Good day, brothers and sisters.
It’s a wonderful song we just sang. Probably some people here could testify to circumstances they had to overcome just to get here this week. It’s because the Lord has great purpose for us.
This matter of the sons of Issachar—I wonder if you’ve thought about the obvious, but perhaps not so obvious, meaning of the sons of Issachar and their gift. One of the things that we’re going to be talking about is the matter of the times.
There is an unexpected element to this whole thing. You wouldn’t expect the sons of Issachar. You would expect a tribe of Judah, or Levites, or something. But here the tribe of Issachar has a very crucial role in the coming of King David.
Perhaps you’re a young person here, and you have no idea that the Lord may tap some unknown person on the shoulder and say, “I’m preparing you to be a son of Issachar.” It’s not always the expected ones who have that timely word, but those whom the Lord has a portion of. In a crucial time, they step to the foreground.
Perhaps our generation of young people out here in these days will be the ones who come forth with a real sense of the timing of God’s kingdom and what to do in the short time we have before His return.
Now, I’d like for us to look at several verses from here and there. The first is from 1 Chronicles 12:32, and this is our theme verse:
And of the children of Issachar, which were men that had understanding of the times,
To know what Israel ought to do;
The heads of them were two hundred,
And all their brethren were at their commandment.
All of these warriors were solidly behind those two hundred men who had insight. It made Issachar a mighty force to be reckoned with.
Matthew 16:3, just the second part:
Do ye know how to discern the face of the sky;
But can ye not discern the signs of the times?
Then some verses from 1 Peter 4:
For the time already past is sufficient for you to have carried out the desires of the Gentiles, having pursued a course of sensuality, lusts, drunkenness, carousing, drinking parties, and abominable idolatries.
The end of all things is near; therefore, be of sound judgment and of sober spirit for the purpose of prayer.
For it is time for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God?
Then, just a fragment which we’ll read a little later from Psalm 31, where David is running here and there as a fugitive:
O Lord, my times are in Your hand.
Our Father, we pray, and we’re so thankful that we can gather for these days. We pray that, even as we’re together for these days, You’ll surprise some of us with Your Parousia presence and a new awareness of the time.
We’re so thankful we’ve gathered together tonight, and after a long day, we pray that You would renew us—body, soul, and spirit—that we might speak this word, receive this word, and listen for what the Spirit would say to the churches.
We are wholly dependent upon You, Lord. Please, please come through. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.
I suppose tonight’s message I’d like to share is “The Sons of Issachar: Discerning the Time and the Times.”
Do you know what time it is? There’s a different question: Do you know what times we are in?
Time and the times—two very different things. And Issachar discerned the times.
The Bible uses two words. The word chronos, from which we get the word chronology—or, if you have a watch that costs more than three hundred dollars, a chronograph, right? It means time: tick-tock, tick-tock time.
Then you have another Greek word, kairos, which we translate “the times.”
Chronos is measured by the rotation of the earth. Kairos is measured by the nearness of the kingdom. How near is the kingdom? It will be a surprise. And if the Lord opens our eyes, we may be surprised how near that kingdom is.
I say that these two times represent two different time zones. Using my young people’s expressions, there’s UTS and KTZ.
UTS is under the sun. That’s the time zone Solomon lived in after he backslid and was no longer aware of the heavenly dimensions of the kingdom. He just knew everything under the sun: tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock, under the sun.
KTZ is the kingdom time zone. If somebody is in the kingdom time zone, there’s a tremendous sense of expectation and being driven by something with purpose in that time zone.
We may feel robbed of time and yet not discern that it is because of the times that we live in. Jesus said, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye, and believe in the gospel.”
Kingdom time is always full. It is full of His purpose, full of His discipline, full of His power, full of His healing, and full of His light. Kingdom times are full.
Whereas the scoffer says in 2 Peter 3:4:
Where is the promise of His coming?
For since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.
Tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick, tick.
Peter says they have no idea of the time zone they are about to enter: the kingdom times.
So when we pray, “Thy kingdom come,” we are asking for the Lord to place us in His presence, in His grace, in His timing, in His rule, in His intercession, in His power, and in His forgiveness.
And in the kingdom time zone, the Lord prevails.
Do you know the difference? You know what time it is—but do you know what times we are in?
