They think it's all over ...

Introduction

As a new Christian many years ago I was on an awesome ride! Discovering the truth of God and excitement for living with him was great. I was like a sponge.

Many people spoke into my life over those years, words of encouragement and words of prophesy. I just wanted to serve God, but I wasn’t sure how or what.

I got married, had kids, a more responsible job … and life started to take over a bit. I was still faithfully turning up but in hindsight I was starting to drift. I started to press God … “what do you want with my life?”, what direction do I follow? and consistently got no answer.

This came to a head when my kids started to resist coming to church and resulted in us taking a break from it.

My passion and engagement started to die off. My prayer life was almost exclusively “What do you want with me God?”.

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Many of us are without a way forward, and many of us had a God given dream, a vision, and made plans for our lives. Some of them prophetic words that inject a fresh excitement and passion, but sometimes the things we see and seek seem to get further away, One step forward and two back. Hope isn’t rising … hope is fading!

Take a moment … what dreams and visions have you had that are fading or faded? … what has Covid robbed you of? Are you sitting there without a purpose? Have you resigned into retirement before your time?

How many times have you been running the race only to get the wind knocked out of your sails?

Proverbs 29:18 KJV - Where there is no vision, the people perish

What does the bible say?

The bible is full of stories … jam packed! Stories from different cultures, different times and different places. But the beauty of the bible is that when you step back to get a birds-eye view is that you start to see the same pattern in different stories over and over again. These people were human beings, like we’re human beings. The context was different, but the feelings and prinicipals are the same:

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Joseph (of technicolour dream-coat fame) had a dream … people would bow down before him. In the story he finds himself betrayed by his brothers, sold to slavery. But he starts to climb the heirarchical ladder, has authority in Potiphar’s house (an officer of Pharaoh, captain of the guard). Hope is rising, but Potiphar’s wife falsly accuses him and he’s back in a dungeon.

Have people falsely accused you?

Moses spent 40 years in exile after killing an Egyptian, then hope rises when he speaks with God in the burning bush. But when he told Phaoroh to let his people go, he refused and increased the hardship on the Israelites each time. When they finally were released, Pharaoh persued them with an army!

Like Moses demanding of Pharaoh, are you continually hitting a brick wall?

Job had a great life and family, we know the story that it was all taken away from him. He lost his servants, livestock which was his livlihood, his children and his health. What’s more those that were close to him told him that it was his fault when it wasn’t.

What have you lost? How is your health?

Let’s zoom out from the individual stories and look at the nation of Israel. God chose them to be his people, he promised them blessings and a promised land. Time and time again throughout the old testament, Israel complained, made idols like the golden calf, altars to baal and ashera poles; they rebelled, rejected God as their king and as a result found themselved exiled from the promised land. Scattered amongst the nations, and the temple , the very hotspot and symbol of God’s presence with them was destroyed.

Are you rebelling? What idols are you worshipping?

These are just a handfull of examples … this pattern repeats itself over and over again.

Let’s read how these stories end … what happened to these people because this will teach us how God works in our lives.

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We left Joseph in the dungeon … now he’s working for Pharaoh …

Genesis 41:39–44 ESV

Then Pharaoh said to Joseph, “Since God has shown you all this, there is none so discerning and wise as you are. You shall be over my house, and all my people shall order themselves as you command. Only as regards the throne will I be greater than you.” And Pharaoh said to Joseph, “See, I have set you over all the land of Egypt.” Then Pharaoh took his signet ring from his hand and put it on Joseph’s hand, and clothed him in garments of fine linen and put a gold chain about his neck. And he made him ride in his second chariot. And they called out before him, “Bow the knee!” Thus he set him over all the land of Egypt. Moreover, Pharaoh said to Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without your consent no one shall lift up hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.”

Joseph was knocked back time and time again, but the dream that God had given to Joseph was fulfilled in spectacular style!

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We left Moses leading Israel out of Egypt but being persued by one of the most feared armies in the region … The sea had parted and Israel had crossed on dry ground ...

Exodus 14:26–29 ESV

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.

Moses waited 40 years in exile, then was continually frustrated, but finally fulfilled his mission of leading his people out of Egypt and onto the promised land, and later on is hailed as the greatest prophet in Israel’s history.

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We left Job with nothing, not even his health ...

