Near: Jesus Leaving | Ps Luke Harrison

If you are new or visiting, we are

wrapping up a series called near. It's

been a phenomenal series and has been

based out of James 4:es 8, which says

that draw near to God and he will draw

near to you. This is about posturing our

hearts to the things of God and about

creating a heart posture that says, "Not

my will, Lord, but yours."

One of my favorite sayings, some of you

will know, is um standing in church

makes you as much of a Christian as

standing in McDonald's makes you a

hamburger.

So, what does that mean? That means we

can't just allow the last few weeks that

we've been communicating about this

topic about nearness just be something

about behavior modification, but we

actually needed to allow it to transform

our lives. It needs to change who we

are. change the way we respond. And I

pray Holy Spirit will speak to you in

this service. Um, a couple of over the

last few weeks, if you've not been

around or you've uh you've been away,

could I encourage you, go listen to the

the messages that came before this one.

Uh, Pastor Ben spoke a phenomenal

message on David's longing. And Pastor

Jonathan two weeks ago spoke on Mary's

lounging and uh, Pastor Anna last week

spoke a phenomenal message on Joshua

lingering. All of these messages

designed to help us understand and

outlive that James 4 verse which is draw

near to God and he will draw near to

you. How do we generate create uh stoke

up intimacy with Christ? And then the

bigger question is how do we respond to

this? And so my goal today as I wrap up

this series is to speak a message that

tries to bring all of these three things

together and allows us to respond

appropriately. Here's the thing. I'll

just be speaking the gospel if that's

okay. It's the truth of God. And um if

you don't like it, don't take it up with

me. You got to take it up with him. So

um in your prayer night, just say that

little guy with a funny mustache uh

wasn't doing it for me. But hey, I pray

that you would be encouraged. I'm

speaking a message today called Jesus

Leaving, which I know in a series about

being near is a bit of an oxymoron.

It's a bit of a confusing, but I'm

praying that as I speak this message

that it will help us to understand and

show us how Jesus leaving ultimately his

ascension has given way to us being able

to draw near. More so, I'll attempt to

to help you understand how we ought to

respond to the knowledge that we know

that he will leave and return one day.

How do we respond in this space in this

tension in between his ascension and his

second coming? Now, my aim is not to do

a series on esquetology in the next 25

minutes. Uh but I'm mindful that as the

church, capital C church, that we've uh

probably not handled this topic really

well. And I feel like we're missing

power on the ascension and the second

coming of Christ because we either don't

talk about it and we think that because

we stick our head in the sand like an

ostrich. I've never seen an ostrich do

that. just fun fact but that's what they

say um that that it's going to go away

and the truth is the gospels tell us

that it's not but on the other hand I'm

mindful that this topic has sort of

created and generated fear in some

people and that's not the aim either I

believe the gospel is lifegiving life

transforming and he's calling us to be

in relationship with King Jesus and so

my attempt today would be to help you

understand the space in between the

ascension and the second coming of

Christ and more importantly how we ought

to respond, how we've been called to

respond to this moment.

And so, we're going to pray

and then we're going to get into it. You

[snorts] ready?

>> Buckled up.

Let's pray.

So, King Jesus, we just thank you, Lord.

What a privilege and honor it is to come

around your word. And I pray we would

never grow familiar with the idea that

we get to open this word publicly, that

we get to read from this word publicly,

that we get to worship you so publicly

and beautifully. Jesus, I pray that in

this moment you would encounter your

people. That as your word goes out that

it won't return void, but it would break

chains and restore hearts. But Lord,

more so, Lord, that it' bring people

into right standing with you today.

Jesus, let your name be glorified in the

lips and the hearts of each and every

one of us in the service. Lord, let it

not be my words, but Lord, let it be

translated, you know, Lord, what each

and every one of us need sitting on

these seats, Lord. So, whatever I say, I

pray you translate that in a manner

that's digestible and usable and life

transforming for every heart sitting in

this room. And all God's people said,

"Amen."

There's a saying we all know that says

absence makes the heart grow

fonder.

Ultimately what absence really does I

don't know what that was fun. Um

delirious. [snorts]

Ultimately what absence really does is

exposes what we really depend on and

what we value or what we need. And I've

come to find that typically typically we

don't desire something that is not of

value or that we don't need. Anybody

desire something you don't want? Yeah.

Thought thought so. Just [snorts] making

sure. But I was away for a couple of

days just this past week. And while I

was away, I was mindful that I was away

from my wife and my kids. I was absent.

And that absence while I was away

created a longing in me. But the way

that that longing uh allowed me to

respond was slightly different. You see,

while I was away, I had this longing.

And when I got back, all I desired to do

was to be back in their presence and

spend time with them. Don't get me

wrong, I love you guys, but I do love my

wife and kids more. And all I wanted to

do was be with them. I would be happy to

be at home with my wife and kids right

now because that absence created a

longing in my heart to be with them and

them alone. My desire as I stand here

responding to that absence is I want to

be with my kids and my wife.

But I'm mindful that we live in a world

that has sort of removed this idea of

longing and absence. We live in this

convenient world

where we want food, boom, Uber Eats,

click and collect delivery. I will say

pretty convenient. [snorts] With kids, I

use it. We live in a world where you

need an answer, jump on AI. Gone of the

encyclopedia days where you had to go to

I'm looking for information on love. Go

to the LM n got love. Open it up. Love

says Jesus in there. Well, some of them

didn't, but uh we should rewrite them.

[snorts]

We don't just live in moments of absence

anymore. And I wonder if this has

translated into our Christian walk. Have

we trained ourselves into bad habits and

are starting to apply them to our

Christian faith?

Now remember,

I love you and you love me.

I'm not going to get offended.

I'm going to make some observations

based on being a pastor and what I see.

But I found sometimes, maybe not us

because we just float, but I found that

so often Christians want intimacy

without hunger.

That we want closeness without

surrender.

That we want presence without sorry, we

want closeness without pursuit. We want

presence without surrender. Here's one.

We want revelation without lingering.

[snorts]

We We need a church that's more

Bible-based. We need to be preaching for

six hours. Oh, I don't want worship to

only be 20 minutes. We need to have

worship for two hours. When last have

you gone home and read your Bible?

Remember, I love you and you love me. I

think it's a valid question. When last

have you just been in your car and put

worship music on? When last have you

gone and sat and opened your Bible for

an hour or two hours and allowed Holy

Spirit to give you revelation? Do you

know who's better at teaching the Bible

than me and any other pastor?

Yeah, you bet it. The guy who wrote it.

But we we we complain and we live in

this life where we want microwavable

Christianity

and then we put the onus of relationship

on other people. That pastor didn't

preach the way I liked it.

But we don't take ownership of the

relationship. Imagine I I I use the same

correlation with my wife. I want a

strong relationship with my wife, but I

want somebody else to spend time with

her.

Okay, I'm done now. But I'm just saying

that's a good thought.

No, I think it's a good thought. But in

all seriousness, I know it sounds

farfetched, but that's what we do,

right? I want more, more, more, but I'm

not willing to invest into the

relationship that we say we want more

of.

And I wonder if we took time to

celebrate absence, to fully appreciate

it, how would Jesus' absence from this

earth, if we truly understood it, how

would that impact our lives? And Jesus

throughout the gospels teaches us how we

ought to respond to this tension between

his ascension and his second coming. And

so we are going to read two uh pieces of

scripture that I pray will start to

illuminate. Open your eyes and the eyes

of your heart to understand what God's

calling you to do. How does him leaving

cause us to draw near? If you've got

your Bibles with you, the first piece of

scripture is in Luke 5:33-35.

Luke 5:33–35

If you've got it, say, "I've got it."

If you're in Colossians, you need to go

back.

If you're in Genesis, we need to have a

talk after the service.

>> [snorts]

>> Luke 5:33-35

Luke 5:33–35

says this, "And they said to him,"The

disciples of John fast often and offer

prayers, and so do the disciples of the

Pharisees, but yours eat and drink." And

Jesus said to them, "Now listen, can you

make wedding guests fast while the

bridegroom is with them? The days will

come when the bridegroom is taken away

from them, and then they will fast in

those days, and then they will what in

those days? Fast." [snorts] When what

happens? The bridegroom leaves.

Second piece of scriptures in John.

John 14:es 1 says this. Says, "Let not

your hearts be troubled. Believe in God.

Believe also in me. In my father's house

are many rooms." In whose house? My

father's house are many rooms. If it

were not so, would I have told you that

I go to prepare a place for you? And if

I go and prepare a place for you, I will

come again and I will take you to myself

that where I am, you may be also.

