TEXT:  Genesis 1:1- 5“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. 3. And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning — the first day. 

 

WHERE DOES A WEEK COME FROM?

 

We will begin tonight where we left off last week. Speaking of “week,” the first question we want to look at tonight is “Where does a week come from?”One of the verses we looked at in our last teaching was from Exodus 20:11, which says, “For in six days the Lord made the heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day.”

 

Verse 5 says that “there was evening and there was morning—the first day. Then on day six, God created man who was made in His own image. Man was the crowning act of God’s creation. After God created man on day six, the scripture says in chapter two and verse 7 that God rested on Dayseven—He ceased from creating. Then God blessed the seventh day and made it holy—because He had finished His creation. 

 

Did God rest on the seventh day because He was tired? Considering the fact that God doesn’t get “tired,” the obvious answer would be no. God didn’t rest on the seventh day because He needed to rest. Why did He “rest” then. I told you when we began this study, I wanted to take my time. So, with your permission, we will continue with a slight diversion to make a very important point about God’s eternal plan. Remember, the Bible is therevelation of God’s eternal plan for man. We can never lose focus of that. It is what matters for each of us!

 

Keep in mind that what we learn from the Book of Genesis must be seen in the larger context or in the big picture of God’s eternal plan. 

 

The first creation of God fell under a curse when man rebelled against God in the Garden of Eden. When Adam and Eve believed the lie of the serpent, man became a sinner. He was separated from God. This brought the curse of death on the first creation. This tells us where death came from. Man’s sin caused death. However, along with the curse God brought forth the promise of redemption from the curse in Genesis 3:15. Speaking to the serpent, Satan, God said in Genesis 3:15, “And I will put enmity or (open hostility) between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel." 

 

Following that story line, we see that open hostility between the serpent and the Seed of woman, when God chose Abraham, the father of the Jewish nationthrough whom God would bring forth the “Seed of woman.”  From Abraham was born Isaac and from Isaac was born Jacob. God changed the name of Jacob to Israel. And that is where we get the name Israel. Israel had twelve sons who became the 12 tribes of Israel. From one of those 12 tribes, God chose the tribe of Judah. And from the tribe of Judah God chose the family of David. And from the family of David God chose the virgin Mary. And from Mary, the SEED of woman was born who would crush the serpent’s head and bring forth the redemption of the fallen creation. He would die on the cross, bearing the curse of the first creation. That curse was death, separation from God andGod’s eternal plan for man. At the cross His “heel” was bruised, but also at the cross the serpent’s head was crushed! Crushed? How? At the cross, the curse of sin, which is eternal death, was broken. The ransom had been paid, and man’s sin atoned for. That is why Jesus said, “It is finished!”

 

Are you beginning to see the reason for the Serpent’s hatred for the nation of Israel? It was through Israel that the Son of God, the Seed of woman, not the seed of sinful man, was born into this world. Jesus is the Seed of woman because He came from God and not from Adam’s fallen race. He was born without sin so that He could die for the sin of man. Jesus was the second man who came from heaven. Again, that is why He had to be born from a virgin! Paul referred to Jesus as the second man in I Corinthians 15:47 “The first man, (Adam) was made from the dust of the earth, but the Second man is from heaven.”

 

And also, in 1 Corinthians 15:45 we read, “So it is written: "The first man Adam became a living being"; the last Adam, a life-giving spirit.”

 

I want to show you something very important here. Jesus in verse 45 is called the “last Adam.” Why? Because as the “last Adam,” when Jesus died on the cross, He put an end to the first creation that was cursed with sin. The scripture says, “He who knew no sin became sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” (2 Corinthians 5:21) Adam’s sin and the curse of death on that sin was dealt with on the cross! 

 

Now look with me at 2 Corinthians 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.

 

Having died for the first creation’s sin, Jesus was raised from the dead on The Feast of First Fruits. That was three days after He was crucified on TheFeast of Passover,” where He died as our Passover Lamb; where He died as the “Last Adam;” where He paid the ransom for the first Adam’s sin; where as “The Seed of woman” His heel was bruised but also where He defeated or crushed the serpent’s head! 