Job 42:10–12 (ESV)

And the Lord restored the fortunes of Job, when he had prayed for his friends. And the Lord gave Job twice as much as he had before. Then came to him all his brothers and sisters and all who had known him before, and ate bread with him in his house. And they showed him sympathy and comforted him for all the evil that the Lord had brought upon him. And each of them gave him a piece of money and a ring of gold. And the Lord blessed the latter days of Job more than his beginning. .....................

We left the story with the people of Israel scattered in exile with the temple of God destroyed:

Ezra 1:2–4 ESV

“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

An example of God restoring Israel from the most unlikely source!

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For me, my first day back in church was here at theBarn after 4 years. I’d made a deal with God that he would give me a direction if I came … and he did. As clearly as he’s ever spoken to me he dropped the word “Leadership” in my spirit. The following months felt as I did as a new Christian, new energy, hope and focus.

These stories illustrate how God works, we might not get sold to slavery, or get exiled but there are modern equivalents that we face. God is the same yesterday, today and forever. The context might be different but his methods remain the same.

The cross and the empty tomb

Let’s move to the new testament where this pattern continues in the ultimate climax to the whole biblical story, that of the death and resurrection of Jesus!

The Messiah was foretold in prophecy of coming to rule and reign, he was welcomed by the people on Palm Sunday as a king, “Hosannah” they cried. Yet on Good Friday, those that believed and followed him saw him falsly accused, beaten, mocked and hung to die in torture. The very image of defeat and death. His followers must have felt as if it couldn’t have been worse than this?

But true to the biblical pattern, in the ultimate expression of God’s power and victory, Jesus rises from the dead after 3 days, to a new resurrection body. The old has gone, the new is here.

Are you in the metaphorical 3 days? Are you in day 1 … shock and disbelief, or day 3, depressed resignation? Have hope, have faith. God’s best is coming … Sunday resurrection is coming for you and me!

Joel 2:25 “I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.”

1 Peter 5:10 “And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.”

15 - 20 minutes - 13??

Gospel if inspired to do so

How do we continue where hope is low?

I have 6 practical suggestions on how we can behave whilst we wait ...

1. Consume God’s Word

We need to cling to the bible … God’s Word. Romans 10:17 “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

Joshua 1:8 “This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”

I’m a big fan of The Bible Project on YouTube and they have a series on Wisdom. It teaches us that the biblical idea of wisdom is like living along the grain of life. If you’ve ever tried to plane a piece of wood against the grain, it’s messy and it splinters. But with the grain it’s smooth.

Pay attention to the patterns and apply them to your life. Let the Word of God shape you, prepare you for your destiny.

2. Grind it out

Don’t give up!

Pick yourself up.

Grit your teeth and get on with it!

Take one more step, then take another.

Philippians 3:14 “I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.”

2 Corinthians 4:7–12 “.... We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus’ sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.”

Romans 5:3-5 “Not only that, but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”

James 1:2-3 “Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.”

3. Don’t force it

Another pattern we find in scripture, it’s that of planting seed, watering, growing and harvesting.

Seed - 1 Cor 3:6-9 “I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.”

Mark 4:26-29 “And he said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground. He sleeps and rises night and day, and the seed sprouts and grows; he knows not how. The earth produces by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. But when the grain is ripe, at once he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.””

You and I plant, You and I water, You and I harvest. We don’t make it grow!

Are you continually digging up the seed to check on it’s progress? Stop! Just water and trust God! Wait patiently for the harvest, in God’s time.

4. Serve God

Don’t wait passively. Where is there a need? What gap can I step into?

I’ve found that there is a ‘momentum’ in serving that you carry into your destiny when it comes.

Matthew 6:20 “but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.”

Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.”

Hebrews 13:16 “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.”

Ecclesiastes 11:4 “He who observes the wind will not sow, and he who regards the clouds will not reap.”

a non biblical proverb - “The devil makes work for idle hands”

5. Hold with an open hand

We don’t get the full and final picture.

1 Corinthians 13:9 “For we know in part and we prophesy in part,”

… be prepared for more than you are currently picturing.

Some of us cling so tightly to our vision and dream that it becomes an idol that we worship. We start to shape it into what our human , carnal desires want it to be.

Something can sound very God-like, can look very God-like but it is what we’ve created, rather than what God has inspired.

Stay open to what God is calling you to do, God’s plan for you is so much greater than what you can dream.

