A Tale Of Two Churches

Welcome everyone and make sure that everyone is tuned in to 104.3 on their radios.

Open with communion part of service!

I know and realize, for me personally, the days and weeks that have passed by over the course of this pandemic, have been times of uncertainty and trials and stress and headache and a host of other emotions and thoughts!

And me being me, I have thought much about the state of our nation and of the world and in particular, the state and condition of the body of Christ in the midst of all of this crisis!

I have put much thought and time and attention into reflecting upon what’s going on in these unsettling and uncertain times that we are all in right now.

And I have spent much time reading and praying and asking for answers, as I am sure that many of you have done as well!

Having said that, I will say to you all right now, “I THANK GOD” as I stand before all of you this morning, that although most of our hearts and minds have been wracked with varying fears and doubts and worries and griefs during the past days and weeks, that right now, we can turn those same troubled hearts and minds away from the current state and condition of the world around us and we can look towards another place!

We can turn our hearts and minds and our focus away from this world and its cares and concerns and look into the heavenly realm, where there is most definitely seated, right now and for all eternity, the ancient of days, the great I AM, the one true God and Father of all and Lord of all, Yahweh.

And seated at the right hand of God himself, is the lamb of God, the Messiah, the anointed King of kings, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah, the Son of Yahweh, Jesus the Christ!

And right now in the realm of the kingdom of God, even as we are gathered together here this morning, there is something taking place in the heavenlies, that is revealed to us Revelation 4 and 5, where John writes what he was shown, as he was called up in the spirit into heaven.

He wrote the following description of what was and is and will be taking place for all eternity in heaven, he wrote, “and I saw a throne in heaven and someone sitting on it. The one sitting on the throne was as brilliant as gemstones—like jasper and carnelian. And the glow of an emerald circled his throne like a rainbow. Twenty-four thrones surrounded him, and twenty-four elders sat on them. They were all clothed in white and had gold crowns on their heads.  From the throne came flashes of lightning and the rumble of thunder. And in front of the throne were seven torches with burning flames. This is the sevenfold Spirit of God.”

“In the center and around the throne were four living beings. Day after day and night after night they keep on saying, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!”

“And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”

“Then I looked again, and I heard the voices of thousands and millions of angels around the throne and of the living beings and the elders. And they sang in a mighty chorus: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing! And then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea. They sang: “Blessing and honor and glory and power belong to the one sitting on the throne and to the Lamb forever and ever.” And the four living beings said, “Amen!” And the twenty-four elders fell down and worshiped the Lamb!”

At this exact moment, even as I say these things, heaven is being filled with the worship of the Lamb and of the eternal God of creation!

That is what the host of heaven are constantly reflecting upon, the Lamb and His Father!

Right now, at this time, I would like all of you in your vehicles to prepare for communion, as we are about to partake together as a family.

Having just showed you what is taking place right now in the heavenlies, I want us to turn our hearts and minds away from this world and all of the broken marred things that are in it, and instead I want us to turn our hearts and minds to the author and perfecter of our faith, our Lord and Savior, Yeshua, the Son of God!

As we partake of communion together, we are joining in with the host of heaven and remembering our Lord and of where He is and also who He is!

And even more so, when we partake of communion, we are remembering that He is coming very soon now, to claim His bride, so that we will also join in with the host of heaven and sing praise to His name for all eternity!

Lead in communion with eating of the bread and the drinking of the juice.

You know, whenever you partake of communion, whether you’re alone, or with others, you’re announcing the Lord’s death, as I Corinthians 11:26 tells us, “For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.” And in announcing His death through the observance of holy communion, you are also identifying with that death, because communion is to be observed by those who have died to this life and its desires and sin. And if you and I identify with His death, we are thus also identifying with His resurrection, right?! I mean, if we’ve died with Christ, then we must know and believe that our life has been raised with Christ and that spiritually, we are seated with Him in the heavenly places, AMEN?!

And when you identify with His resurrection, you must then remember that His return is definitely imminent, because He has ascended back to heaven!

Which is what the end of that verse we just read in I Corinthians tells us, “…you are announcing the Lord’s death UNTIL HE COMES AGAIN!”

As Jesus, Himself promised us, “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”

So, communion is really looking at two different points in time. One point is where the Messiah came and died and rose from the grave and the other point in time is where He will return and claim us as His own!

That’s what we’re doing when we partake in communion, we are remembering one point in time and then looking forwards, to a totally different future point in time.

Both points in time have their origin from the same person, but with two totally different outcomes!

And that’s what I want to briefly talk to you about this morning; two points in time whose origin deal with the same person, but with hopefully different outcomes.

Point in time number one: Is where you and I were in our lives 7 weeks ago, versus point in time number two: which is where you and I are in our lives today.

And in asking about where we were in our lives 7 weeks ago, versus where we are in our lives today, I’m specifically asking about our walk with our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ and how it has changed from one point in time to another!

I know that some of you may say, “It’s only been 7 weeks dude. What would you expect to change?”

