First, Second and Third Age of the RUTC

Challenge to the Summit that Opens the Age of the Remnant (Isaiah 61:4-9)	July 22, 2018
4 They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations. 5 Strangers will shepherd your flocks; foreigners will work your fields and vineyards. 6 And you will be called priests of the Lord, you will be named ministers of our God. You will feed on the wealth of nations, and in their riches you will boast. 7 Instead of your shame you will receive a double portion, and instead of disgrace you will rejoice in your inheritance. And so you will inherit a double portion in your land, and everlasting joy will be yours. 8 “For I, the Lord, love justice; I hate robbery and wrongdoing. In my faithfulness I will reward my people and make an everlasting covenant with them. 9 Their descendants will be known among the nations and their offspring among the peoples. All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed.”

 

God wants to save and heal the world and do a new thing through His people He has chosen and left behind. That is what will happen in the “Age of the Remnant”. What did He send Christ to do? Heal. We need healing in many areas but especially to the scars hidden inside us through which we are always oppressed and seized by Darkness. That was last week’s message. After healing us in those areas, how would He like to use us? That is the covenant we must hold to this week.

“The ancient ruins and places long devastated” in Isaiah 61:4 did not happen overnight. Things that have crumbled over the past generations will all be restored and turned into a blessing. When we truly receive healing, we will save our families and our posterity.

“You will be called priests of the Lord” (Isaiah 61:6a). What does a priest do? A priest heals and blesses others. God will give us evidence to use us as those who heal and bless the world.

“You will be named ministers of our God” (Isaiah 61:6b). Ministers in a government are high-ranking officials. They are leaders, or summit of the world. The same passage appears in Isaiah 55:4: “See, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a ruler and commander of the peoples.” Church officers, especially, must hold on to this covenant and train themselves.

“Their descendants will be known among the nations” (Isaiah 61:9a). “All who see them will acknowledge that they are a people the Lord has blessed” (Isaiah 61:9b). This is the Age of the Remnant that will open through our posterity. If this is a time God has prepared, we must train ourselves for it.

 

1. What is the most fundamental preparation we can undertake?

(1) Because we have been saved by Christ, all problems have been most definitely finished (John 19:30). We must arrive at this conclusion. This is what Christ proclaimed as He was dying for all our sins, curses, authority of Satan, fate and curse of Hell on the cross. “No problem is a problem” does not mean you should just be blindly positive and do everything without thinking much about it.

1. God will turn all problems into blessings. This is what Christ did as the True Priest (Romans 8:1-2 and Romans 8:29).
2. Even if Satan brought those problems, God will make us victorious no matter what. This is what Christ did as the True King (Genesis 3:15 and 1 John 3:8). No matter what problem, conflict or hardship you may face, fight the spiritual battle and enjoy spiritual victory using the kingship of Christ.
3. God has become the Way for your life and He will take care of everything for you (John 14:6). This is what Christ did as the True Prophet. He said He would never leave us alone like orphans (John 14:18) and will be with us until the end of the world (Matthew 28:20).

(2) Now, change all of your standards and restore thanksgiving. We discussed last week that changing our standards is key to Galatians 2:20.

1. Where do all fears, discouragements and despair come from? They come because we look at everything through our scars and standards. That is how we get deceived by the devil.
2. Where do all complaints and resentments come from? They come because we look at everything by our own standards. If Joseph looked at getting sold into slavery and ending up in prison unfairly by his own standard, he would not have any choice but to resent his parents, brothers and the world. But Joseph did not fall into this deception.
3. Where do all hatred, rage and quarrels come from? They come because we look at everything through our scars and standards. We think people look down on us. Look at everything as part of God’s plan to prepare you. You will experience everything as a blessing and answer. You will have thanksgiving even before anything happens.
4. We must start basic preparations of our lives. We must enjoy today that God has allowed us to live and train ourselves today.

(1) What do we really have to enjoy and train ourselves for? It is enjoying God deeply who is the Summit of all summits. As much as you enjoy Him, today will be a blessed, happy day. If you lived every day as such, what would happen? We may occasionally go up to a mountain, fast or spend all night praying in order to enjoy God deeply, but we cannot possibly continue such routine on a regular basis.

(2) How important is your day? When you dissect the lives of those who fail, you will see that their failures are a natural consequence. They have done something every day that inevitably led to failure. Think about how people find out one day they have a critical problem or a disease. It does not happen overnight. They have led certain lives in which those problems had to be created eventually.

(3) Train yourself to do the Three Today’s properly. One day, your imprint, roots and nature will change to a point you find yourself at the summit. When people of God fail to enjoy their today in the Word, prayer and evangelism, they will one day fin themselves always powerless and falling apart.

1. Today’s Word. Whether it be the Pulpit message, the Bible or the Prayer Journal, find the following three things from God’s Word.
2. i) The covenant God is giving you. From this covenant you must be comforted and strengthened (Psalm 119:50). When something that discourages and scars you happens, where do you find comfort? When you seek comfort from people, the scar and the problem become even bigger.
3. ii) Lessons God is giving you. Find what you must realize and renew yourself in (2 Timothy 3:16). One day, you will find yourself as a totally different person.

iii) The future and vision God is giving you. God tells you the future that you do not know (Psalm 119:105). That is when you begin to see what you must challenge yourself for.

1. Today’s prayer. Basically, you must find today’s prayer topic from today’s Word. Many Christians do not know what they are supposed to pray for. That is why Jesus gave us the Lord’s Prayer. It is typically summarized into the acronym “ACTS”. “A” stands for “adoration”. You lift, praise and thank the triune God. “C” stands for “confession”. You confess and repent what you have done wrong and resolve to renew yourself. Do not be oppressed by your wrongdoing, but repent. “T” stands for “thanksgiving”. Give thanks for the covenants, grace, blessings and answers God has given you. If you learn to just give thanks properly, tremendous healing and great works may take place (Philippians 4:6-7). “S” stands for “supplication”, or prayer for what you need. What you really need is the filling of the Holy Spirit.
2. Today’s evangelism and missions. Think about how you can share the grace you have received and save the world. This is God’s utmost desire. This is the reason why we must study, work and enjoy blessings in every field. That is where you get an evangelism list. You always bring evangelism tracts with you. You train yourself to testify of the Christ you have met no matter who you meet (1 Peter 3:15).

 

3. That is when the evidence of the three summits follows. This is the foundation (skills) to save this age.

(1) In your soul and your heart, you begin to receive spiritual strength that you do not even know about. This is the blessing of the spiritual summit. Like Joseph, you begin to see how the Holy Spirit works (Genesis 41:38). Like Samuel, not a single word you say falls to the ground (1 Samuel 3:19).

(2) You receive God’s unique evidence in every little thing you do. This is the blessing of the skill summit. Like David, the rock throwing you have practiced to guard your father’s sheep will lead to defeating Goliath.

(3) Your small work will be a masterpiece and the flow of your field somehow changes. This is the blessing of the cultural summit. You enjoy deep things of God and write psalms and songs, and they become masterpieces that move people. This is the Book of Psalms. Wherever you are, the flow of depression changes to the flow of happiness, and the flow of curses to the flow of blessings.

 

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If you have any inquiries or feedback concerning this message, please contact:                                                                                 One Mind Church of Washington (703) 491-3797 <onemindchurch.org>

Though you may have a lot of scars, you must hold on to the covenant of the summit alone, every day and 24 hours a day. God will raise each of us as a witness of the Age of the Remnant who heals, blesses and saves the world.