It's imperative when we read these

verses that we don't throw the lens of

our western culture over the

understanding of what Jesus is trying to

communicate.

We miss so much because we put it

through the lens of our western

understanding or our modern

understanding of what marriage is, what

a bridegroom is, what a bride does. And

so what I'm looking to do is help you

contextualize what has actually been

written so we can understand how to

respond.

When Jesus speaks of weddings and the

bride and the bridegroom, it's through

the lens of the Jewish culture. In this

biblical context, Jesus is the

bridegroom and we his church are the

bride.

It's important to state that culturally

the bride and the groom would become

engaged. But this is not as we

understand it. This is not just a hey

will you marry me and then I'll see you

in a year's time at the altar. When the

bride and bridegroom got engaged, it was

more about a covenant. It was a betroal.

There was value added to it.

And you see what would happen is the

bridegroom would be sent listen in the

authority of the father

and the bridegroom would go to the

bride's family and make this betroal

contract. This covenant

and part of the covenant was a price

that needed to be paid. It was a bride's

price. In order for the bridegroom to

marry the bride, there was a price that

needed to be paid. And after the price

was paid, the bridegroom would then

leave

and go back to his father's house. And

at his father's house, his role would be

to create a room at his father's house,

a dwelling place for his bride and

himself to live.

And only once the father was satisfied

with the dwelling that has been created

would the father send, come on church,

would the father send the bridegroom

back to the bride to collect her.

And Jesus

pays the ultimate bride price for his

church by offering his life. And then in

Acts,

Acts 1 6-11,

we see the ascension of Christ.

And we just read in John that he would

go back to his father's house to do

what? To create a dwelling place for his

bride.

Acts 6, Acts 1:6-11 says this.

Acts 1:6–11

It says, "So when they had come

together, they asked him,"Lord,

will you at this time restore the

kingdom to Israel and he said to them,

"It's not for you to know the times or

the seasons that the Father has fixed by

his own authority. But listen, you will

receive power when the Holy Spirit has

come upon you, and you will be my

witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea

and Samaria and to the end of the

earth." And when he had said these

things, as they were looking on, he was

lifted up, and a cloud took him out to

out of sight, out of their sight. And

while they were gazing into heaven, as

he went, behold, two men stood by them

in white robes and said, "Men of

Galilee, why do you stand looking into

heaven? This Jesus who was taken up from

you into heaven will come in the same

way as you saw him go."

So here's the question. How does Jesus

leaving lead us to drawing near?

John 16:4-7 Jesus tells us. He says, "I

John 16:4–7

did not say these things to you from the

beginning because I was with you. But

now I am going to him who sent me and

none of you asks me where are you going?

But because I said these things to you,

sorrow has filled your heart." Now

listen, nevertheless, I tell you the

truth. It is to your advantage that I go

away. For I for if I do not go away, the

helper will not come to you.

Hebrews 4:14-16 then tells us that Jesus

Hebrews 4:14–16

goes

and intercedes on our behalf, allowing

us then confidently and boldly to enter

the throne room of grace.

And so here's the question.

We know in Acts two that Holy Spirit

comes and fills the room. And we know

now we've got access to Holy Spirit.

And so the question is, how do we

respond to initiate closeness to God?

How do we respond in this place between

the ascension and the second coming

to initiate this closeness, this draw

near to God and he will draw near to you

type scenario?

How do we respond? How do we take the

last three weeks of phenomenal messages

that we've learned and actually wrap it

up and apply it to our lives? How do we

respond accordingly?

Remember, not behavior modification, but

life transformation.

We see it happen in the first few verses

of John of John 5,

excuse me, of Luke.

Luke 5:33 says this, "Can you make

Luke 5:33

guests fast while the bridegroom is with

them? The days will come when the

bridegroom is taken away from them and

then they will

excuse me fast in those days." See,

fasting creates an expression of longing

and dependence in God. Say that again.

Fasting creates

an expression of longing and dependence

on God. John Piper said this. He said,

"Christian fasting is the hunger of a

homesickness for God." Richard Foster

said, "More than any other discipline,

fasting reveals the things that control

us." And so why? Why fast? And how does

this create an expression of longing and

dependence? I'm glad you asked.

I'm going to tell you two simple points.

And you've heard me say this before.

Typically, a lot of what happens from

this platform is easier said than done.

But welcome to the Christian faith. The

applying and the application's the hard

part. So, two simple thoughts to tie up

this series called Near. Here's the

first one. Prayer and fasting postures

our hearts for intimacy with Christ.