I looked at the parables of Jesus. He spoke parables of the kingdom of God. Bible scholars vary a little bit, but basically there are forty-five parables that Jesus spoke concerning the kingdom. A third of them—fifteen out of the forty-five—deal with the collision of time and the times.
The rich fool came to the crossroads, and he ran out of time:
This night thy soul shall be required of thee.
He entered into the kingdom times, where it was found that he was judged—not for his riches, but for his poverty toward God. What did you do in the time you had to become rich toward God?
In Luke 12 and Matthew 24, there are two examples of servants who are judged by what time they served within. Were they serving in light of His coming back, in light of the times, adjusting their service in case He comes back? Or were they just serving according to their own time?
In Luke 13, Jesus speaks of the unfruitful fig tree of Israel. He says, “I give this tree one more time,” and then the times of uprooting will come.
In Luke 18, the widow, by her persistence, hastens the times of the Son of Man’s coming and of judgment. In Luke 19, ten servants were each given minas to occupy the times with kingdom investments until He came back.
In Matthew 22, there was a king’s wedding feast, and all things were now ready. That means the times were full. But those invited did not have time, and so they were left in the outer darkness.
In Matthew 24, Jesus said that if you can see the time of the ripening fig tree, you should also be able to see the sign that Israel’s times were near.
Again, it would be as in the days of Noah and the days of Lot. Everyone had spent their time eating, drinking, and marrying. If that is all they do with their time, they will find themselves left out, because the times of the Son of Man are coming.
In Matthew 24, we also see that the times of the kingdom come to judge between twosomes: which of the two men walking up the hill, which of the two women grinding at the mill, which of the two spouses lying in bed is ready for the kingdom? You don’t know until the surprise comes. The times overlap the time, you see.
In Mark 13, we have the servants of the king who have to spend time watching and praying because they do not know the times of the coming of the Son of Man.
The ten virgins awaiting the marriage feast were considered wise or foolish depending on whether, in their earthly time, they spent any time in the olive press. During our lifetime, has the Lord ever been able to deal with us in the olive press? Ooh, there’s precious oil there in reserve for the time to come.
In Matthew 25, in the parable of the talents, the master freely gives each of the three servants a special portion: “I want you to invest this in light of when I come.”
And finally, the sheep and the goats will be judged by whether, in the time spent on earth, they spent it in kingdom mercy. Fifteen out of forty-five, all dealing with time and the times.
The prophets, when they came in the Old Testament, came with this mighty purpose: to open the eyes of God’s people to the times. They were living tick-tock, tick-tock time and had no idea how near was the day of the Lord, how near was the time of their judgment, how near the Lord was about to deal with them.
The prophets came to reveal KTZ and to challenge the saints: Are you there, or are you just living out the days as the Gentiles?
Daniel comes to mind, because Daniel was like the sons of Issachar. What is the famous Persian line in the book of Daniel?
Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin.
What does that say? Literally, it says, “Time, time.” In other words, time is up. “Scale, scale”—you have been found wanting. “Division, division”—your empire will be divided.
Daniel 2:21 says:
It is He that changeth the times and the seasons;
He removeth kings, and setteth up kings;
He giveth wisdom unto the wise,
And knowledge to them that know understanding.
Not only is God changing the times, but He gives wisdom to such men.
Daniel 7:25 says that when the Antichrist comes, he will speak out against the Most High, wear down the saints of the Highest One, and try to make alterations in the times. The enemy is going to try to throw down kingdoms and bring up kingdoms according to his will and his way. He is going to try to precipitate things. But the times are in the hands of the Lord.
Daniel 11:35 says:
Some of those who have insight will fall, in order to refine, purge, and make them pure until the end time; because it is still to come at the appointed time.
This is the testimony of Issachar.
You remember Haggai, when he says, “You say it is not time to build the house of God.” He says, “I think you need to reconsider what time it is.”
Is it time for you yourselves to dwell in your paneled houses, while this house lies desolate?
What are the times here? What time zone are you living in?
You remember Habakkuk as he stood up there on that tower, and the Lord said:
For the vision is yet for the appointed time,
And it hasteth toward the goal, and shall not fail;
Though it tarry, wait for it;
Because it will surely come, it will not delay.
Oh, the prophets keep bringing the people of God into the times of the kingdom, into that time where somehow earth and heaven are linked together in a sequence of events.
The whole point of the prophets is to try to get our eyes open and see that these times are coming. This is what Jesus did when He came on earth. The people were sitting in darkness in Galilee, and suddenly Jesus showed up. Their eyes opened up, and they said, “The kingdom is here. The Lord is here. Life is here. Power is here. Healing is here. The good news is here.”
Sometimes Christians get out of that time zone. It should never be.
We bring all these things—all these prophetic Scriptures and all these parables—before us because we need to be sober about the times of the kingdom.
The Bible says it is a joyful thing to live in the kingdom of God. I think you and I can testify to the wonderful joy of knowing the Lord, of worshiping Him, and of His wonderful kingdom joy.
But there is a gravitas to the kingdom, a sobriety to the kingdom, and a humility about the kingdom, in order to truly be sensible to the kingdom times.
That is what this session is all about regarding the sons of Issachar: how we come to discern the times in the kingdom of the heavens.
Generally, I want to make a statement: The troubles, the failures, and the problems that have befallen you in these last days are all the Spirit trying to bring us back in sync with the kingdom times.
He uses testing, tribulation, and problems to bring us back into sync with kingdom times. The Holy Spirit is trying to push us and get us to sync up with what God is doing in His times.
There may be a lot of ministry that goes forth, but if it is ministry under the sun, ministry for self-aggrandizement, or ministry just to build some bigger organization, when it comes to be judged by the King Himself, He will say, “It is out of sync, and I do not approve of what you are doing.”
That is why, even in our ministry, we need to be sure that our ministry is synced up with the kingdom of God.
Throughout Christianity—Christendom, so-called Christianity all across the world—presented in our Bible by the Laodicean church, there is something totally out of sync with the King, with His desires, with His estimate, and even with His presence as He stands outside the door and knocks.
This is an age in which the kingdom times can be veiled by busyness in time. But only the Holy Spirit can make us aware of what the times are.
The sons of Issachar provide for us a clear and biblical illustration of how we can come into this discerning of times and know what to do.
How did they come to this place where they had this discernment and knowledge? Was it a gift? Did they have a spiritual gift that just came down on them—boop—like that? Was it some ability, some knack? Was it because of their knowledge of the Word? What was it, really, that made them the sons of Issachar at this crucial time in King David’s life?
In the book of Chronicles, the sons of Issachar represent a remnant within Israel. They were not only valiant men of war, but they also spent time waiting on the Lord and so had this inner sense of the right time for things to be done.
While the rest of the people were still doing what was right in their own eyes, the sons of Issachar were a remnant who had a different perspective on things.
The insight and discernment they gained came only after humiliation, failure, repentance, and a humble reassessment of their utter dependence on a God-chosen king.
Now, we’re Christians. We all love the Lord. We say, “Oh, how we love the King, how we need the King, how we worship the King.” Do you really need the King in your life?
The Lord will take us through a space of time, through His circumstances, perhaps through humiliation and difficult times, until we see how much we need the King. We cannot make it without the King.
Here is the rest of the story of the sons of Issachar. The ninth son of Jacob, Issachar, grew up with those twelve boys and that one girl in Jacob’s family.
Just before Jacob died, he was in Egypt when he made those prophecies concerning the different sons. He was looking beyond the time in Egypt, beyond the wilderness, and somehow into the promised land.
In Genesis 49, Jacob said:
Issachar is a strong ass,
Couching down between the sheepfolds;
And he saw a resting place that it was good,
And the land that it was pleasant;
And he bowed his shoulder to bear,
And became a servant under taskwork.
Now, I think I’d rather be a lion or something, thank you very much—or a wolf, or a bear. But Issachar is a donkey, lying down between the sheepfolds. Wow.
Five hundred years later, after time in Egypt and a long time after that, the children of Israel finally entered the land, and the allotments of inheritance were apportioned.
Guess where Issachar’s apportionment was? It was a beautiful land, a fertile land. Today it is called the breadbasket of Israel. It is still the most fertile place in all Israel: the Jezreel Valley.
They were given the best spot for agriculture in the whole thing. That valley runs north and south through southern Galilee. Water comes down from the mountains and waters this very fertile plain. Those mountains included Mount Carmel, Mount Tabor, Mount Gilboa, and Mount Megiddo—or, as we know it, Armageddon: Har-Megiddo. Har in Hebrew means mountain.
