A Vision for the Last Days Church
I want to speak to you this morning from the Song of Solomon. I'm going to begin in Song of Solomon 8:5, about the last days wilderness church.
I happen to believe with all of my heart that in the last days before Christ returns — in the last days before judgment starts to fall on this nation and other nations like it that have vacated truth and embraced perversion and lies — mercy still triumphs over judgment. It doesn't mean judgment doesn't come. It means mercy still triumphs. In essence, anybody who wants to come to Christ is able to do so. Anybody who desires to be free can be free.
I personally believe that there's going to be a church in this last day that's going to be a victorious church, a God-filled people, a people with a mind that is similar to that which Christ would have them to have, a people on a mission to bring redemption — which is the only mission of Christ in the earth — the redemption of the lost, the saving of the lost, and the discipling of those who are new to Christ. That is the mission of the church.
The mission of the church is not to be personally comfortable. It's not to gather wealth to ourselves. It's not to dig some bunker somewhere and fill it with cans of beans so we can survive the coming days. The church's mission is to be empowered by the Spirit of God and to go into this world and make a difference. And by the grace of God, this last day will have a church.
Coming Out of the Wilderness
In the Song of Solomon, the writer records these words in Song of Solomon 8:5: Who is this coming up from the wilderness, leaning on her beloved?
The writer saw something. He saw a bride coming out of a dry place, a wilderness place, leaning on the bridegroom. And this is a pictorial type of what we're going to see in these last days. We're going to see a church coming out of dry places, coming out of a wilderness place, leaning on Jesus Christ — a victorious church, a worshiping church, a church with life and joy, a church with a message, a church with an empowerment of the Holy Spirit to do things that can only be done by the Spirit of God.
I am speaking prophetically today. I know when the Holy Spirit is upon me. I know when God's Spirit is flowing through me and speaking a message to His people.
Now, not everyone who goes to church is going to be part of the awakening that we're about to experience. But those who belong to Christ will see it and know it.
What the Wilderness Is
The wilderness is a place in between where we used to be and where we're called to be. That's where Israel was for a season — a long season they weren't supposed to be in, but ended up in. They were set free by the sovereign power of God from that which was determined to hold them captive and make them slaves to its power.
And that's where many of you were. I was a slave to alcohol. I was a slave to lust. I was a slave to fear — whatever it was in your life. But God sovereignly came and touched your life and set you free. And it was because of the blood of Jesus Christ. It wasn't by any work of righteousness that you or I have done. It's the blood and the mercy of God that brought us out of where we used to be.
What was supposed to be a short season ended up being 40 years for a whole generation because they would not go into the place that was promised them.
Now, you and I are promised life. We're promised eternal life. We're promised an abundant life. We're promised a reason to live. We're promised that our lives are supposed to bring glory to God — how? By God indwelling us by His Holy Spirit, giving us His Word, taking us where we can't go, making us into what we could never be, and giving us what we could never naturally possess. That people look at us and they see the reality of God — not an argument about God, but the actual reality of God's willingness to show mercy in every generation.
The wilderness is that place between our past and our