Well understand this, in just seven weeks time the disciples had witnessed the resurrection of the Christ, walked with Him and listened to His instructions for their lives as well as witnessed more of His miracles, witnessed Him being miraculously transferred back up to heaven and then, on day 50, they were instantly filled with Holy Spirit and and they witnessed the miraculous birth of the body of Christ and the amazing transformation of 3,000 lives on that one day.

And that all happened to them in just seven weeks!

My point is that a lot of growth and transformation can happen in the life of a believer in just 7 weeks, if we will allow it to. Or maybe more amply put, if we will allow Him to in us!

Whether you have or haven’t ever read the great literary work by Charles Dickens, entitled, “A Tale of Two Cities”, most everyone will recognize the opening lines from that book. “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”

In this great literary tale, Dickens shows the reader two different cities, London and Paris. And he wants his readers to make the connection between the events in Paris’s past and the conditions in modern-day London.

And so he begins by explaining why the years of the French Revolution were the best and worst of times and he begins thus, with his comparisons, with his stark contrasts.

But the contrasting words found within the opening lines of this book, got me to thinking about the two time periods that I am talking about this morning: the time period that existed before Covid-19 and the time period that we are entering into right now; both as a nation, as well as the body of Christ!

Pre-Covid-19, everyone was busy with life as they knew it and doing whatever seemed right and natural to do.

The “church” in America, in the natural sense, ran like a well oiled machine and in a lot of cases, like a large corporation, or a big business!

But then comes the pandemic. It was relentless, as it spread across the oceans of the world and entered into all of the major continents and affected the entire world’s population, in some way, shape, form, or fashion!

It removed the comfort and consistency of the way of life that many of us had become accustomed to and it replaced that way of life with distress and uneasiness and uncertainty!

As Dickens stated, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times!”

We have started seeing some measures being put into place by the government at the state and federal levels, which are allowing us to return, SOMEWHAT, to our normal lives.

This being evident by the fact that we are getting ready to start assembling together again, next week, although with some slight modifications for the time being, but still, we will hopefully get to see one another from a different perspective other than smiling through the car windows at one another and then driving off! AMEN?!

And as much as people long to get back to life as it was before, back to the point in time number one that I mentioned a couple of minutes ago, the “pre-covid” period (or, for simplicity sake, what I am going to refer to as “PC”), I wonder in my heart if that is a good thing or a bad thing?

I had a discussion about 3 weeks ago with one of our elders from CWC on the phone one morning and in that discussion, I shared with him that I had a concern on my heart which stemmed from the very first message that gave at the onset of this whole quarantine, isolation period. The message that I gave 7 weeks ago, came from the teaching that Jesus rendered in His Olivet Discourse in Matthew 24-25. And in that teaching Jesus listed out things that we should look for and be aware of, that would serve as indicators that His return was drawing near. One of those things, of course being pestilences/diseases, which is what drove that message.

But the concern that was and is on my heart, even today, 7 weeks later, is something else that Jesus mentioned to His disciples (and ultimately to us today), in that same teaching in Matthew 24. If you have your Bibles with you turn to the gospel of Matthew 24: 32-44 and let’s read this passage together.

Matthew 24:32–44 ESV

“From the fig tree learn its lesson: as soon as its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near. So also, when you see all these things, you know that he is near, at the very gates. Truly, I say to you, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place. Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away. “But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. For as in those days before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and they were unaware until the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. Then two men will be in the field; one will be taken and one left. Two women will be grinding at the mill; one will be taken and one left. Therefore, stay awake, for you do not know on what day your Lord is coming. But know this, that if the master of the house had known in what part of the night the thief was coming, he would have stayed awake and would not have let his house be broken into. Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Now the part about this whole passage that we just read, that has stuck in my heart and the concern that I have for it, which I shared with my dear brother that morning on the phone, is the particular statement that Jesus makes in verse 37, where He says, “For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man.”

And Jesus gives a little more detail as to what exactly He meant in making that statement, when He says, “In those days before the flood, the people were enjoying banquets and parties and weddings right up to the time Noah entered his boat. People didn’t realize what was going to happen until the flood came and swept them all away. That is the way it will be when the Son of Man comes.”

So here is what Jesus is saying to us and here is my concern. He was making the analogy of the people in the days of Noah to the people in the days of His return and of how the people in those days, ignored the signs of what was coming, until it was too late. And He said it would the exact same way when He returns!

The people in the days of Noah witnessed and watched as this man and his family labored for decades in building this great vessel, called the ark, during a time when rain and floods had never happened, and so they thought that Noah was crazy!

And Noah would have assuredly told the words and the warnings of God to the people in his day and time, as 2 Peter 2:5 calls Noah a “preacher of righteousness”, with the understanding being that throughout the decades that he and his family were building this great boat, they would have been warning the people to repent and turn from their wickedness, before God’s wrath came.

And yet, with visible signs manifesting before their very eyes, as they watched this strange vessel being built which would become the instrument of deliverance from God’s wrath, they ignored the physical signs and the verbal warnings and went on with life as usual, until it was too late!

That is my concern for body of Christ as we come out of this whole pandemic scare.

That as soon as the believers hear that “it’s all good now”, “we are making everything OK for you”, or “it’s safe for you to return to your lives as before”, that this is exactly what many will do!