Issachar loved this good resting place and this pleasant land, and they worked like donkeys. They plowed, cultivated, raised crops, and became prosperous—one of the more prosperous tribes of the twelve because they had real dirt, you know, not clay. It was so productive.
This was Issachar’s great blessing and also Issachar’s great challenge.
From ancient days, the Valley of Jezreel was a major trade route from the Middle East down to Egypt. People were always going through there, and you could do a lot of business through there.
But it was also a major theater of war—right up to Armageddon. It is a perfect place for war. If you ever go up and stand on Mount Carmel and look out on the plain of Jezreel, it is an amazing theater for war.
When Joshua came into the land and the kings from the north came down to attack, Joshua met them and defeated them in Jezreel. When Gideon defeated, with his three hundred men, those one hundred and twenty thousand Midianites, where did he do it? In Jezreel.
Deborah and Barak, along with the Issacharites, came down Mount Tabor and charged right into those Canaanite tribes and defeated Sisera. God caused a great rain in the Jezreel Valley, and all those iron chariots were caught in the mud. Even Sisera had to jump out and run several miles to get a stake in his head by Heber. But anyway, that’s another story.
At the center of the Jezreel Valley was Mount Megiddo. Now, that was a problem. It was one of the five great ancient Canaanite strongholds, set up in such a way as to be virtually impregnable by attack.
The Canaanites held that ground for years. This became Issachar’s problem, because the Lord said, “Go and possess your inheritance.” But Issachar could never conquer the stronghold of Megiddo.
At one point Joshua said, “All right, let Manasseh and Zebulun take that territory.” They could not tackle the stronghold either.
Time passed—four hundred years of the judges, whatever you want to say that period was. That is a long time to try to fight this mountain and not get anywhere.
So the Issacharites came on a better deal: “We’ll plow the land, harvest the crops, and pay you as forced labor, and you can rule over us.”
Issachar was ruled by the Canaanites. This was a very humbling thing, but there was nothing else they could do. Jacob’s prophecy was true: they bowed their shoulders to bear burdens and became slaves of forced labor.
Issachar became a picture for us of that kind of compromise that gains the world and loses your spiritual inheritance. They never got the ground, as it were, but they got the crops off the ground. So they became rich, but they were in bondage.
They chose the outer portion and lost their spiritual inheritance. They became slaves to the Canaanites, to the Canaanites’ gods, to Mammon, and to a great deal of sexual perversion.
Then King Saul came along. Issachar immediately sided with King Saul, hoping that he could perhaps rid the land of the Canaanites who had continued to rule over God’s children. But no.
The irony is that King Saul actually met his end in Issachar. Saul went to consult a witch in the city of Endor, an Issacharite city. Although no witches were allowed in Israel, somehow witches were allowed in Issachar.
A few days later, on Mount Gilboa, Saul and his sons died. The Philistines came upon Saul’s body and Jonathan’s body, cut off the heads, and hung the bodies in Beth-shan, one of the cities of Issachar.
The tragic consequence of Saul’s death to Issachar is further spelled out in 1 Chronicles 10:7:
When all the men of Israel that were in the valley saw that they fled, and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook their cities, and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them.
What could be worse? The Canaanites had the stronghold and ruled over the area; now the Philistines took over the cities because the Issacharites fled when they saw that King Saul had been killed.
Strongholds held by the Canaanites, cities held by the Philistines. This is some inheritance, huh? This is some circumstance. This is some tribe.
When we come to 1 Chronicles 12, the verse we all love, we have to realize that Issachar went through a long history—a long, bitter history; a long, defeated history; a long history in which they learned lessons over and over again.
There is no better place to tell the story of the sons of Issachar than 1 and 2 Chronicles. Chronicles is not like Kings or 1 and 2 Samuel. Chronicles is not merely a history; it is a chronicling.
Most probably written by Ezra, Chronicles was written after the captivity in Babylon, as the remnant was going back. Ezra was trying to show the remnant what was important in terms of the kingdom as they returned.
The kings of Judah in Chronicles are measured by kingdom times, not merely by chronological history. Many kings are not even mentioned because, as far as Ezra is concerned, they were not part of history. They had their time, but they had no significance in the kingdom times.
There are two measurements of kingdom time zone that you see consistently throughout 1 and 2 Chronicles:
Ezra was a priest. He was very concerned with the house of God, and he felt that it was the center of the kingdom times.
