Four Seasons of Life – Part 2
Fall
Scripture: James 4:7-8; Romans 12:2; 2 Corinthians 4:16-18
This is part two of my series the “Four Season of Life.” Last week I talked about our spiritual winters and this morning we will be examining our spiritual fall. As a recap from last week, I told you that the Holy Spirit gave me an analogy about how we experience spiritual seasons. He told me that “The further you are away from Christ the colder you are and the colder you become. Remember, love is warm.” As I thought about what He had revealed, I began thinking about how to convey that message to you so that in these times in which we are living, we can determine what spiritual season we are living in and, if necessary, make the decision to choose to be in the season that God wants us to be in with Him.
I told you last week that a season is a period of the year that is distinguished by special climate conditions (or spiritual changes). The four seasons, spring, summer, fall, and winter, follow one another regularly. Each has its own light, temperature, and weather patterns that repeat yearly. I told you that seasons occur because the Earth tilts on its axis relative to the orbital plane either towards the sun or away from it. When the Northern Hemisphere is tilted towards the sun, the sun’s rays hit it for a greater part of the day meaning it gets more hours of daylight. The opposite is true in the winter when the Northern Hemisphere is tilted away from the sun and there are fewer hours of daylight. Seasons have an enormous influence on vegetation and plant growth while winter typically has cold weather, little daylight, and limited plant growth. New Light, we need to understand something very important about seasons. Just like they impact vegetation and plant growth, which have life in them, seasons also have an enormous influence on us mentally, emotionally and also spiritually. And the interesting thing is this: seasons can impact one without impacting the other. And, just as vegetation grows in the spring and summer, we experience spiritual growth when we are in our spiritual springs and summers. Last week I focused on winter and how our spiritual winters are reflective in how we respond to those around us. When we are experiencing a spiritual winter, the love of God which flows through us gets cooler and cooler until it is hard to determine if it is present at all. New Light, if we take care of our spiritual seasons, then we will have less difficulty when it comes to dealing with “seasonal attacks” on our mind and emotions. This morning I will be focusing on fall. In the natural, autumn is represented by temperature drops and trees losing their leaves. Things are still growing, but not as they were. Fall is represented as a transition period from summer to winter.
In the natural, in the fall (or autumn) the weather begins to get colder and many plants stop making food. It is easy to identify that fall is beginning because the leaves on the trees begin to change their color. Deciduous trees shed their leaves as the leaves change from green to red, orange, yellow or brown before falling. Also during the fall there is less sunlight because the days are shorter. The season of autumn is largely associated with harvest time. In western cultures, this is the time when various harvest festivals are celebrated. These are a few of the things that takes place in the fall in the natural. So let’s talk about the spiritual.
As I closed the message out last week I shared with you that fall signifies the start of the shifting (tilting) away both spiritually and in the natural. I introduced you to the article I read from the Cultural Research Center that talked about how American Christians are redefining the faith; how Christianity is undergoing a “post-Christian Reformation.” I close the message with what was recorded in James 4:7-8. It says, “Submit therefore to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 8 Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.” Before I go into the heart of the message on fall, I want to share with you some of the findings from the “American Worldview Inventory 2020” which surveyed 51 beliefs and behaviors among Christian groups and found that rather than Christians transforming the culture around them with biblical truth, the culture is transforming Christians with unbiblical beliefs and values. As you listen to the results of this survey, I want you to remember what Paul wrote in Romans 12:2. He said, “And be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.” (Romans 12:2) Here are some of the key findings showing that Christianity is rapidly conforming to the values of the post-Christian secular culture:
• Evangelicals are embracing secularism (exclusion of religion from public affairs or the rejection of religion altogether) as a majority (52%) reject absolute moral truth. Moral absolutism is the belief there are universal ethical standards that apply to every situation. For example, stealing might be considered to be always immoral, even if done for the well-being of others (e.g., stealing food to feed a starving family), and even if it does in the end promote such a good. Truth, in their view, is uniquely determined by each individual according to their preferences and circumstances. 0The most startling realization of the theological reformation in progress was how many people from evangelical churches were adopting unbiblical beliefs. One-third to one-half embrace a variety of beliefs and behaviors counter to biblical teaching. This is critical because it’s the evangelical churches that teach that the Bible is the authoritative Word of God. Forty-three percent (43%) believe Jesus sinned while here on earth and the Holy Spirit is symbolic. We are talking about people who profess to be Christians.