Now, I am not a prophet and this is not exactly a prophetic word, but I am issuing a warning to everyone who will listen.

Jesus made it very clear in Matthew 24 as to what the days and years leading up to His return would look like, so that His people would recognize them and realize that the time was running out for them to get their work for the kingdom done, before He came back.

This is stressed and emphasized to us in Matthew 24: 45-51, where Jesus gives the parable of the servant who can either do the work of His master until His return, or he can ignore what he was told to do and pay the price, because the master will return when he least expects Him to!

And this is further emphasized by Jesus giving the parables of the 10 virgins and the parable of the talents, in Matthew 25 in that same Olivet Discourse!

LOOK, whenever Jesus harps on a point and stresses it again and again, as He did with this warning of His coming, it would serve you and I well to heed that warning and make the necessary changes in our lives!

Which brings me back to my concern. Here we are beginning to see the daylight after the darkness of this whole viral scare, and things will gradually lessen and people will gradually begin to feel comfortable and secure with their lives. Much like when 9/11 took place. And people will begin to return, in some way, shape, form, or fashion to their lives as before the viral outbreak.

They will begin, again, to give themselves in marriage and eating and drinking and going on with “life as usual” and ignoring the “ark” that was being built before them.

The ark being the physical signs that Jesus said to look for, especially in the day and age when those signs all begin to converge together and happen in close proximity. A.K.A. our day and age!

The culmination of all of those physical signs happening before us, is our ark being built before our very eyes and as Jesus said, of the people in Noah’s day and that they didn’t realize what was happening, even with warnings, still they ignored the signs before them, until the day the flood came and it was too late!

Jesus’ return is that flood! And He has warned us to be about His Father’s will and be prepared and watchful of the signs that He gave, so as to not be caught unready.

Jesus said in Matthew 24:44,

Matthew 24:44 NLT

You also must be ready all the time, for the Son of Man will come when least expected.

He made His return analogous to that of a thief coming and that it happens when you least expect, but all the more reason to be watchful and prepared.

And understand this, the warning is not so much for our benefit, as it is for those in the world who are lost and dying!

Have everyone close their eyes and then say, “I want you to really think about the city and the county that you live in ......(pause for 10 seconds)...........I want you visualize in your mind all of the people that you see in the stores and the malls and restaurants and church buildings.........(pause again).........think about your family and your closest friends and those who you are surrounded by on a regular basis…can you see them in your mind?........(pause again).

In the last minute that just went by,as I had you close your eyes for me and listen to what I was saying to you, about 106 people around the globe just died.

Watch this, “ONE THOUSAND AND ONE”, just then 1.6 lives just passed from life to death.

And in fact, every 40 seconds someone around the world is taking his/her own life!

The warning is for us to be prepared and recognize the signs so as to know that the time is rapidly closing in and to stress the work that we must be busy doing in trying to bring as many of these lives as possible to salvation, before their time runs out!

Is it possible that God may have used, or allowed this pestilence called Covid-19, to remain, so as to do something within His body of believers here on earth? Now please understand, that I am not saying that God sent this virus, nor am I saying that He used it for judgement on people, as so many have been saying. But, what I am saying is this. Could it be, that this pestilence as it happened has served to somehow almost take the body of Christ back nearly 2,000 years ago, to when it was first born. To a time where the believers were having to meet with just their families and with other families in one another’s houses, because they couldn’t assemble together in open places. To a time where people didn’t have all of the constant distractions of the world in their daily lives and a time where there was plenty of time for the reading of the Word in the homes and their was plenty of time for families praying together and worshipping the Lord together?

Is it possible that maybe this time was alloted, or allowed, to bring something beautiful out of something chaotic and ugly?

What if, instead of Christians just returning to their lives as usual, before the covid ordeal, or as I am calling it, “PC”, what if they were more unified because of this time of isolation?

What if, while we were locked inside of our houses, we actually began to use that time to pray and read the Word and seek God in our lives as NEVER BEFORE?

And what if we, the body of Christ in America, really began to burn with the desire to do the work and the will of God in our lives and in this nation and what if we, after all of the Covid-19 ordeal was loosened from around us, were changed from the way we were before (more quiet and complacent as His body and internally focused on our buildings and our people), what if we became so loud and alive within our communities, that we actually saw change in the world around us?

What if that which was meant for harm, for evil, was used by God for good and for the healing of the nations, through His body, made alive and active after the storm has passed?

Could it be that Yahweh, the vinedresser, is doing the very thing that Jesus mentioned in John 15?

Could it be that He is using this time to clean and prepare the branches for a great harvest?!!!

If pertinent at this time mention it has 7 weeks (49 days) since we first went on this time of separation as a church body)

Sabath is rest on the 7th day

Every 7th year is a Shemittah year, where God said to let the land rest and release debt

Every 7 sets of Shemittahs (49 years) is the Jubilee year and a time of resting the land and returning the land to its rightful owner

7 weeks (49 days) after Pasach comes the Pentecost

We can either be the church we were before and do things as we’ve always done (life us usual), or we can be a church that has been pruned, cleaned and prepared for a great and mighty harvest.

It is the Tale of Two Churches!