Here's an awe-inspiring thought for you. We are the generation that will not only see the end of one millennium and the beginning of the next, but we are also the generation that will usher in the last millennium. What a privileged group we are!

Here's an awe-inspiring thought for you.

We are the generation that will not only see the end of one millennium and the beginning of the next, but we are also the generation that will usher in the last millennium. What a privileged group we are!

I can just imagine Abraham, Moses, all of the apostles, and Paul looking down from heaven and saying, Oh, I wish I could be in their shoes!

God's Great Harvest
Many Christians wonder why so much time has passed since John penned the words of Revelation and the complete fulfillment of the prophecies he recorded. The fact is, God is waiting until the greatest possible harvest of souls can be received into the kingdom.

The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9, NKJ).

Therefore be patient, brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand (James 5:7-8, NKJ).

Even though God is omniscient, and knows precisely when the day of complete fulfillment is, it has not been set. The fullness of time is dependent on the Gospel being preached to all of the world; the precious fruit of the earth being ready.

Digging A Little Deeper
The Bible has a startling warning for the people of this generation. The things the world says are important are going to be dissolved in a blink, consumed by the fire of God.

Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? (2 Peter 3:11-12, NKJ).

Considering that, shouldn't we be living a life separated unto God? Living for God? Walking with God?

Now it is not coincidence that the Holy Spirit used day of the Lord in verse 10 and the day of God in verse 12. Jesus is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords; His Day represents the 1,000 years of His reign upon this earth. God is eternal, and with Him there is no time, so the day of God is speaking of the beginning of the eternal state.

We find a remarkable truth in this passage. We are encouraged to be looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God... In other words, our attitudes and lives have an effect on the return of the Lord!

The hungrier you are for this present age to end, for the millennial reign of Jesus to begin the quicker these things will come to pass. I think you will see the connection between these two things as we continue our study. You see, it is one of the elements having to do with the fullness of time which must arrive before the end times begin.

The Greek word translated look for in this passage literally means earnest anticipation and expectation. God wants you to have a great anticipation of the eternal state, the day of God. He wants you to be mindful of, and motivated by an understanding of your eternal destiny.

The Word says this life here is but a blink of an eye in time, nothing but a vapor. There is an eternity beyond the veil of death awaiting each one of us. The difficulty is we do not have enough of an understanding of our true eternal destiny to be eagerly anticipating and looking for that day.

The truth is, you will be ruling and reigning with Jesus for an eternity, and not over just a few square feet of terra firma either, but the vastness of a universe yet to be explored. And we get to explore it!

Raised to Rulership
In Matthew 25, Jesus relates a parable in which a lord returns from his journey to a far country. He had entrusted his belongings to three of his servants, and two of them brought increase to the lord's estate. He says to them, Well done, good and faithful servant. You have been faithful over a few things, I'll make you ruler over much.

The wonderful reality is, you are called to rule and reign with Jesus.

But the amount of responsibility you are given on an eternal scale depends upon your stewardship of the resources God entrusts to you in this life. It does not matter how much He entrusts to you, it only matters what you do with what you received.

In the parable, one servant was given five talents, one given two talents, and the third was given one talent. To the ones who had increased their talents, he gave the same commendation. So it is not a matter of amount, but what you do with it.

What are you doing with the time and resources you have? What are you doing to bring increase to the kingdom of God? It's not a matter of finding the highest yield mutual fund for your money. The way you bring increase to God's kingdom is through the principle of sowing and reaping.

The Purpose of Revelation
The purpose of the book of Revelation is to make us aware of our need to be mindful of the eternity awaiting us, and to live our lives accordingly.

This life which seems so demanding and consumes our attention, it is nothing, friend. We have to become eternally minded. We have to focus on the unseen realm revealed by the Word, not the temporal realm we live in, which is subject to change.

Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless (2 Peter 3:13-14, NKJ).

As we look for the day of the Lord, we begin to move toward the place of holiness and separation, where we become the glorious Church without spot or wrinkle.

There is no other spiritual principle in the Word that has this kind of effect on a person's behavior.

One More Night With The Frogs
Unless there is a sense of urgency in our lives, we have a tendency to say, Tomorrow, Lord. I'll do that tomorrow.

The truth of the matter is this: our flesh, our unregenerate nature, always wants to put God and His direction for our lives off to another time. We see this from the beginning of the Bible to the end.

We see an example of this in the eighth chapter of Exodus during one of the ten plagues that came on Egypt. Frogs!

The curses that came against Egypt were because of their decision to resist the direction of God. He responded by removing His hand of protection, allowing the curse to manifest in different ways. One of those ways was frogs.