• Pentecostals (Charismatics) take secularization a step further. Sixty-nine percent (69%) reject absolute moral truth and 54% are unwilling to define human life as sacred. Forty-five (45%) of people in Pentecostal churches did not qualify as born-again Christians!
• Mainline Protestants are the most secular of the four faith families. Hear me closely on this because we are all part of the Protestant faith. Sixty percent (60%) of mainline Protestants’ beliefs directly conflict with biblical teaching. Fifty-eight (58%) believe there is no absolute moral truth and 63% say God is not the standard or provider of truth. I’m going to pause long enough to let that sink in. Truth and morality are determined by the individual, not by God or the Bible. Can you say “my truth”? A majority of this group also believes that life has no inherent value or purpose but we can make the most of it by doing things that produce personal happiness or satisfaction.
So how did so many get to this point? How did so many shift from following and relying on God’s Word to believing they can do it on their own? How did those who say they believe in Christ deny His authority in their life? I believe it goes back to the person’s state of mind as it relates to hope. When we begin to lose hope and feel that life just happens, we find other ways to fill the void. One of the main ways is to become self-sufficient and self-serving, relying solely on ourselves so that we are not disappointed by others. We also choose the course of least resistance because we do not want to engage in a long-term battle when we could just float through life the way so many others do. For example, do you know that Merriam-Webster changed its definition of “sexual preference” because the Supreme Court nominee was called out for using the term during her confirmation hearing? The term was deemed offensive because society now believes that sexual orientation is a birthright and not a preference. This is where we are today. There are so many people transitioning into a spiritual fall not realizing that they are shifting further and further away from the Son – they are losing their hope in Him.
Proverbs 13:12 says, “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but when the desire is fulfilled, it is a tree of life.” Remember what I said about knowing that fall is coming because the leaves of the trees begin to change colors and eventually fall to the ground? Solomon said that when hope is deferred or delayed it can make the heart sick. When hope is delayed, when something that is eagerly anticipated is delayed, it can cause the heart to become weak or, and this is the definition that painted a picture for me – it can cause the heart to become grief stricken. When a heart is grief stricken, everything else, and I do mean everything else, takes a backseat to what the heart is feeling. However, when the desires are fulfilled, our hope is like a tree of life. When you imagine a tree that is alive it is not one that is losing its leaves as fall approaches – even though during the winter it is still very much alive. No, we see a tree that is full of life – full of leaves – which is only evident in the summer. Hope plays a crucial role in how we transition from one season to the next – “if” we actually go through seasons (I will talk more about that in the final message.) I want you to think about spiritual falls as a time when you sense something is wrong and you’re feeling more distant from God and other Christians. Your motivation and/or drive are not as great and you’re starting to feel less hopeful. You haven’t totally withdrawn or closed people out as we do in our winter seasons but we are moving in that direction. That loss of hope is symbolic of a change that is coming spiritually. So I want to share a few things that could potentially be indicative of our entering a season of fall. If we can identify the symptoms fast enough we will know what to do to return to spring or summer before “winter sets in.” Let’s start with Second Corinthians chapter four.
