The Day Is Dawning

The Day is Dawning!! 2009/22 07/26/09

Let us just jump right into the word for this time together, for as we have said before, the word really interprets itself, but we may comment from the journals anyway. Turn to the last of the first chapter of the New Testament portion of Isaiah 40:25-31;

“To whom then will you liken Me, Or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.

Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, Who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; Not one is missing.

Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel; my way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by God”?

Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, The Creator of the ends of the earth, Neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable.

He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength.

Even the youths shall be faint and be weary, And the young men shall utterly fall,

But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like the eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.”

Note: Remember we spoke of timing last week, well this week we are going just a small jump further. Listen to my comment of a footnote here; “My way is hidden” A proper understanding of God’s dealing in each life comes only by knowing His perspective and His ways in our personal walk. He has destined us for a

1 particular place and time. This calls for Holy Spirit given patience up front. “Wait on the Lord.” really means to go about your normal routines of life with a fervent, patient hope that He will consummate His rule in His time and in His way. He will deal with evil. This developed inner attitude will bear the fruit of strength to mount up above the moment of all storms of life with a special thrust of holy zeal, for the moment we are here, is special in His plan..

What brought all this to mind, was one morning about a week or so ago, the words, “the day of the Lord” kept running thorough my mind and so, as I usually do, I began to just keep repeating them to myself and started to look up some of them in the bible, and I found none in the New Testament, but many in the Old Testament, and found, that as many of the teachers have said, “the Old Testament is the New Testament concealed and the New is the Old revealed. I won’t read all of them, but I will give you a list of them if you care to go and look them up, for they are most interesting if read in context. The one that the Lord pointed me to however was Joel 2:1 and again in vs 15 the same call is given, ‘to blow the trumpet in Zion’. The first is a warning of a coming move, and the second is a call to repentance, here is vs. 1;

“ Blow the trumpet in Zion, sound an alarm on My holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of [the judgment of] the Lord is coming, it is at hand.”

Several weeks ago we had a lesson entitled ‘Kingdom Awakening’, and I believe that this lesson is one that should come after that one, since this one involves us, both individually and corporately. God is calling for an awakening in the church ‘at large’, and I feel that it is beginning to stretch and yawn, knowing that it is time, and may be ready to awake from the slumber. By ‘at large’ I mean by that, the body that has warmed pews for years and yet added little except their presence to the move of God in the land, and I believe that there is an awakening, and it is God doing the shaking.

Some of those that are awakening, just mentioned, are those who have chosen to stay in the outer court, saved, but not in on what God is doing in these last days. Look at a most simple introduction to the three main feasts;

2 Passover .. 1st Month .. Outer Court .. Beginning of Grace.

Pentecost . 3rd Month . Holy Place … Resurrection Power

Tabernacles .. 7th Month .. Holy of Holies .. Completion

Remember these, for we will see how they fit into ‘the day of the Lord”.

We are aware of the times that we are in, and the many tests that seem to come our way, and the many forms they take, and for sure they require an untiring attitude that waiting on the Lord promises.

In some lessons, even several years ago, we talked about God’s day, and the fact that His day always starts in the dark, at sunset in Jerusalem. That carries with it a meaning that we need to get used to. This will not be a long lesson, but one we need to think on. I just noticed a note on this month’s Ken Copeland partners’ letter. At the top, in a hand written note it stated;

“We have got a lot to do and so short a time to do it in…” I think that is as imminent a statement that can be made at this point in time. So let us get started with a well used statement, but necessary. Since the Lord’s day begins in the dark, then all are going to have to walk and talk with a new level of faith (the hearing kind), for you see the path that we may have to walk, at least part of the time, may not be completely visible, needing the eyes of faith, because it is still dark out there. Dawn begins in the dark. To say it again, God’s days always begin in the evening and ends in the light of day. Now turn to Romans 13:11-12;

“…Besides this you know what [a critical] hour this is, how it is high time for you to wake up out of your sleep—rouse to reality. For salvation (final deliverance) is nearer to us now than when we first believed—adhered to, trusted in and relied on Christ, the Messiah.