Perhaps right there we have a clue to understanding whether we are in kingdom times. Is our life of any significance, or is it just ticking off chronologically? What is our heart like toward the Lord? Secondly, do we love His house?
In 1 Chronicles, chapters 1 through 9 are genealogies—somebody begets somebody, nine chapters of that. I know you love it; it is your favorite section in the Bible. I’m going to skip over it tonight, assuming you have memorized that portion.
But in 1 Chronicles 10, that is where the history of the book begins, if you want to call it history. Where does the history start in terms of kingdom significance? It starts with the death of Saul.
Not the life of Saul, how he became king, how he did this wrong and that wrong, and so on and so forth. Forty years later, it starts with the death of King Saul.
It is as if the chronicler is saying, “When Saul’s time ended, the times of the kingdom began.”
Saul’s life, in terms of influence in the kingdom of God, was virtually nil because his life was a life of human flesh, human strength, and human kingship, which did not amount to anything.
The last verses of 1 Chronicles 10 say, spiritually speaking, that God killed Saul:
So Saul died for his trespass which he committed against the Lord, even against the word of the Lord, which he kept not;
And also for asking counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to inquire of it;
And inquired not of the Lord: therefore He slew him,
And turned the kingdom unto David the son of Jesse.
God is much more involved in kingdom times than we give Him credit for. Our Lord is much more involved than we realize.
The very next verse in chapter 11 does another amazing thing. The writer seems to have skipped over the seven and a half years that David waited in Hebron as king of Judah. There is no mention of it.
Chapter 11 begins with the story of how all the tribes came together and made David king over all Israel. The seven and a half years of David waiting in Hebron were no kingdom time, according to the chronicler—or perhaps we could put it this way: it was kingdom time in mystery, for David was a king, but a king in hiding.
David waited for four things to evolve:
Those seven and a half years changed the destiny of Issachar. They had suffered bitterly through the period of the judges, unable to take the high ground in their province and often living under slave-labor conditions. They suffered for four hundred years.
Then Saul came along, and for forty years under Saul it did not get any better. When Saul died, it got worse, because the Philistines took over the cities. What a bitter pill to take. Where was their inheritance? Where was this beautiful land of rest, this pleasant valley?
But when 1 Chronicles 11 opens and we come to the moment of David’s coronation, according to the rabbis—though it does not say it here in Scripture—this is the speech of wisdom and knowledge given by the sons of Issachar:
Then all Israel gathered themselves to David unto Hebron, saying, Behold, we are thy bone and thy flesh.
And moreover in time past, even when Saul was king, thou wast he that leddest out and broughtest in Israel:
And the Lord thy God said unto thee, Thou shalt feed My people Israel, and thou shalt be prince over My people Israel.
So all the elders of Israel came to the king to Hebron; and David made a covenant with them in Hebron before the Lord; and they anointed David king over Israel, according to the word of the Lord by Samuel.
Many tribes suffered in the time of the judges and through King Saul, but Issachar learned something in their suffering. Somehow they came to see that they could not gain their inheritance unless they had God’s King.
That is really quite a revelation to come to. You are trying to gain your nest egg, get your investments going, get your house paid off. Yet at some point, if God opens our eyes, we realize: we cannot possibly possess our possessions unless He is our King. It is not just an option; it is a necessity.
They further saw that if they were going to have a king, the kingdom times must align with God’s Word. Not just any king—it had to be according to God’s Word through Samuel.
Why did they live forty-seven and a half years not according to God’s Word, which came through Samuel? That was not right. So they came and said, “It is according to the Lord and His word through Samuel that we come and make you king.”
During those seven and a half years, David himself had to be proven before all Israel. Through the deaths and conflicts of those years, David showed a largeness of heart. He mourned even for Saul’s son. He was proven to be a man who was indeed a prince in Israel and a shepherd for Israel to come.
The final thing they saw was this: if we are going to have a king, if we are going to have a kingdom, we have to be solidly together. We have to be all one together with David.
“We are your bone and your flesh.” That was the confession of Issachar. “You are us. We are you. We are attached to you, David.”
In that oneness, they experienced kingdom time. Suddenly, with David becoming king, the atmosphere changed. There were victories and conquest.