 

It should be noted here that just as there are seven days in creation, there is also the Seven Feasts of God which reveals God’s prophetic and eternalplan.

 

On the Feast of Pentecost, having been raised from the dead and ascended back to heaven, Jesus poured out the Holy Spirit giving birth to the Church, the beginning of the New Creation of God. “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creation. The old, (the first creation of Adam) is gone. 

 

 

In a word, the New Creation of God began with the resurrection of Jesus as the First fruits of those risen from the dead. Then on the Day of Pentecost the New Creation of God continued with the birth of the Church! Everyone who is genuinely born again by the power of the Holy Spirit is part of God’s New Creation that will live forever!

 

In Revelation 1:5 Jesus is revealed as “the first born from the dead.” He is the beginning of the new creation of God! In Jesus as the last Adam, the first creation of God was put to death on the cross. And in His resurrection from the dead the New Creation of God began! 

 

In verse 18 of Revelation one, He says, “I am the Living One; I was dead, and behold I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” 

 

Beloved, what an amazing revelation of hope! Jesus has conquered death, hell and the grave. In Him the best is yet to come!

 

1 Corinthians 15:20-23 “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in his own turn: Christ, the first fruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him.”

 

The next Feast of God to be fulfilled will be The Feast of Trumpets. This will be the rapture of the Church and the Second Return of the Lord to the earth. 

 

The Feast of Trumpets will be the next step in the revelation of the New Creation of God. 

1 Corinthians 15:50-54 “I declare to you, brothers, that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. 51 Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed— 52 in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. 53 For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. 54 When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory."

 

The Feast of Trumpets will be when the Church receives its’ New Creation bodies! These bodies will be like the body of Jesus when He was raised from the dead as the beginning of the New Creation of God. This will include all of those believers who have already gone into heaven as well as those who are still on the earth. Being saved, being a new creation in Christ is not just exciting theology, but rather it is A REALITY!

 

After the rapture of the Church and the second return of Messiah to the earth, Jesus will then save the remnant of the nation of Israel. For those who may not know, the war of 1973, was also known as the Yom Kippur war, because it happened on the Day of Atonement. It was a coalition of Arab nations led by Egypt and Syria with the intent of destroying the nation of Israel.  Also, on October 7 of last year, Israel was attacked again by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas, a proxy of Iran, with the intent of destroying the nation of Israel. Who was behind those attacks? The Serpent! The same serpent who attempted to destroy Israel through successive world empires throughout history. This is the seven headed beast with 10 horns mentioned in the Book of The Revelation, chapter 17 and verses 7- 10. Those 7 empires are Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. These kingdoms were raised up to prevent the Seed of woman from being born! But they failed. The seventh empire is yet to come. It will be the end time beast kingdom led by Antichrist! And once again, he will make war against the Seed of woman at the battle of Armageddon. He will fail again! At this time, on the Day of Atonement, following the Feast of Trumpets, Jesus, the Coming King, will kill the false prophet and the antichrist and will destroy the serpent’s anti-Semitic, antichrist beast kingdom!

 

Now perhaps you are wondering what this has to do with the seven days of creation in the Book of Genesis. I’m going to tell you. 

 

This will take us to the seventh and final feast of God, the Feast of Tabernacles. This Feast will be the 1,000-year reign of Messiah Jesus on the earth. Satan will be bound for 1,000 years, and God will show the world what the first creation, that began in Eden, could have been. Look how Isaiahdescribes it in His prophecy in Isaiah 2:2-4 “In the last days the mountain of the Lord's temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. 3 Many peoples will come and say, "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so

that we may walk in his paths." The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” Jesus will be ruling from His capital in the city of Jerusalem as the Greater Solomon! The nations of the world will seek out His wisdom and His Divine Presence. The Feast of Tabernacle corresponds to the seventh day of rest in the first creation of God. It will be a holy time of rest and peace on the earth. (Aborted babies who had their lives stolen from them just may be allowed to grow up in these thousand golden years on the earth!These are my thoughts)

 

What happens after the 1,000-year reign of Messiah Jesus on the earth? The devil, the serpent, is let loose for a short season. The people who are yet on the earth will still be part of the first creation after Adam. Satan will stir up that rebellious nature one more time to come against God. But at this point, we see the complete end of the first creation when God destroys this rebellion with fire, and Satan, that old serpent, is cast into the eternal lake of fire! 

