Participation in Visitation
Guest Speaker: Pastor Reggie Roberson
God is visiting our nation in a special way. There is a river of power flowing through our nation because God has chosen to pour out HIs spirit.
New York stories: (Bound 3 million g of porn suspended in hell, guy drugged by girl encounters Christ.)
One lady came to our church to door dash food and heard the audible voice.
San Antonio - 14 people the majority over 60 baptized in the Holy Spirit
Austin guy (Muslim)
Brothers and sisters, this is just the beginning of God’ visitation to our country.
Second city church
Vision of a ball of light spinning and bringing things quickly into itself. Acceleration of growth and maturity
○ Young people who responsibly handle the word and push aside temptations mightily.
○ Transplants of people who are looking to live on the edge of their faith.
○ Resources
I want to exhort you today, family, that God doesn’t want you to miss his visitation but instead God’s wants your Participation in His Visitation
I want to talk about this today.
Luke 19:35-44 ESV
35 And they brought it to Jesus, and throwing their cloaks on the colt, they set Jesus on it.
36 And as he rode along, they spread their cloaks on the road.
37 As he was drawing near—already on the way down the Mount of Olives—the whole multitude of his disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen,
38 saying, “Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 And some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to him, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples.”
40 He answered, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”
41 And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.
43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side
44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.””
Let’s pray!
Context:
God through Jesus Christ was visiting the Jews. He was longing for the Jews to see him and his work so they could believe in him and have life.
Jesus was a walking revival and with signs, wonders, miracles and people had radical turn arounds.
Yet there were also those who would reject Christ despite the evidence of His messiahship in the work.
It is very puzzling to me as to how it could be that the Jews, who had extensive knowledge of the scripture and 400 years before Christ they had no prophets or miracle workers until John the Baptist and then Jesus and the Jews missed the time of God’s visitation.
Not accepting the day of God’s visitation in Christ had dire consequences for the Jews; they would see a Roman invasion at 70 ad in which they would take out their temple and do things predicted by Christ in this passage.
Jesus says I longed to give you the things that make for peace but you would not have it.
The question of the hour is:
● Will we miss the good things that God longs to give us?
● Will we perceive the day of God’s visitation in Christ?
God’s wants your Participation in His Visitation
How does your participation look in the visitation?
Devoted Exaltation
v. 38 (Pharisees rebuke your disciples not the rocks will cry out v. 40)
There were two things these people got right: Praising God and following Jesus where He was going.
● We need to praise God. Declare out of our mouths who he is and what he has done; this keeps our hearts ready for what God wants to do. “But You are holy, enthroned (visit) on the praises of Israel.” Psalms 22:3 HCSB
● We also need to follow Jesus in our lives. We should seek to discern his will and obey it.
Obeying God means we do God’s will God’s way in God’s Time.
They got the exaltation right but the devoted part was wrong. Many of those who praised Jesus, even the disciples, would abandon Jesus and betray Him.
We know how to celebrate people when things are going as we expected but we struggle to do so when it is not as expected.
● Your favorite sports team.
● A project at work;
● a kid in school.
Our praise and obedience can be silenced by circumstances.
Has your praise of God been silenced by your circumstances?
Here’s the thing: God is good all the time even when things are not looking like we expected.
He works things out for our good Romans 8:28. You see, God is looking for the ones who will be faithful to him regardless of what happens in their lives so He can show himself strong on their behalf and use them powerfully during the time of his visitation.
This brings me to my next thought:
Adjust Expectation
V. 42 Jesus goes from this high moment to weeping over the city. What happened? He knows their hearts and how they will lose devotion.
They lack devoted exaltation because they had not adjusted their expectations.
This is what caused them to lose their devotion.
They expected God to move and work in a particular way and it did not happen. They expected
Jesus to march into Jerusalem and set up his Kingdom and kick Rome's butt. Of course that meant that their lives would be easier because they know Jesus. Jesus totally violated this because instead of dominating his enemies, he died for us enemies. Instead of taking back power he gave up power.
When expectations are unmet it leads to frustration or offense and sometimes passivity, quitting, or taking matters into your own hands.
If we do not adjust our expectations we may not participate in God’s visitation.
Illustration: Jesus Revolution Movie
What are some blessings you’ve had that didn’t come in the way you thought they would have come?
During a time of visitation, devoted exaltation is possible when we adjust our expectation as we Contend for Revelation.
Contend for Revelation
Jesus says that visitation was hidden from their eyes v.42 Many scholars agree that this hiding is spiritual and sinister in nature. It is the same hiding that is spoken of in 2 Corinthians 4:4 where Paul says the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelieving.
This blinding of the heart or a lack of revelation is what is at the root of the Jews missing the day of visitation. Here’s the thing, everyone needs revelation from God in this hour; none of us are exempt.
Revelation helps to adjust your expectations and stirs your heart for devoted exaltation.
We need to read, listen to and study the Bible like we have never done before. God speaks to us and reveals things to us from his scripture.
When we get the Bible chapters and verses in our heart we are able to push back the blinding power of sin and binding power of the enemy.
Psalm 119:11
Ephesians 6:17
When we get the word of God in us we have a renewed mind in which we can discern the will of
God including the time of visitation. Romans 12:2
We need to be praying like we have never prayed before. The type of prayer I am talking about is not like a prayer to bless your meal for dinner.
It is a prayer where we go deep and constant.
● It’s deep means less distraction, more time if possible where you have the opportunity to sense God’s heart.
● Constant means prayer doesn’t stop because you finished your devotional time.
○ It means during your classes, at work, in your favorite places to eat, or in your
recreation you are consciously aware that God may choose to move or move you
to do something.
○ You have conversations with God as you live out your daily life.
■ God may speak to you about giving;
■ God may speak to you about serving;
■ He may speak to you about sharing his gospel with a family member, friend, or stranger.
■ He may give a strategy on how to pray for someone and bless them.
We need a revelation of what God wants in our lives. We need precise and targeted revelation knowledge.
Shane’s Mandeville story
If you are not a follower of Christ, God is visiting you today. You must understand and know today that Jesus took this road to Jerusalem for you. This is the road where he would be betrayed and handed over to the Romans and die on the cross to pay the penalty for my sins and your sins so that you could have forgiveness of sins, and all the blessings that come from a loving relationship with him would belong to you. He did this for you and you can receive what he has done if you put your trust in him today.
Summarize
Prayer If you want to participate in God’s visitation, stand to your feet and I will pray for you.
Salvation
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher