THE OPPORTUNE TIME

THE OPPORTUNE TIME

                We need to get ready. We don’t have much time left. The days of Joel are nearly upon us and the church is not ready. In this harvest season that will soon be upon us, God is going to sovereignly pour out upon us a power that has not been seen since the creation of the earth. Even the angels will be shocked and amazed, for they have not seen such a display of God’s awesome power.

                It is the early rain and the latter rain together, for it says in Joel 2:23, 24:

                “Be glad then you children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God: for He has given you the former rain faithfully, and He will cause the rain to come down for you- the former rain and the latter rain in the first month. The threshing floors shall be full of wheat and the vats shall overflow with new wine and oil.”

                Now, let us break this down a bit. First of all, we are the children of Zion               for several reasons

1.       By faith we have become Abraham’s seed and heirs according to promise. Gal 3:29

2.       We have been grafted into God’s chosen people, Israel.  Romans 11:17

3.       We are engaged in battle for Israel in the heavenlies. We see that the antichrist system is being imposed upon her and the enemies of God are infiltrating her. So we are beseeching God for that which is true concerning God’s eternal plans for her, for between her and those promises lie the Time of Jacob’s Trouble.

4.       So we are battling in the spiritual realm for her and we are doing all we can in the physical realm to bless her. But we need wisdom in this hour to discern that which is of God and that which is of the coming satanic kingdom. Israel is being invaded from the inside by the New World Order. We must pray against these forces that are seeking to build the kingdom of Satan within her walls and we must come against the perversion and sin that seeks to overtake her, because we see in Rev.11:8 when the Two witnesses are here and that time is soon, Jerusalem is identified as Sodom and Egypt where also their Lord was crucified. Need I say more? Satan is doing all in his power to destroy the City of the Great King.

HE HAS GIVEN YOU THE FORMER RAIN FAITHFULLY

1.       His Holy Spirit has been with us faithfully since the day of Pentecost. Have we been learning to live by that power or have we been wasting our time on manmade religion and the works of the flesh?

2.       Only that which is borne of and empowered by the Holy Spirit has eternal meaning. But we have been playing church as if no power is available to us. We run our many programs as if God has sent us here alone to figure it out. Jesus has had only one agenda for the past 2000 years and He initiated it by saying: “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.” Those were the last words that Jesus said before He was lifted up into the clouds.

3.       But now, in these last days He is going to pour out upon us not only the former rain, but the former rain and the latter rain together. He is going to pour out a kind of power far greater than anything seen in the Bible. Even the works of Jesus will be exceeded in these last days because Jesus said so. “Truly, truly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go to the Father. And whatever you ask in My name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. John 14:12, 13

4.       This is why all of creation is waiting with eager anticipation and anxious longing for the revealing of the sons of God. Romans 8:19. This generation is going to receive a seven-fold anointing to finally fulfill the promises and the final work of Christ in the world. WE ARE THAT GENERATION!

THE FORMER RAIN AND THE LATTER RAIN IN THE FIRST MONTH

1.       Could this mean the Feast of Trumpets of some year? Tishri is the first month on the civil calendar and contains the Feast of Trumpets.

2.       Could it be the Feast of Tabernacles also known as the Feast of Ingathering?

3.       This I do not know, but God does everything prophetically according to His Feast Days and it is said that the Tabernacles anointing will be seven times greater than the Pentecostal anointing, so I would guess Tabernacles. But it says “In the first month. So that could mean the Feast of Trumpets. But it also reflects Passover, for God is calling His people out of Egypt/Babylon. So perhaps this final move of God will reflect all of the Feast Days and on this I think that the Holy Spirit is helping me. Let’s see how this might be.

A.      We are being called out of Babylon just as in Exodus. Rev. 18:4

B.      We are being called to overcome by the blood of the Lamb. Rev. 12:11

C.      We are called to eat all of the body of Christ and not just the pleasant parts. John 6: 51-63

D.      We are called to put away sin as with the unleavened bread. Heb. 10:14

E.       We are being called to a true New Birth as in the Red Sea. John 3:3

F.       We are being called to obedience as at the foot of Sinai. Rev. 12:17, Rev 14:12,         Jn. 15:10

G.     We have wandered in the wilderness for 40 (2000) years, but we are now being called as the Joshua generation to cross over into the Promised Land. Rom. 8:3, 4

H.      We are called to blow the shofar to announce the coming of the Lord, as in Trumpets.

I.        We are called to warn of the coming of judgment as in Rev. 14:6-10

J.        WE are called to be the dwelling place of God as in Tabernacles and we are being called to the great ingathering of the final harvest as in Tabernacles. So perhaps this seven fold anointing for the harvest also includes all seven feasts of the Lord as well.