Then we will enter fully into the New Creation of God!

 

Revelation 21:1-4 “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." 

 

CONCLUSION

 

 

What was lost in Genesis is found in Revelation. What began with a curse ends and begins with blessing. God’s plan in Jesus is the meaning of life! Do you know Jesus? Let’s pray. 

 

Are we close to these things being fulfilled? I believe we are.

 

Jubilee that happened every 50 years in Israel was a time when property was returned to its original owner. 

 

1. 1917 was the Balfour Declaration by Great Britain. It was the declaration that Israel should once again have a homeland. Multitudes of Jewish people began returning to their homeland from all over the world. I believe this was the first Jubilee in Israel since she lost her nation in 70AD.

2. 1967 (50 years exactly from 1917) was the Six-day war. From this war, which Israel did not start, Jerusalem was returned to Jewish control for the first time since 70AD. Jubilee!

3. 2017 (50 years exactly from 1967) America, under the leadership of President Donald J. Trump, recognized Jerusalem as the capital city of Israel! Jubilee! And God is not finished! The day is fast approaching when Messiah will return to the Jewish people! What a day that will be!

 

 

 

 

 

 MUSTARD SEED FAITH

AND THE COST OF REVIVAL

 

TEXT: Luke 17:1-10 Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him." 5 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you. 7 "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

INTRODUCTION: 

For three and a half years, Jesus prepared His disciples to receive the Kingdom of God. He was preparing the new wineskin to receive the explosive power of the Holy Spirit—a power that would not fit into the wineskins of religion. Said another way, He was making them ready to steward the first revival in the Church—which would begin on the Day of Pentecost. God wasn’t going to turn over the keys of the Kingdom to those who would not know what to do with them. 

And so it has been the way of the Lord in every successive generation. When it is in His divine timing to send another heaven-sent revival, the Lord begins the process of preparing a new wineskin that will be ready to receive and to steward His Presence and power. I believe that we are in the season of that

preparation that precedes the next outpouring of God’s Spirit. Why do I believe that? I believe it because I see the Holy Spirit separating a remnant Church that He will pour His Spirit into. He is preparing a Church that He can trust with His power—a Church that will steward His Spirit with His love, wisdom, and purpose. What is that purpose? It is to bring in, I believe, the greatest harvest of souls that has ever been seen! 

The searching question today is this: how many in the Church will be willing to become that vessel of honor and glory that God will work through to accomplish what is in His heart for this generation, our generation? Are you one? Only you can answer that question. Many are called, but few are chosen. Let’s pray. 

I. If we are to become the new wineskin of the coming outpouring of the Spirit, then how we live is not an option. 

Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him."

Jesus begins by telling His disciples the things that cause people to sin were inevitable. That was the world that they were living in. People carelessly did things without any regard of how it would negatively affect others. If what they did caused someone to sin, then so be it! “Am I my brother’s keeper,” once said Cain to God, after he had killed his brother Abel! 

Without question today, many people who go to Church and call themselves Christians, are totally unconcerned about how what they do may cause another believer to sin. “This is my life, and I’m going to live like I want to live it, and if someone stumbles over what I do it is not my problem.” Is it not? What did Jesus have to say about that? Jesus said to his disciples: "Things that cause people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come. 2 It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than for him to cause one of these little ones to sin.” Who are the “little ones” here? They are those who have put their faith in Jesus as Savior and Lord. Jesus said that it would be better to have a millstone tied around his neck and thrown into the sea! (Even a small millstone weighed up to a 100 pounds!) than to be crushed by the weight of knowing that what you did caused someone to stumble who had put their faith in Jesus: Perhaps your little boy or girl who believes in Jesus and looks up to you; maybe that person at work who had given their life to Christ because of your witness; or the person at Church who you have influenced to get closer to Christ. 