The night is far gone [and] the day (light) is almost here. Let us then drop (fling away) the works and deeds of darkness and put on the [full] armor of light.”

Note: We cannot go any further unless we first translate the word sleep. It is from the Gr. Hupnos – it means here, a slumbering state of soul – a state of spiritual conformity to the world, out of which believers are warned to awake.

3 It is time now to share the rest of the story. Most every place that the words, “the day of the Lord” are used, is always arriving just ahead of God’s judgment on a land and its people. We are looking at a time, in this season that precedes the Feast of Trumpets and Atonement, both of which precede the Feast of Tabernacles, where God is calling all of His body to attention. Before we go on, turn to Amos 3:6-7 and Revelation 10:7, and then hear a comment that is a truth in action bit from the word; [Look 1st at 1 Pet 4:17]

“ For the time has arrived for judgment to begin with the household of God, and if it begins with us, what will be the end of those who do not respect or believe or obey the Good News (the Gospel) of God.”

“ Shall a trumpet be blown in the city, and the people not be alarmed and afraid (uneasy)? Shall misfortune occur or evil [that is for punishment], and the Lord has not caused it?

Surely the Lord God will do nothing without revealing His secret to His servants the prophets”.

Now to Revelation 10:7 before we comment.

“ But when the days come that the trumpet call of the seventh angel is about to be sounded, then God’s mystery—His secret design, His hidden purpose—as He had announced the glad tidings to His servants the prophets, should be fulfilled (accomplished, completed)”.

When you hear these words, in light of the fact that the day of the Lord is always around His judgment, then there is the call to warn, and the call to repentance, but also the promise of the blessing that follows if followed. Here is the “Truth in Action” word;

Amos exemplifies God’s commitment to forewarn His people of impending judgment in order to give them the opportunity to repent. God sent the prophet Amos as His spokesperson of warning to Israel. Like a trumpet blown to warn a city of attack, so God speaks through His prophets to warn His people to keep them from destruction. Understand, motivated by His love, God brings warnings through His prophets in order to save His people from harm. If the warning comes in a word, test it to see if it be from God, the Holy Spirit will confirm it with your spirit. Ask God to develop your ability to hear the things He desires to speak to His

4 people. It may come through some event, as well as through a person.

We are in a season at this time when in just the next 45 days we will see the Feast of Trumpets (Sept 18) and then on to the Feast of Atonement (Sept 27), and then the Feast of Tabernacles (Oct 2). We have just heard that when the trumpet is sounded, it is a call to warn of God’s dealing with a land and its people, and motivate them to repentance that prepares us for Tabernacles. Can I share with you, that I know that we may not be in some despicable sin or problem, but we are to accomplish a change of mind concerning some things that we may not think of so quickly, hidden angers, or resentments or even some pettiness, that have held us in bondage for a time. There are so many things in the world and the news that badger our emotions, that we need to deal with, and repentance is God’s gift to do just that, and He calls us ahead of time through His word. Look at Acts 11:17-18, and I want to read this because it is such a blessing to me, that God made this life saving gift available to all who will respond; [after all, its just a change of mind].

“If God therefore gave to them the same gift as He gave to us also after believing in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could stand in God’s way?

And when they heard this, they quieted down, and glorified God, saying, Well then, God has granted to the Gentiles also the repentance that leads to life.”

Let me break off for just a moment and tell you that we are part of very unique generation, a third day and a seventh day group. A year as a thousand days and a day as a thousand years (2 Pet 3:8).It is a new day, so let us arise and shine, our light in Jesus is come. God is, in these seasons purging, purifying and perfecting us for the most special time in eternity. The time of His return for us.