THE VATS SHALL OVERFLOW WITH NEW WINE AND OIL

1.       In order to accommodate the New Wine and Oil that is coming we will have to put on new wineskins.

2.       Our old attitudes and pride will have to give way to nameless, faceless humility as we work the greatest miracles of all time, while remain anonymous. There will be not heroes and no stars in this final harvest. It will be carried out by millions of nobodies who will give all of the glory to God and slip away before people can worship them. Acts 14:14

3.       Even people who come into our presence will be convicted of sin and ask, “What must I do to be saved.” Many will be healed just by getting close to us, or within earshot of a meeting. Many will fall on their knees and repent simply because the power and presence of the Holy Spirit is so heavy in the air. The Lord will appear to many in visions or dreams and they will come asking to be baptized. This is already happening in some Muslim countries and among many Jews.

4.       The music of worship is going to change as the careless sounds of the world are removed from it, but it will be even more powerful and attended by a sense of awe and wonder never before experienced. Pride will be removed from it and the angels will join us in worship to Almighty God. Many people’s eyes will be opened to the spiritual realm to see the angels in our midst. This too is happening today in many places.

OUR CHURCHES WILL HAVE TO UNDERGO A MAJOR OVERHAUL OR BE LEFT BEHIND

1.       Our old bulletin run programs will not be able to accommodate this new overflow of New Wine and Oil. 18 minute sermons will be transformed into hours of awe and wonder as the Holy Spirit orchestrates our worship and draws those in who are predestined to be conformed to the image of Christ. Romans 8:29-32. The miracles of past revivals such as Azusa Street and the Welch revival will pale into insignificance in the light of this final season.

2.       The new wine and oil will not be able to be contained in what was. Even our old formulas of praying for people and anointing them with oil and laying hands on them will not be enough. Traditions will give way to the sovereign power of God.

3.       Our babysitting of perpetual baby Christians will cease and the pew warmers will either come alive with the power of Heaven or get out.

4.       No longer will we show preference to our large donors, or gear our sermons to please them. Money empowered ministry will have run its course and have been found empty. We will have turned fully to the Power of God and yes, finances will flow in abundance, but it will not be used for padded pews and better carpet. Jet planes will no longer be needed for we will be translated to wherever we are needed just as Philip was transported by the Holy Spirit.

5.       What we do, we will have to do during times of fierce persecution, because the one thing that Satan cannot stand is a powerful and awakened Church. But he will have to flee from us because we will have finally put on Christ and so, to come into our midst will mean certain injury and defeat for him.

6.       Jesus bought back for us the authority that He once gave to Adam and yet we have rarely if ever used it. Mostly we have abused it. But God’s Remnant people, the revealed sons of God are going to take it back and use it, not to build empires, but to defeat Satan’s kingdom and to establish the kingdom of Jesus Christ.

7.       But even as I say that, I must add that we are going to recognize this harvest as a sovereign act of God!  We will keep our hands off of His glory. We will absolutely eschew all forms of recognition, rending our garments if people try to lift us up. Acts 14:14

8.       We will be fearless, not loving our own lives even unto death. Martyrdom will become a high honor and those who are killed will simply join the army on the other side. Rev.19: 14-21, Hebrews 12: 1,22-29

                Well, we have only covered 2 verses in Joel chapter 2 and there is so much more to be revealed. We will continue this marvelously wonderful and unprecedented time in our next couple of articles if the Lord wills it. But the bottom line is this. These days are upon us and we need to pray to the Lord to cleanse our temples. We desperately need to learn to live by the Spirit and not by the flesh. We need to come out of the world system. We need to separate ourselves unto God. We need to learn true worship, free from self-consciousness and tradition. We are not in Kansas anymore. We are seated with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Eph. 2:4-6, Eph. 1:18-23

                Those denominations that put a lid on what God can do are going to go by the wayside. They simply cannot contain the new wine and oil that is coming and so we will either go down with the ship, or we will step out in faith to live by the Spirit and the Word. Believe me when I say, that a large part of our persecution will come from the dead church.

                Every day we must ask the Holy Spirit to bypass our flesh and to awaken our spirit to worship, for it is in worship… true worship that the gates of hell are pushed back and all who are appointed to salvation will be set free. Hallelujah!!!

                The next verses that we discuss contain some very good news! He, who has an ear, let him hear… THIS IS THE OPPORTUNE TIME!