From Me To You

We have been looking at the person, the ministry, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, and what that means for those who have made a decision, and commitment to walk with God. Today’s message is a bit of a departure from our most recent series. Yet, at the same time, it naturally flows from what we have learned from God’s Word over the past few weeks.

Let’s set the stage for today’s message by looking at Isaiah 60. Set your pens and outlines aside, you won’t need them for awhile. Grab a Bible, and turn to Isaiah 60. This can be labeled as an “end times” passage. It points to the manifestation of God’s glory that will come upon the church at the end of all time as we know it. Have you found it? Here we go. Isaiah 60 (read).

Now I especially want you to catch what it says near the end of that chapter. In the English Standard Version it reads (read verse 22). The Lord speaks of “hastening” the work. That word “hastening” means to act quickly. To make haste. Another definition of it is even to be excited.

You see, there is an acceleration coming. When things will happen, and move in God’s church, and in our lives at a more rapid pace than we might have imagined. And I don’t want to confuse you, and have you mistake this for the speeding up of our society. Fast food. Instant messaging. News before it happens. That isn’t the type of speeding up that is being spoken of here.

It is a hastening; an acceleration of God’s working and moving among the church, and in our lives. There is coming a day, and I believe we are already living in the beginning of that day, when time will be sped up. God’s moving and working will begin to happen at a more rapid pace than what we have previously seen and imagined.

Now, it is almost impossible to talk about hastening, without dealing with the issue of time. And in the New Testament, there are two words used for this concept of time. Two Greek words. There is chronos. Any guesses as to what word we get from that? (chronological) Chronos refers to chronological time. Clocks. Calendars. Measurable, specific units of time.

But a second word that is utilized is kairos, which is usually translated as the “fullness of time.” I don’t know the best way to describe this without getting too complicated, but it is kind of a quantity versus quality type of difference. Rather than the specific measurement of time: minutes, seconds, and hours. Those units that make up chronos time, chronological time. With kairos we are talking about a quality of time. The fullness of time. The uniqueness or special quality of a given period of time.

Let me try to give you a practical example of this difference. The hour in which Allie and Jamie were born, different hours, but those hours were not simply chronos, chronological hours. At least not for Debbie and I. They were not just like the other 23 hours of that day. They were kairos hours. Kairos moments. Full moments. Moments of time that have great significance for my life. . .and theirs for that matter. A maximum amount of quality squeezed in to the quantity of time.

Let me try to give you a Biblical example of this. Turn to Galatians 4. Galatians 4, beginning in verse 1. We don’t need to necessarily see the background or details of this passage, because we are going to look at how this time language slips into this passage. Galatians 4:1 (read through verse 7).

Paul is writing to the church at Galatia, and while speaking of Jesus birth, Paul says that He came when the fullness of time had come. It was not just another day. Not just another month on the calendar. Not simply a measurable chronos of time, but a kairos moment. A fullness moment. A quality piece of time that forever changed the world. We went from being slaves, to sons.

Now, stay with me, because we are heading towards the point of today’s teaching. There is coming a day when the work of the Lord will be hastened. Excited. Sped up. There are chronos moments in history that become kairos moments. Units of time where the quality of the moment becomes more significant than the simple designation of time.

Put together, I believe there are regular measures of time, during which God’s Spirit moves, there is an acceleration of the working of the Lord, and regular time becomes kairos time. The Holy Spirit’s work hastens, and plain old ticking of the clock becomes quality moving of the Spirit.

You still with me? This is not as simple as watching me eat fruit. If you weren’t here last week, you’ll have to get a tape to understand that. But keep your brain grinding with me on this one. If we look at the life of Jesus, we see that it took Jesus 30 years to reach the full stature and preparedness for His ministry. Do you remember what He told His mother before He turned the water into wine? Anyone? (My time has not yet come).