David expanded his kingdom, pushed back the Philistines, toppled Megiddo, and made it a fortress for himself. Solomon later made it a place of stables for one thousand four hundred chariots and four thousand cavalry. Mount Megiddo became a stronghold for the kingdom of God. What a turnabout.
What can we learn from that? Issachar is us. Well, I’m sorry, Toys “R” Us is closed, but Issachars are us now, right?
How do we discern the time? Are you a chronicler? Maybe you’re a young person. Have you got any idea what the kingdom times are all about, or are you just living tick, tick, tick, tick—summer vacation—tick, tick, tick, tick?
Our King, Jesus, has been anointed and crowned King in heaven—in Hebron, if I could use that as an example. But He is waiting for the kingdom times.
He is a King, but there is a strange mystery to the kingdom of God, isn’t there? The King has not yet been set on His throne in the kingdom on this earth in the millennium. He is King, but He is a King in that seven-and-a-half-year period.
There are many of the tribe of Gad—many who met Jesus in the cave and trouble and became attached to Jesus. But Jesus waits in heaven. He is King.
It needs some people here on earth who understand the mystery of the kingdom of the heavens: He is King in heaven, and He is King on earth, but you have to be able to see that and act on it. Then you discover that it is true.
Somebody needs to understand the mystery of the kingdom of the heavens. As we know from the New Testament, it takes repentance. It takes repentance from all the clowning around and all the wasted lives to see the nearness of the kingdom of God.
Until the cross and the discipline of the Holy Spirit prepare a remnant to see the reality of the kingdom of God, we are like carnal donkeys running around trying to make money with no King—everybody doing what is right in their own eyes.
Where is Issachar today? We are talking about a remnant that has been refined and made ready as a prepared vessel for the coming of the Lord.
Where are those who are humbled and separated from this world, having learned lessons perhaps through suffering, bondage, and failure, until they understand how close the times of the kingdom are?
How many of us are like Issachar, understanding conclusively that without the divinely appointed King here on earth, we cannot gain our inheritance?
We say that we have gained it already because our inheritance is Christ. Well, that is right, but our inheritance is in heaven. We cannot gain the fullness of our inheritance unless our King is here in our midst.
How many are there who watch and pray, believing the Word of God that He is coming soon? Is that just something we read every once in a while and say, “Oh yeah, I forgot about that”? Or is His coming soon something that marks and adjusts what we do with our days and our times?
We need some two hundred sons of Issachar standing together in strength and counsel as one man to help all the tribes.
I am trying to look at this whole thing globally, as we look at the church today. Even looking a little more narrowly, don’t you think that Issachar’s history sounds a lot like the United States?
We were given a pleasant land, a resting place, and people came from hither and yon. With that famous Puritan work ethic, as it is called, they worked like donkeys to build a nation and build wealth.
People still come from far and wide trying to find a pleasant land and a resting place. Sometimes Christians come to this country believing they are going to find an inheritance, openness, and freedom.
But somewhere, the United States—I am just speaking—we have lost the kingdom time zone. We have ended up with a bunch of wealthy people who are enslaved labor. We belong to Mammon.
There are many Christians who, like Jesus said of the rich young ruler, are not far from the kingdom of God, but they just cannot let go and follow Jesus right into the kingdom. They just cannot do it.
It seems to me that our whole country, looking big, has missed something. Now even those riches are turning to wormwood and starting to decay. People are outwardly rich but chained to Mammon and robbed of their spiritual inheritance.
Certainly, in the book of Revelation, it would seem that we are in the times of the church of Laodicea. If this is the case, the sad, sobering truth is that the church today has no gravitas because they have no idea what times it is in the kingdom of God. No idea.
The kingdom times always bring with them a bit of judgment and correction in preparation for the kingdom to come.
This conference message and burden is a sober burden. It is not an easy, lightgoing thing. You can look online under Christian festivals or Christian conferences for the summer and find some blowout places. They have music night and day, electronics so loud you cannot even hear what you are worshiping, promises of prosperity, and all kinds of great things going on.
Not a bit of gravitas.
Brothers and sisters, I am not going to get political, but our whole tricameral government is suffering from a lack of gravitas: the Supreme Court, Congress, and the executive branch.
Whatever happened to a people with a God-fearing sense of the kingdom of God?
If we want to live like the church of Laodicea, just live UTS—under the sun. “I am going to make my money. I am going to enjoy going to church once a week.” If that is your time, you are going to miss the times of the kingdom of God that are very near.
