06-05-2022 - Get Ready, the Rain is Coming!

Tony Schachle

FARM HILL CHURCH

God is on the Move • Sermon • Submitted 2 years ago • Presented 2 years ago • 52:38

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God is on the move. He is sending a downpour of the Holy Spirit in these last days to empower His people to fulfill the Great Commission and see a great harvest of souls before His return. But we have to be ready. We must prepare our hearts to receive the latter rain of the Holy Spirit. We must pray and seek God and keep our hearts committed to Him in order to receive what God has for us. But there is no doubt that God is moving and is going to continue to move. There is a sound of the abundance of rain. The spiritual forecast is calling for 100% chance of rain. Get ready, the rain is coming!

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OPENING

This is an exciting time to live! Biblical prophecy is being fulfilled all around us and we have the opportunity to see and be a part of what God is doing and is going to do in these last days. But we have to be prepared. We have to be ready. We have to be praying and seeking God for an outpouring of His Spirit if we want to see another Great Awakening and revival.

God is on the move! He is pouring out His Spirit in these last days. He is preparing His people to be His witnesses to spread the Gospel to the four corners of the earth. And God is preparing the harvest of souls that are going to come into the Kingdom of God during this time.

Last week we preached a message titled, “Where is the Lord God of Elijah.” And we agreed that The God of Elijah is still alive and well. He is still on the throne. And He is still on the move today. And He is still pouring out His Spirit on His people to do His work.

Today, I’ve just got a simple message to give you. “Get Ready, the Rain is Coming.”

SCRIPTURE

1 Kings 18:41–46 NKJV

41 Then Elijah said to Ahab, “Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain.” 42 So Ahab went up to eat and drink. And Elijah went up to the top of Carmel; then he bowed down on the ground, and put his face between his knees, 43 and said to his servant, “Go up now, look toward the sea.” So he went up and looked, and said, “There is nothing.” And seven times he said, “Go again.” 44 Then it came to pass the seventh time, that he said, “There is a cloud, as small as a man’s hand, rising out of the sea!” So he said, “Go up, say to Ahab, ‘Prepare your chariot, and go down before the rain stops you.’ ” 45 Now it happened in the meantime that the sky became black with clouds and wind, and there was a heavy rain. So Ahab rode away and went to Jezreel. 46 Then the hand of the Lord came upon Elijah; and he girded up his loins and ran ahead of Ahab to the entrance of Jezreel.

MESSAGE

Today is Pentecost Sunday

This message today ties into the theme of God is on the Move, but also ties in with what today represents. Today is Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost Sunday is the day that we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 and the birth of the church. For us, Pentecost Sunday is celebrated 7 weeks, or 50 days, following Easter. The Day of Pentecost in Acts 2 occurred 7 weeks, or 50 days, after Passover. When Jesus rose from the dead, He appeared on the earth to different people at different times for 40 days. At the end of that 40 days, Jesus ascended into heaven. But before He did, he gave His disciples instructions to tarry in the City of Jerusalem until they were endued with power from on high. The disciples spent 10 days in an upper room in a prayer meeting before the Promise of the Spirit came and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit was given to them, which makes a total of 50 days.

The Day of Pentecost actually lines up with the ancient Jewish feast called the Feast of Weeks or the Feast of Ingathering. This was one of the feasts that God commanded the Israelites to observe and it occurred during the time when they would begin to gather in the harvest.

Today, I believe we are getting ready to see one of the greatest harvests of souls that this world has ever seen. The Bible says that one plants, another waters, but it is God that gives the increase. And I believe the increase is on the way. And I believe that God is getting ready to pour out His Spirit. I believe that we are living in the days when we are going to experience an outpouring of the Latter Rain of the Holy Spirit.

The Former Rain and the Latter Rain

In several places, the Bible speaks of the former rain and the latter rain. In the area of Israel, the former rain came around October-November during the planting season. It prepared the ground for the seed to be planted and germinate and begin to grow. The latter rain came around March-April in the Spring of the year and it gave the nourishment for the grain and the fruit to fully ripen and make it ready for harvesting.

Israel is in a dry, arid climate. So they depended on these rains, the former rain and the latter rain, for the success of their planting and harvest. And sometimes, because of their sin and refusal to obey God’s Word, God would withhold the rain and there would be a dry season when the rain would not fall and they would experience drought and famine. But when Israel recognized their sin, turned away from it and repented, and turned back to God, God would again open up the heavens and send the rain once again and bless the land.

Let me preach on dry seasons for a minute.

We’ve Been in a Dry Season

In a spiritual sense, the former rain has already come. When God poured out His Spirit on the Day of Pentecost in Acts 2, it ignited a revival that spread across the known world at that time. And there was a great harvest of souls that came into the Kingdom of God during that time.

But it has been nearly 2,000 years since that initially outpouring of the Holy Spirit. And if we look honestly at the condition of the church during that time, we will have to recognize that there have been dry seasons and there have been rainy seasons. There have been times when the church followed God’s Word and times when the church did not.