If you recall, just a few weeks ago, we shared from Romans 8 that the earth is moaning for relief, awaiting the revelation of God’s sons. This revelation is not going to arrive in the Outer Court darkness, and it will not be shown in the Holy Place, because charismatic renewal or Pentecostal revival of the more recent days, a seeking approval of the old line traditional fellowships, began to mix compromises and dignity, and we should never try altering anything that the Holy Spirit is doing. The true sons of God will only be revealed from the 3rd room—The Holy of Holies. They will roar out of Zion and be the fire of God that aligns the whole of

5 creation to God’s original design. His true sons are His Righteous Plumbline (Amos 7:7-8) Light will then completely overwhelm the world’s darkness, and the glory of God will be seen on us-(Isa 60:2).

Just a few more comments before we close and I told you this would be short lesson. God’s judgments are always established by His standards, His Scriptures, and as revealed in the Life of Jesus. These will always announce ahead any impending judgment, giving us ample opportunity to repent—to change our minds and alter our attitudes. I may be redundant, but this is a critical moment in eternity’s history.

Reckon with this; God sometimes sends calamity (sometimes accompanying judgment) to His own in chastisement (Hebrews 12:5-9) to turn them back to Him or awaken them, but He always shares His plan ahead of time through the prophets. Want a positive note? Let me read you Amos 5:24;

“But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty (ever flowing, continual) stream.”

In America and in the entire world, people are facing times that no one ever anticipated. We had our life all planned out, and somehow the situation that we find ourselves in does not fit our perfectly plotted pattern. I believe that God may just let us walk in this mire just long enough to find out that He is truly as faithful as He has shown us in all of life. God will show Himself completely worthy of all our praise and trust. He is our only way through the shadowed portion of the dawn.

The bible declares that we are to ‘rest’ in the day of trouble. There is hope for America, at least for those who choose to follow Jesus as He, by His Holy Spirit leads. “Rest” here means to ‘settle down’ and just let Him take care of us.

I am going to read to you, commentary on the book of Habukkuk, and with this we will close this time out.

We are living in a serious time, the “day of trouble” or the “day of the Lord.” God will no longer deal with America and the Church in America or any place else as children or teenagers. We are the most blessed nation on the earth. He is dealing with us now as sons, commanding us to renew our minds. All things are out of Him, and through Him, and into Him (Romans 11:36). We are going “through” Him now. The living Word [Jesus] is the filter

6 through Whom we all must pass. He is the flaming Sword that turns our every way. Put plainly, He is not going to allow us to carry our mess into His Kingdom, and He is inviting us all to come on in.

Note: God’s signature is fire. He is a consuming fire.

In the Feast of Passover, the Outer Court of His purposes, there is a rest given. Our sins are forgiven and washed away by the blood of Jesus, and we experience peace “with” God. In the Feast of Tabernacles, in the Most Holy Place, there is a rest that is “found.” In the high calling of coming to the fullness of His stature, we experience the peace “of”God.

Sandwiched between Passover and Tabernacles is His “yoke” of covenantal discipline, the Feast of Pentecost. The American Church has experienced childhood and adolescence in God, and is now being called to the place of maturity and full responsibility.

I am aware that this has been a journey, but the hour is late and there is a sound of trumpets not so far off, calling us to that place where we are able to take the position that He has destined us for since before the foundation. I think the day is at hand.

Turn to Hosea 6:1-3;

“Come, and let us return to the Lord, for He has torn so that He may heal us. He has stricken so that He may bind us up.

After two days He will revive us—quicken us, give us life; on the third day (we are in it) He will raise us up, that we may live before Him.

Yes, let us know—recognize, be acquainted with and understand Him, let us be zealous to know the Lord—to appreciate, give heed to and cherish Him.. His going forth is prepared and certain as the dawn, and He will come to us as the [heavy] rain, as the latter rain that waters the earth.”

When we see Him, we will then know that it has all been worth all the tests and all the trials and we will also recognize our condition, both before and after each test and then see His love working in and through us, to perfect us, He alone is worthy of all our worship and all our praise! Sing Alleluia to the King of kigs and the Lord of lords, and praise Him from Whom all blessings have come.

7 Class! Be Abundantly Blessed!!!