Despite all the time that the disciples had spent with Jesus being taught, right before he was taken up to heaven, they still were expecting him to free Israel once and for all:

Acts 1:6 “So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?””

The disciples had a vision of Jesus conquering the Romans, yet God’s plan was greater … the salvation of the whole world.

6 Lean on Jesus

Would the band please come up.

Jesus’ promise to you is that no matter what you’re going through, he will always be with you. Spend time at his feet, meditating on God, his Word.

Repeatedly come to the altar and bow down before him.

Matthew 28:20 “… And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.””

1 Corinthians 12:27 “Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it.”

And Church I challenge you now! That you are the body of Christ. You are his hands and feet on this earth, we are his agents, his representatives. This is a mandate for us to step up and “Be with” those that need Jesus in such times.

1 Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Koinonia - Fellowship, partnership, sharing with.

This is a mandate for us to step up and “Be with” those that need Jesus, indeed to BE Jesus for each other.

Leaning on Jesus also means to lean on us as his church.

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I want to invite you to respond this morning. We have some time for ministry.

Have you lost hope?

Are you grinding it out and feeling tired?

Have you made your dream your idol?

Overspill notes

I was confused about the resurrection for many years as a new Christian. Why was it needed? We’ve been forgiven through Jesus’ death on the cross, wasn’t this enough?

**Reddit Comments**

You can’t get much more fundamental than the resurrection in the Christian faith! No resurrection = no Christianity!

The gospel is crazy! … a story about a man … a human man who was also divine

John 1:1-5 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”

John 1:14 “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Philippians 2:6-11 “who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

The thing about resurrection, is that it’s outlandish, far-fetched, crazy, illogical, it can’t be explained, it’s a mystery .... which is precisely what makes it so profound and meaningful.

The solution to mankind’s condition, does not sit with mankind, is not within our human power to resolve. It is only through Yahweh as saviour of mankind that we have any hope at all.

Isaiah 1:18 ““Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.”

Ezekiel 36:26 “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Isaiah 26:19 “Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy! For your dew is a dew of light, and the earth will give birth to the dead.”

**Quotes about resurrection by early church-fathers or pope etc..**

Resurrection Life

1 Corinthians 15:42-49 “So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body. Thus it is written, “The first man Adam became a living being”; the last Adam became a life-giving spirit. But it is not the spiritual that is first but the natural, and then the spiritual. The first man was from the earth, a man of dust; the second man is from heaven. As was the man of dust, so also are those who are of the dust, and as is the man of heaven, so also are those who are of heaven. Just as we have borne the image of the man of dust, we shall also bear the image of the man of heaven.”

1 Corinthians 15:54-55 “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.” “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?””

Parallel with Genesis 1 ( reverse order as in Genesis)

Our union with Christ means that we get to rise like he did.

Are you aligned with Adam? Or are you aligned with Jesus?

We are Holy because of Jesus, we are sinners because of Adam - separate from our actions!

Resurrection life is here with us today!

Matthew 28:1–8 ESV

Now after the Sabbath, toward the dawn of the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And behold, there was a great earthquake, for an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. And for fear of him the guards trembled and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples that he has risen from the dead, and behold, he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him. See, I have told you.” So they departed quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples.

What should I focus on?

Jesus said John 11:25 “… I am the resurrection and the life ...” . If you’re looking to find "resurrection and life” by striving for resolution of your problems, your healing/finances/miracles … you’re looking in the wrong place. Look to Jesus the person, you’re relationship with him is resurrection life. Where we see victory, breakthrough and blessing in our lives then these are merely side-effects of our faithful alliegence to Jesus. By re-categorising the resolution to your circumstances as a side-effect, you down-grade it in favour of faithfulness to Jesus.

Matthew 16:4 “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah.” So he left them and departed.”

Luke 11:29-30 “When the crowds were increasing, he began to say, “This generation is an evil generation. It seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of Jonah. For as Jonah became a sign to the people of Nineveh, so will the Son of Man be to this generation.”

This way, before Jesus comes again to fully restore the kingdom of God you will see blessing in your life, but it won’t always look the same as you might expect.

The guarantee that we all have who follow Jesus is that we will be with him in the restored heaven and earth, where there will be no more suffering, no more tears, no more injustice, no more debt, no more sickness.