And if we look at the recent history of the church, and even at its present condition, I think we have to say that the church has not been all it should be. The church has been filled with moral and spiritual failure. The church has created a form of godliness, but it denies the power thereof. And as a result, the church has been in a dry season spiritually.

Israel found itself in a dry season because of the sin of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel and the idolatry and witchcraft and nonsense that was going on in that day. So the prophet Elijah prayed and God shut up the heavens for 3.5 years. But after Elijah’s victory over the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel God sent the rain again. Think about it. Once the idolatry and witchcraft and nonsense was destroyed, God said, “Ok, now I can send the rain again.”

I Hear the Sound of the Abundance of Rain

Elijah ran and told King Ahab, “Get Ready, the Rain is Coming.” He said, “I hear the sound of the abundance of rain.” Elijah proclaimed the rain is coming before he saw the first cloud in the sky. Before the first drop ever fell. We need some men and women of God who will rise up in faith and begin to declare the Word of the Lord that the rain is coming. The latter rain of the Holy Spirit is coming. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit that Joel prophesied, that the disciples experienced on the Day of Pentecost, is still available today. We might have going through some dry seasons, but God is preparing a people who will seek for and open up their hearts to receive the latter rain that is going to usher in a Great Awakening of the church to bring about the greatest harvest of souls that this world has ever seen.

But, for Elijah, the rain had not come yet. He could sense it, but he couldn’t see it. So Elijah went back up on Mt. Carmel to pray. The Bibles says Elijah bowed down and put his head between his knees and began to pray. And he asked his servant to go look for the rain clouds. But the servant came back and said, “There is nothing.” So Elijah kept praying and kept seeking God and told his servant, “Go again and look.” And every time, the servant came back and said, “There is nothing.”

Some of you feel like you’ve been seeking God for a downpour of the Holy Spirit in your life, but you haven’t seen it yet. Sometimes it takes a little persistence in prayer. Sometimes God is waiting to see how serious you really are. How much do you really want it. More importantly, how much do you really want Him? Do you want the Blesser more than you want the blessing.

So Elijah prayed, and on the seventh time, the servant came back with the news. He said, “I see a cloud about the size of a man’s hand, rising up out of the sea.” That was enough for Elijah. He knew the rain was coming and he knew it was time to move. Ladies and gentlemen, I just feel like something good is about to happen. I just feel like something good is on the way. Can’t you just tell sometimes when the rain is on the way? The wind begins to pick up. There is a change in the atmosphere.

Ladies and gentlemen I sense that the rain is on the way! I hear the sound of the abundance of rain. We might not see the cloud just yet. The first drop may not have fallen yet. But we’ve got to be like Elijah. We’ve got to stay on our knees and keep praying and seeking God. We’ve got to keep believing by faith. It may look like a cloud about the size of a man’s hand and some might overlook it and say, that’s insignificant. But Elijah knew bigger things were coming. And I’m here to tell you today that bigger things are coming. Greater things are yet to come and greater things are still to be done in this city! “Get Ready, the Rain is Coming!”

There is a 100% Chance of Rain

You can go home later and turn on the news or flip over to the Weather Channel and they can try to forecast and tell you where it’s going to rain and how much it’s going to rain. And they can get it right sometimes. But most of the time, they really don’t know.

But when God does something, He is never wrong. And I believe that God’s Word has given us a forecast for these last days. This world is going to get worse and worse, but there is going to be a remnant in the church that is going to rise up. There is going to be a downpour of the Holy Spirit that God is going to send to empower the church to fulfill the Great Commission and give this world and those that are lost one more chance to repent and turn from their evil ways. God has given the forecast and the forecast is this: there is a 100% chance of rain. God is pouring out the latter rain of the Holy Spirit.

But we’ve got to prepare ourselves to receive it.

Deuteronomy 11:10–14 NKJV

10 For the land which you go to possess is not like the land of Egypt from which you have come, where you sowed your seed and watered it by foot, as a vegetable garden; 11 but the land which you cross over to possess is a land of hills and valleys, which drinks water from the rain of heaven, 12 a land for which the Lord your God cares; the eyes of the Lord your God are always on it, from the beginning of the year to the very end of the year. 13 ‘And it shall be that if you earnestly obey My commandments which I command you today, to love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul, 14 then I will give you the rain for your land in its season, the early rain and the latter rain, that you may gather in your grain, your new wine, and your oil.

In Egypt, the Israelites used an artificial form of irrigation. They “watered it by foot.” In other words, they had to dig trenches and pump or move water to their fields in order to water their crops. But God said that in the land of Promise, they would not have to depend on artificial forms of irrigation. He promised, if they would obey His commandments, that He would send them the former rain and the latter rain and that the land would drink up the water of heaven and produce a harvest.

We can’t depend on artificial forms of worship or godliness to produce a harvest of souls in the Kingdom of God. You and I cannot produce a move of God through our own abilities or strength. We’ve got to seek God, obey His commandments, turn from our wicked ways, get on our knees and pray, and depend upon God to send the rain. Any other way, will not work.

CLOSING

ALTAR CALL

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