when the nations of the world are hanging in the balance!

If the Lord were to come quickly and suddenly, (which He will), would you be ready. God’s unconditional love does not mean unconditional approval. You know that the storm clouds are swiftly gathering, and maybe you know in your heart that you're not where you should be with God, and you're not ready to meet Him the way you are. You can have all the excuses in the world, but it is still about your choices. Don’t lean on some kind of false security, thinking you're all right before God, and you know God is not where He needs to be in your life. Is there anyone who knows in your heart need, that you need to get some things right with the Lord right now. You need to receive a fresh cleansing and a fresh start with the Lord. - You just need to use this time to make it right, or you need to forgive someone, or you need to get out of the revolving doors of the cycle you’re in, and you need to be free here today. This is your time for a fresh surrender to the Lordship of Jesus, and the freedom you need to live this Christian life and be a part of the welcoming committee for the new move of God. Perhaps you need to make adjustments in your life priorities. Just ask Him now, to cleanse you and set you free, and to give you His full and free life right now. We choose His light and step away from the darkness.

Lord, I ask You now to look upon us, and those who are sincere with you from their hearts. Open a veritable portal over our heads now, that You would make this a gateway to heaven, that You would make this the very place of God’s glory. That You would do a work in us that we will be part of the restoration of the Tabernacle of David, the tabernacle of praise and worship unto You.