"In the fullness of time"
Isaiah 50:1-4
(Prayerful Praise)
There are moments that come in every human life and within every gathering of the Body of Christ that drip with power as God reveals himself to us in a real and personal way. These are moments that transcend the normal passing of time because they are encounters with the Most High God as we experience him in the fullness of His timing. From the text verse of Isaiah 50 we can quickly see that in the 4th verse "due season to a weary soul" is used in such a way to describe a message from one heart to another that is anointed with the Holy Spirit FOR A PURPOSE! The purpose is to impact a heart that is weary and tired altering, changing forever, the condition of weariness to make that heart vibrant and alive again. Because the Word of the Lord came in "due season for a purpose" there is a renewed energy and refreshing vigor that replaces the dry, thirsty soul to change the former condition of that man, woman, boy or girl.
God’s timing isn’t something that’s unfamiliar to us if we have a relationship with Christ that’s real and personal. Corrie Tenboom talked of her experiences during WW2 and of how in all her years of trusting God she had never known God to show early but she had also never known God to be late because God is always right on time. There have been some times in my own life that God absolutely scared me to death!
If you’ve been born into the family of God by being washed in the blood of Christ Jesus, you know a little about the timing of God because at the right moment of time in your life God sent the Holy Spirit to stir your heart. It was in God’s timing that Jesus came to live and die on Calvary’s hill so it’s also in God’s timing that Jesus is revealed to us as able to save us from your sins. Let me say this to you beloved, YOU DON’T GET SAVED WHEN YOU THINK IT’S A GOOD IDEA NO MATTER HOW OFTEN YOU MAY HAVE BEEN TOLD THAT IN THE PAST. Jesus said that no man can come unto him unless God the Father draw them, pull them, coax them through his drawing agent the blessed Holy Spirit. Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life! No man comes unto the Father but by me! In due season, in God’s timing, He draws us to Jesus by the Holy Ghost through the blood of Jesus unto himself.
(1) Don’t play with your soul
- what will it profit a man…?
(1) Seasons in our lives of God’s timing
- seasons of personal growth
- seasons of kingdom service
- seasons of oppurtunity to respond to God’s call
Ecclesiastes 3:1, " A time to every purpose under heaven"
Psalm 32:6, " seek the Lord in a time when he may be found"
Luke 19:44, "thou knewest not the time of your visitation"
Romans 13:11, " Behold it is high time to awake you that sleep"
Since this is the beginning of our new church year, I felt the need to speak specifically to the lay leadership of Pleasant Hill Baptist Church by encouraging you to seek the high calling of being led by the Holy Spirit in all that you do. Can I tell you that this community is full of people that we’re suppose to reach for the kingdom of God in this coming year? You already know that but can I go a step further with you this morning. You as an individual have been appointed by God for such a time as this to shine your light in such a way that the glory of God cannot be hidden from a watching world. If you teach a Sunday School class, you’ll be a better teacher if you are filled with the Holy Spirit! You’ll be a better Discipleship training teacher or Youth leader or Childrens leader if everything you do has been covered in prayer and study. It doesn’t matter what you do, you’ll do it better if you’ve spent time in prayer with God listening to His voice.
You won’t see men, women, boys and girls transformed through your work on this earth if the only preparation you’ve done to teach is try to read your lesson on the way to the church Sunday. Are you praying for the people under your area of influence that God would impact their lives? You can make a difference beloved!
There is a true story from many years ago of an elementary teacher whose name was Mrs. Thompson. Like she had done so many times before, she stood in the front of her 5th grade class on the first day of school and told them a lie. Like most teachers she looked at her students and said that she loved them all the same but that wasn’t the truth. It wasn’t true because slumped in the front row of desks was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard and she had been watching him from the year before. She noticed that he didn’t play well with other children and that his clothes were always messy and wrinkled and that he seemed to constantly need to take a bath. Teddy could also be unpleasant to be around and over time Mrs. Thompson would actually take some enjoyment from marking his papers with a broad stroke of her red pen and then putting a big F at the top of his papers.
Mrs. Thompson was required to review each child’s files that she taught and she put Teddy’s off until last but she was surprised when she saw Teddy’s file.
· Teddy’s 1st grade teacher said he was a bright and pleasant child to be around with good manners and always ready to laugh
· Teddy’s 2nd grade teacher said he did his work neatly and got along well with all the other children but seems to be troubled because his mother has just been diagnosed with terminal cancer and life at home is becoming a struggle
· Teddy’s 3rd grade teacher wrote that his mother’s death has been hard on him and he tries to do his best but his father doesn’t seem to be taking much interest in him. She felt that his home life would begin to affect him if steps weren’t taken by someone to help him
· Teddy’s 4th grade teacher wrote that Teddy is withdrawn and doesn’t show much interest in school. He doesn’t have any friends and sleeps in class sometimes
Now Mrs. Thompson realized the problem and was ashamed of herself feeling even worse when the children brought her Christmas presents wrapped in beautiful paper and tied with ribbons, all except Teddy. His present was clumsily wrapped in heavy brown paper from the grocery store and Mrs. Thompson took pains to open it in the middle of the other presents. Some of the children started to laugh when she found an old rhinestone bracelet with some of the stones missing and a half-empty bottle of perfume but she hushed the children’s laughter when she said how pretty the bracelet was and put on some of the perfume. Teddy stayed after class to help clean up that day and told Mrs. Thompson, "today you smelled just like my mom used to."
After Teddy left, she cried for more than an hour and on that very day she quit teaching reading, writing and arithmetic and instead began to teach children. She paid particular attention to Teddy and as she worked with him, his mind seemed to blossom and come alive again. By the end of the year, Teddy had become one of her brightest students and despite the lie she had told the children at the start of the year, she loved Teddy more than the others. A year later she found a note under her door from Teddy telling her that she was the best teacher he had ever had. Six years went by before she got another note from Teddy telling her it was hard but he had finished high school second in his class and she was still the best teacher he had ever had. Four years after that she received another letter saying that he had stayed in school and was graduating from college with highest honors. He also told her she was still the best teacher he had ever had.
Four more years passed and another letter came this time telling her that he had stayed in school and still remembered how great a teacher she was. Teddy’s letter was signed: Theodore F. Stoddard M.D. but the story doesn’t end there.
Another letter came that spring announcing that Teddy was going to be married and explaining that his father had died a few years ago so he was wondering if Mrs. Thompson might agree to sit in the place at the wedding reserved for the mother of the groom. Mrs. Thompson agreed and wore the same rhinestone bracelet with some of the perfume she had set aside from Teddy all those years ago. They hugged each other and Dr. Stoddard whispered in her ear, "Thank you Mrs. Thompson for believing in me and making me feel important. Thank you for making me feel that I could make a difference."
Mrs. Thompson with tears streaming down her face said, Teddy you have it all wrong. You were the one who taught me that I could make a difference. I didn’t know how to teach until I met you!
The Bible clearly teaches that God has chosen to use one person to reach another person. When we look in the Book of Acts we see Philip is brought to the Ethiopian eunuch to share Jesus. Why couldn’t the angel have done it? Because it’s God’s will to use people to reach other people! Paul is blind from an encounter with Jesus on the Damascus road but Annanias is sent to share the gospel and lay hands on him so that he can see again. Why didn’t Jesus just take care of it himself? Because God’s will is to use people, ordinary run of the mill people, to reach this lost and dying world! Turn with me quickly to Revelation 21:1-7 (read)
Does that strike you as strange? ILLUSTRATE!