Here is the point: Can the Lord trust a believer to properly steward His Presence and power if they are unconcerned about offending other believers by how they live their lives? The obvious answer is no, He can’t trust them, and He won’t. If we are to be part of the remnant Church that God will pour His Presence and power into, then we must take a step of faith and surrender this area of our life to the Lord. We must learn to love our neighbor as ourselves. As a true disciple of Christ, there are things that we just don’t do! Well that’s not easy pastor. No it’s not. And that is why not everyone will be part of the new wineskin that the Holy Spirit is preparing for the coming revival. Not every believer will crucify their flesh for the sake of not offending another Christiaan. How about you friend? Are you willing to pay the cost of being His disciple? 

II. If we are to become the new wineskin for the coming outpouring of God’s power, then forgiveness is not an option.

3 So watch yourselves. "If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him. 4 If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him. 

We spoke about forgiveness last week in our message on Job. We discovered that when Job forgave his three friends and prayed for them, God then trusted him with twice as much as he had before. The point I made was that the coming move of the Spirit will not come to those who refuse to walk in forgiveness. God will not trust His power to those who are willing to forgive others—those who are willing to be in right relationship with others—those who are unwilling to love their neighbor as themselves. 

Jesus is telling us here that if we see our brother sin, then we should rebuke him. That doesn’t mean judge him. Rather it means to love him enough to do all that you can to help him see that he has hurt you or has wronged you by what he has done. Treat Him the way that you would want to treat you. Work to heal your relationship with him and not tear it apart. Don’t treat your relationship with another believer as it doesn’t matter or is not important. Our relationship with God and with other believers should be the most important things in our lives. 

That is why Jesus went on to say, 4 “If he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times comes back to you and says, 'I repent,' forgive him.”

Those believers who fail to value their relationshipwith God and with other believers will not be entrusted to steward the coming move of God’s Spirit. This is an area that we must surrender to God. This is an area that we must mature in as disciples of Jesus if we are to see and experience the coming revival. And this leads to point three: 

III. If we are to become the new wineskin for the coming outpouring of the Holy Spirit, then we must be willing to grow in our faith in Christ.

The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" 6 He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

The disciples asked Jesus to increase their faith. They were saying Lord, “what you are asking us to do is hard. And we can’t do what you are asking us to do if you don’t increase our faith.” 

The response of Jesus to their request is so important to being prepared for the coming revival! Let me show you how. 

Jesus said to them, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.”

Jesus is saying to them all you need is faith the size of a tiny mustard seed. All you need is to have enough faith so as not do things that would cause other believers to sin because you value their soul above being able to do what you want to do, and if you would have just enough faith to so love your neighbor as yourself that you are willing to put right relationship with them above your need to hold onto any unforgiveness, then you will be in the place where I can trust you to move mountains for the glory of God! You will be in the place to where you can say to the tree, be picked up and cast into the sea and it will obey you! Hear me friend, God will not entrust that kind of power to anyone who hasn’t learned to walk in love toward his brother; who hasn’t learned to love his neighbor as himself! 

I want to make one final point here to make sure we understand what Jesus is saying here. 

IV. If we are to become the new wineskin for the coming move of the Holy Spirit, then we must be free from self.

Jesus said, "Suppose one of you had a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Would he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? 8 Would he not rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? 9 Would he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? 10 So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.'" 

Doing what God asks us to do does not mean that we have arrived or that we no longer have anything else to do as His disciples. 

If we are to be fully prepared to steward the coming move of God, then we must know that it isn’t about us or what we have done or may do. The coming move of God is not because we are good but rather because He is good. When the revival comes, we must give Him all the glory because we have only done what we should do as the sons and daughters of God. 

Further, the coming move of God’s Spirit will only be maintained as we continue to grow and mature in faith, as we continue as His servants to obey Him and do only what He leads us to do! 

CONCLUSION

As we conclude today, I know that this word will not be received by many because most in the Church are not willing to follow Jesus in full surrender. Too many have made the Christian life about themselves and not about putting the Kingdom of God first. But there will also be those who will receive this word from the Lord and walk in it. They will be a part of the remnant Church that God will trust to steward His Presence and power when He pours out His Spirit in the greatestrevival of our lifetime. 

ALTAR

How will you respond to the word of the Lord to you today? Will you walk away or will you say with His disciples, “Lord, increase our faith.”

It’s your choice friend. No one can make that choice for you.