The Shift Is In

UP IN JUNE

Introduction

Two weeks ago, we received two Executive Orders

Defy the Devil

Move Toward Jubilee

I don’t know if you recognized it, but something shifted that Sunday.

We working to discern timing and nail down details for a Jubilee Sunday.

But, we are in a Jubilee season right now.

The Jubilee was a special year of liberation and restoration commanded in Leviticus 25, to occur every 50th year after seven cycles of seven years (49 years).

Release of Debts: All debts were to be canceled.

Freedom for Slaves: Israelites who had sold themselves into servitude were set free.

Return of Land: Land that had been sold was returned to its original family owners.

Rest for the Land: The land was to lie fallow—no sowing or reaping.

JUBILEE IS A RESET

Because of Jesus, and empowered by the Holy Spirit, we don’t have to wait for every 50 years…we have a perpetual Jubilee in Christ.

I want preach today, a message for the moment I believe we are in as a congregation…and also in the broader American church.

The title of the sermon is this: THE SHIFT IS IN

God is a calling a fresh season in the church.

The old thing that was dying will begin to disappear.

Fresh new opportunities are going to begin to present.

We need to know how to live in times of SOVEREIGN CHANGE.

Let’s read our passage for the morning.

2 Kings 7:1–20 - Christian Standard Bible

Elisha replied, “Hear the word of the Lord! This is what the Lord says: ‘About this time tomorrow at Samaria’s gate, six quarts of fine flour will sell for a half ounce of silver and twelve quarts of barley will sell for a half ounce of silver.’ ”

2 Then the captain, the king’s right-hand man,, responded to the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?”

Elisha announced, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.”

3 Now four men with a skin disease were at the entrance to the city gate. They said to each other, “Why just sit here until we die? 4 If we say, ‘Let’s go into the city,’ we will die there because the famine is in the city, but if we sit here, we will also die. So now, come on. Let’s surrender to the Syrian camp. If they let us live, we will live; if they kill us, we will die.”

5 So the diseased men got up at twilight to go to the Syrian camp. When they came to the camp’s edge, they discovered that no one was there, 6 for the Lord had caused the Syrian camp to hear the sound of chariots, horses, and a large army. The Syrians had said to each other, “The king of Israel must have hired the kings of the Hittites and the kings of Egypt to attack us.” 7 So they had gotten up and fled at twilight, abandoning their tents, horses, and donkeys. The camp was intact, and they had fled for their lives.

8 When these diseased men came to the edge of the camp, they went into a tent to eat and drink. Then they picked up the silver, gold, and clothing and went off and hid them. They came back and entered another tent, picked things up, and hid them. 9 Then they said to each other, “We’re not doing what is right. Today is a day of good news. If we are silent and wait until morning light, our punishment will catch up with us. So let’s go tell the king’s household.”

10 The diseased men came and called to the city’s gatekeepers and told them, “We went to the Syrian camp and no one was there—no human sounds. There was nothing but tethered horses and donkeys, and the tents were intact.” 11 The gatekeepers called out, and the news was reported to the king’s household.

12 So the king got up in the night and said to his servants, “Let me tell you what the Syrians have done to us. They know we are starving, so they have left the camp to hide in the open country, thinking, ‘When they come out of the city, we will take them alive and go into the city.’ ”

13 But one of his servants responded, “Please, let messengers take five of the horses that are left in the city. Their fate is like the entire Israelite community who will die, so let’s send them and see.”

14 The messengers took two chariots with horses, and the king sent them after the Syrian army, saying, “Go and see.” 15 So they followed them as far as the Jordan. They saw that the whole way was littered with clothes and equipment the Syrians had thrown off in their haste. The messengers returned and told the king.

16 Then the people went out and plundered the Syrian camp. It was then that six quarts of fine flour sold for a half ounce of silver and twelve quarts of barley sold for a half ounce of silver, according to the word of the Lord. 17 The king had appointed the captain, his right-hand man, to be in charge of the city gate, but the people trampled him in the gate. He died, just as the man of God had predicted when the king had come to him. 18 When the man of God had said to the king, “About this time tomorrow twelve quarts of barley will sell for a half ounce of silver and six quarts of fine flour will sell for a half ounce of silver at Samaria’s gate,” 19 this captain had answered the man of God, “Look, even if the Lord were to make windows in heaven, could this really happen?” Elisha had said, “You will in fact see it with your own eyes, but you won’t eat any of it.” 20 This is what happened to him: the people trampled him in the city gate, and he died.

Deal with Doubt

Doubt can get you cut off from the blessing and shut out of the shift

Doubt grows when you try to predict the “HOW” to the “WHAT” of God

Elisha probably didn’t know how.

God says that “All things work together for the good…”

It’s not your job to figure out the HOW…just trust God for the WHAT

Learn the difference between LAMENT and GRUMBLING

Make A Move

These men were not particularly righteous…and were not exactly full of faith. But, they were holding onto a little bit of hope.

Galatians 6:9 (The devil’s plan is to make you give up)

Fear will freeze you, but love will set you free.

Share the Wealth

Don’t keep the fruit for yourself

Be generous with your money

Be generous with your time

Be generous with your abilities

Be generous with your relationships

Generosity is a form of humility (greed a form of pride)

Some translations say “our sin will catch up with us”

The Hebrew expression for “SIN” and “PUNISHMENT” is the same thing

God gives grace to humble, but opposes the proud.

Learn to share the gospel…not as an imposition, but as an act of generosity

Don’t be a stingy evangelist

If you’re trying to share the gospel, but you don’t share anything else, something is off with that.

Deal with Doubt

You might be the voice to help somebody beyond their own doubt

Help somebody to hope.

Get Ready To Shift

Release Doubt

Defeat Fear

Embrace Generosity

Speak Life