The times of the kingdom are a bit old-fashioned, certainly out of sync with what is in today. The kingdom time speaks about the fact that we still have to suffer violence in order to enter the kingdom of God.
From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and men of violence take it by force.
There is still some suffering together with soldiers to take hold of the kingdom. There is still putting on the full armor of God. There is still warfare. There is still wrestling against principalities and powers.
But kingdom times can be redeemed in our lives by being watchful, being careful, enduring hardship, and being strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus.
The times of the kingdom involve old-fashioned words that people do not like to use anymore. The church as a whole is getting away from the rapture, the time of tribulation, and hell itself. We do not talk about those things anymore.
Well, I’m sorry, but kingdom times involve some very old-fashioned words: repentance, having a mind to suffer even as Christ suffered, being sober, watchful, and girded as servants.
Surely there is someone here who would have to say that you are experiencing a refining process in your life to make you prepared people for the coming kingdom times.
We may be totally out of sync today with pain-averse Christendom and cross-averse Christendom. But there is still a cross. There is still a circumcising, and there is still a yoke. There are still times of pruning, times of refining, and times of being squeezed in the Potter’s hands.
This is the language of being prepared in the kingdom of God.
Kingdom people are still straightened as olives being pressed, like those wise virgins; like grapes being trodden; and like wheat being threshed.
If you see such a people, if you know such a person, you see that the Lord is preparing for His coming. He is doing it by raising up a surprising person who understands the time and knows what to do.
It is not just understanding the times—“Oh, the coming of Jesus is very near.” It is one thing to know He is coming soon, but then: what do we do until He comes?
It takes the sons of Issachar to know these things.
So I end tonight simply by saying: Do you know what time it is? Has anything been born into your spirit that would sync you up with kingdom times? Do you know who holds the times?
I want to make that our prayer tonight as we end.
In Psalm 31, as I mentioned at the beginning of the message, David prays a prayer. I wonder if in your heart you could make this a prayer for yourself.
You know, I have had a lot of time. I am getting to be an older man. I have done a lot of stuff. I am not sure if I was wasting time, but for sure I want to redeem the time. Do you want to redeem the time?
If we are just wasting time, we are going to find a surprising moment, and we will not be prepared for it. But if the Lord can prepare us, it perhaps begins when we say, “Lord, my times are in Your hand.”
David prayed this prayer when he had lost everything, when he was all alone and being persecuted, when he could do nothing more about his time except put his times in God’s hands.
Psalm 31:14-17 says:
But as for me, I have trusted in Thee, O Lord:
I have said, Thou art my God.
My times are in Thy hand:
Deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me.
Make Thy face to shine upon Thy servant:
Save me in Thy lovingkindness.
Let me not be put to shame, O Lord; for I have called upon Thee.
Let me not be put to shame. It would be a shameful thing if, after all of our Christianizing and busyness, the Lord says, “I never knew you. You have been wasting time.”
Let us put our times in His hands. Let us be prepared for the times that are ahead.
O Lord, we want to redeem the time that we have left. We need some people with a sensibility as to how close Your return is.
We are so thankful for our dear brother Stephen, who stands up here and has one burden left: Jesus is coming very soon. Lord, we would take that as a word in itself. It is full in its burden.
Now, Lord, some of us are young, some not so young. Some of us have spent a lot of time, perhaps wasted a lot of time, perhaps ticked off a lot of time in our own interests.
Now You want to reveal to us kingdom times by Your very presence—dealing, working, disciplining, and making disciples until You come.
Lord, we are so burdened that You remain, as it were, a waiting King. With all that You have been crowned, and all the glory that You have in heaven, we know Your destiny is not fulfilled until it is fulfilled here on this earth, when You come down here and take that which You deserve.
Lord, we want to be ready as a people who say, “Lord, You are bone of our bone and flesh of our flesh. You are us, and we are You.”
We cannot make it. We cannot gain our inheritance on this earth. If we have a million dollars, we still cannot gain our inheritance until the King is here in our midst.
Lord, we want You here, and we want to be prepared for that coming. So raise up sons of Issachar. Surprise us with some surprising sons who are ready to walk this road of preparation and become those who are eyes and wisdom for us in these last days.
We pray this in humility, in Jesus’ precious name. Amen.