Second Corinthians 4:16-18 (Amp) says, “Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is (progressively) decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being (progressively) renewed day after day. 17 For our light, momentary affliction (this slight distress of the passing hour) is ever more and more abundantly preparing and producing and achieving for us an everlasting weight of glory (beyond all measure, excessively surpassing all comparisons and all calculations, a vast and transcendent glory and blessedness never to cease!) 18 Since we consider and look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen; for the things that are visible are temporal (brief and fleeting), but the things that are invisible are deathless and everlasting.” What is Paul encouraging the Corinthians to do? He is encouraging them not to lose heart – to give up hope. This is not something that happens immediately – it happens over time. You experience hardship over and over and over and over. It seems like you will never get your head above water. Over time, mentally and emotionally you shift or tilt away from being full of hope (summer) to having a little hope (fall) to having no hope at all (winter). In this scenario we can identify fall as that period of shifting, for whatever reason, from having a lot of hope to having a little hope.
Hebrews 6:18-19 (Amp) says “This was so that, by two unchangeable things (His promise and His oath) in which it is impossible for God ever to prove false or deceive us, we who have fled (to Him) for refuge might have mighty indwelling strength and strong encouragement to grasp and hold fast the hope appointed for us and set before (us.) 19 (Now) we have this (hope) as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul (it cannot slip and it cannot break down under whoever steps out upon it – a hope) that reaches farther and enters into (the very certainty of the Presence) within the veil.” The Bible says it is impossible for God to lie. God is incapable of lying. We need to truly understand this. When we know that God only speaks the truth and that He stands by His Word, when we are faced with situations that we see are drawing us into a spiritually fall season, we can run into His arms for refuge and know that He has promised us the strength and encouragement we need to stop the downward spiral of our minds and emotions. That is the hope that we have New Light. Since God cannot lie it means everything that He says He will do we can believe without any doubts whatsoever that He will do it. I really Iike the imagery presented by “anchor of the soul.” When we put our faith and trust in God’s Word, His Word to us becomes an anchor to our souls. Did you catch that? His Word becomes an anchor to our souls, our minds and emotions, not our spirits. And what is it that His Word gives us? Hope. When we hold on to what God has said, we are held unmovable in a place where our hope in God’s promises, now follow me, where our hope in God’s promises are not delayed. That should really encourage you New Light. It does me.
Hebrews 10:23 (Amp) says, “So let us seize and hold fast and retain without wavering the hope we cherish and confess and our acknowledgement of it, for He Who promised is reliable (sure) and faithful to His word.” We just read that God cannot lie and we see here that because of this, we grab a hold of His promises and hold on to them for dear life because that is exactly what they are for us. You see, God is depending on us to believe what He says and to live our lives with the mindset “Thus saith the Lord.” That is the hope that we confess. That is the hope that we cherish. That is the hope that rely on – that God is faithful to His Word.
First Peter 5:10 (Amp) says, “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace (Who imparts all blessing and favor), Who has called you to His (own) eternal glory in Christ Jesus, will Himself complete and make you what you ought to be, establish and ground you securely, and strengthen, and settle you.” This is a very important verse New Light. It tells us that there are going to be times when we are going to suffer. But it’s not the suffering that you may be thinking about. Peter opens the chapter talking about the sufferings Jesus experienced. He is not referring to the suffering Jesus suffered related to His death on the cross. Remember, Jesus came to earth to show us how to live a life pleasing to God. Do you want to know an example of how Jesus suffered? You know how the Bible says that Jesus got up early in the mornings before daybreak to pray? Do you really believed he wanted to get up every morning to do that? Jesus was a person just like us. I’m sure there were times when he wanted to shut off the alarm and turn over. That is a way of looking at suffering – when we want to do one thing but God wants us to do something else. One more example. We know that Jesus fasted. Supposed He was in the middle of a week long fast and had a craving for banana pudding? Like us, He would have to fight that craving and we all know the suffering involved in fighting off a craving! My point in all of this: the suffering Peter is talking about is the suffering we will do in our lives when we decide not to do what we want to do but what the Bible says we must do. And when we’re willing to do this, Peter says God will “complete us and make us what we ought to be and He will establish us and ground us securely, and strengthen us, and settle us in His grace.”
First Corinthians 15:58 (Amp) says “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be firm (steadfast), immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord (always being superior, excelling, doing more than enough in the service of the Lord), knowing and being continually aware that your labor in the Lord is not futile (it is never wasted or to no purpose.” I want to point something out in this verse. It says we must “be firm and immovable.” It doesn’t say God is going to do this for us. It’s something that we have to do and the verse tells us how we can do it – by “always abounding in the work of the Lord.” Do you know what this is saying New Light? Remember when Jesus said He couldn’t do anything by Himself but what He sees His Father doing? This is what this verse is describing. When we are committed to obeying our Father just like Jesus was, then the Bible says that whatever we do for Him will never be a waste of time or without purpose. I hope you see this New Light. Even though we may not see the full results of what we do, God says we are not wasting our time. And, as we read in Hebrews, God cannot lie. I hope this encourages you as you walk the path the Lord has for you and during those times when you begin to feel the “fall season” coming. Be immovable. Stay the course. God keeps His promises!
Isaiah 26:3 says, “You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You.” As I read this verse, what jumped out to me was this: I have to do something if God is going to guard me and keep in constant peace. I have to keep my mind focused on Him. If I don’t keep my mind focused on Him, God will not be able to guard me and keep me in constant peace. Do you see the words “stayed on”? Together they mean we have grabbed this verse and we believe it and we’re not going to let anyone convince us that it is not the truth. And that’s why it says the person whose mind is stayed on Him has committed himself to God and put all his faith and trust in Him. New Light, when you commit your life to God, His promise to you is that in whatever negative or unpleasant situation you may find yourself, He will keep your mind from going off the deep end by guarding it and keeping it in His perfect peace. I have one final Scripture for this message. Turn to Galatians 6:9.
Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not lose heart and grow weary and faint in acting nobly and doing right, for in due time and at the appointed season we shall reap, if we do not loosen and relax our courage and faint.” The results of the survey that I read earlier show Christians who have grown weary of believing that everything the Bible says is true. They have become faith in their minds and have began to shift or tilt toward believing those things that allow them to get along with people who don’t know God. But we see in this verse, that we can choose not to lose heart or grow weary. It will not always be pleasant and you can think about this in terms of what we talked about earlier – suffering. When we stand in opposition to society, we are going to suffer. We’re going to be marginalized. We’re going to be criticized. Our character will be assassinated. All because we stood for Jesus. But Paul tells us here in Galatians that when we take that stand, when we agree with the Bible instead of the world, we are going to reap the harvest. What is that harvest? I don’t know. But if the Bible says we’re going to reap it, it has to be good.
Some of you are in a fall season. You’re tired and mentally drained. I know because I have been there. When you’re in this season you know there are things that must be done because you are the one responsible for getting it done but your mind is tired. Your body is tired. You’ve ask God how much longer and it seems as if He is silent. Let me encourage you this morning. When we are in a fall season, our hope is on the brinks. We want to keep pushing forward but it seems like even as we are continuing to move we are not getting where we want or need to be. Please do not give up. Remember what was written in God’s Word in Isaiah 26:3. It says, “You (God) will guard him (you and me) and keep him (you and me) in perfect and constant peace whose mind (both its inclination and its character) is stayed on You (God), because he (you and I) commits himself (yourself & myself) to You (God), leans on You (God), and hopes confidently in You (God).”
Until next time, “The Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord lift up His countenance on you and give you peace.” (Numbers 6:24-26)
(If you are ever in the Kansas City, KS area, please come and worship with us at New Light Christian Fellowship, 15 N. 14th Street, Kansas City, KS 66102. Our service Sunday worship starts at 9 a.m. and Thursday night Bible study at 7 p.m. Also, for use of our social media, you can find us at newlightchristianfellowship on FB. To get our live stream services, please make sure you “like” and turn on notifications for our page so you can be notified when we are live streaming. We also have a church website and New Light Christian Fellowship YouTube channel for more of our content. We are developing more social media streams so please stand by and we will notify you once those channels are up and running. We look forward to you worshipping with us. May God bless and keep you.)