Can you imagine what it was like? Frogs in the fridge, the oven, the bed, in your underwear, in the bathroom. Frogs everywhere. Big frogs. Little frogs. Slimy frogs. Horny-toad frogs.

Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron, and said, Entreat the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and from my people; and I will let the people go, that they may sacrifice to the Lord (Ex. 8:8).

But when Moses asked him, When do you want me to ask the Lord? Pharaoh said, Tomorrow. Can you imagine? Pharaoh wanted one more night with the frogs.

Amazing, isn't it? Yet, this is the tendency of our unregenerate nature as well, to resist the direction of God, even though it perpetuates the curse in our life.

You see, the frogs represent the curse in the earth. Even though our deliverance from sickness, poverty and oppression is in God, we tend to say, Tomorrow, Lord. Just one more night with the frogs.

I wonder how many people have gone to hell saying, Tomorrow, Lord. But it is not just unbelievers who say this. Christians say it all the time when confronted by His direction to their lives.

I'll bring my tithe to the storehouse tomorrow.

I'll start praying a little more tomorrow.

I'll love my wife sacrificially tomorrow.

I'll be submitted to my husband tomorrow.

I'll get involved in a ministry tomorrow.

No, you won't. When tomorrow comes, you will say the same old things again. Time and again, whether it is the written Word, or the Spirit of God to our heart, we say Tomorrow, Lord and then wonder why there are still frogs in our underwear.

Sometimes we get mad at God: God, what are these frogs doing in my life? Because you put off God's direction and perpetuated the curse in your life.

A Revival of Urgency
What is the solution for this tendency? We have to develop a greater sense of urgency about being a doer of the Word of God, about making our lives come more in line with the Word, and about experiencing a deeper intimacy with God.

Revival is really not a group event. It often happens in groups, but revival is supposed to occur in an individual's heart first. If you have to continually go to meetings for their fire to light your wood and keep it burning, you are missing the point.

Starting and sustaining the fire of personal revival in your heart requires a desire and a hunger for God, rather than an appetite for the world.

It also requires a strong conviction of your need to change. If you are not convicted of your need to change, you will not have your hunger for God filled. You can be hungry for God, you can even know you really need to change, but without a sense of urgency, you will still say, Tomorrow, Lord and continue to sleep with the frogs.

Developing Urgency
According to the Word, there are three ways urgency is born in the human heart.

First, you must get fed up with the frogs. There will come a day when you have had it with the frogs. You have to come to the place where you have absolutely no tolerance any longer for the curse of sin and death encroaching on your life.

Too often we allow the curse to touch us without taking a stand against it. We need to become like David when the Philistines oppressed Israel, and Goliath had them completely intimidated. David said, Enough is enough. Who is going to take up this cause? No one? Then I will do it! Enough is enough!

When are you going to get fed up with the curse in your life? When are you going to get sick and tired of the enemy encroaching on your territory when he has no right to? When are you going to become righteously indignant at the continuing sickness, or poverty, or lack, or oppression in your life? This is one of the ways urgency is born in your heart.

The more you realize the enemy has no right to be in any area of your life, the more real it becomes to you that you do not have to be sick, or poor, or oppressed. God redeemed us from the curse of the law. The more real that becomes to you, the closer you come to saying, Enough is enough! and acting in faith.

Urgency Today
The second thing that contributes to a healthy sense of urgency in the human heart is the realization you may not have a tomorrow. I do not mean this in a melodramatic sense.

God said that we choose between life and death, blessing or cursing. But the only way we know about the choices we can make is through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, and His ministry to our life.

When you resist the Holy Spirit's leading, you do something the Bible calls hardening your heart. The first time the Holy Spirit directs you in a particular way, and especially as it regards living a separated life and living right before God, it is painful.

But if you do not respond to Him, you begin to harden in that area. Every time you say, No, I'm not going to do that, your heart gets a little harder and it gets a little easier to say no. The next time it is harder to hear the Holy Spirit. If you continue to refuse Him, you will stop hearing His voice altogether and the Spirit will be withdrawn from you.

So the point is this: every time you hear from the Holy Spirit, respond.

You may not have a tomorrow; you may not have another opportunity to make the change you need to make, and you cannot make the changes in just your own strength, you will need the Holy Spirit helping you.

The Urgent Future
The third thing that will put urgency in your heart is looking for the day of God. This involves not only the return of the Lord, but knowing about the days beyond that are going to bring the unfolding of God's plan through the last millennium and on into eternity.

Earnestly anticipating and expecting those things as a part of our life's present experience will motivate you to elevate your quality of life and enable you to become part of the glorious Church.

This kind of urgency must be born in your heart in order to experience the wonderful things God has in store for us in the last millennium.
Mac Hammond Ministries
All rights reserved. Used by permission.