Prayer and fasting postures our hearts

for intimacy with Christ. And friends,

if anything else, that should be enough.

Like we could close the Bible. We close

this message.

And knowing more of him should be

enough. Getting closer to him should be

enough. Just being in his presence and

more of him should be enough.

But prayer and fasting postures our

hearts for intimacy with Christ. It

awakens us spiritually. It creates in us

a spiritual maturity. Listen, it

refocuses and aligns us and postures our

hearts towards God.

It removes these physical comforts as a

reminder that Christ is our soul

deficiency.

And mindful when we fast and pray,

pray, pray

that it shifts our focus

on earthly and worldly

ideas and earthly and worldly

distractions

and fixes our eyes on heavenly missions.

been thinking about this thought

and the idea about absence and longing,

how that impacts the way that we respond

to Christ in this message about being

near.

And the thing about fasting

is that it creates this paradoxical

claim within us

that the more I have of you, Lord, the

more I hunger for you. That the more I

see, the more I want. That the more I

taste, the more I want. That the more I

experience, the more I want. And so this

paradoxical claim that as we strip

things of ourselves physically and we

realign and our focus our minds to the

things of Christ that we get access to a

new side of God that we might have never

seen before. And the more we get access

to that, the more we want.

I love the psalm in Psalm 63:1

Psalms 63:1

which summarizes this position.

Psalm 63:1 says, "Oh God, you are my

Psalms 63:1

God. Earnestly I seek you. My soul

thirsts for you. My flesh faints for you

as in dry and weary land where there is

no water." I think about this language

when we talk about absence and longing.

We spoke about at the top that typically

you don't long or or you don't have

desire for something that is of no value

or importance to you. And I wonder

I wonder when lost our heart is cried

out in that manner.

Like I wonder when lost like all I want

is more of you Jesus was ringing from

our lips.

Like if we got to be honest with

ourselves, I wonder when the presence of

God stopped being enough in our lives

and that our heart's desire says, "Lord,

I know I've got some of you, but I need

more of you."

>> And I love that the Psalmist creates

this like yearning like like dehydrated

sense of like I just need a taste. Give

me a little bit more.

Like could I have a little bit more? A

yearning.

You think about dry parched lands as as

rains fall upon it and it just soaks it

up immediately and it wants more and

more and more until it's rejuvenated.

But I wonder when our heart's desire

was more of you, Lord.

And prayer and fasting positions our

heart and postures our heart for this

intimacy with God that the more I get,

the more I want. Here's the second

thing. Prayer and fasting positions us

for transformation.

I'm mindful when I read the Bible

to take note of what people do.

And then I think to myself when I see

some people do that, well, if they did

it, I should probably do it

because I like maybe it's just me. Maybe

I'm learning. But I don't know about

you, but sometimes I could be caught out

reading scriptures and forgetting that

these are true stories

like like sometimes I can just read them

and gloss over them.

But prayer and fasting positions us for

transformation. And you know who did

this? Those who walked with Christ

literally.

The acts tell us in Acts 13 2:3 in Acts

14, anytime a big decision needed to be

made personally or corporately for the

church, guess what they did?

Prayer and fasting.

But if I've got to be honest, as

Christians, sometimes we are like,

"Yeah, I want to do the Sunday thing.

That's nice and I'll do the life group

and I love my community and so safe and

nice,

but I don't want to get uncomfortable.

See, prayer and fasting positions us for

transformation

because it postures our hearts towards

God and draws near to him.

But fasting also positions you in the

authority of Christ.

There's a story in the gospels in Mark

Mark 9:29

9:29 where the disciples are out and

performing miracles and they're trying

to cast out a demon.

They realize they can't do it for this

one kind. Jesus comes up, cast out the

demon. The disciples turn to him and go,

"Hey, we tried that."

And I love Jesus response, a reminder in

that prayer and fasting aligns us and

positions us in the the in the authority

of Christ. says this

in Mark 9:29. And he said to them, "This

Mark 9:29

kind cannot be driven out by anything

other than prayer and fasting."

Prayer and fasting increases our

capacity for and access to the power of

God to move in your life. Here's the

thing about prayer and fasting. Ready

for this? Mind blown. Ready? I'm ready.

Here it comes. Is that prayer and

fasting, guess what? doesn't change God.

But what it does do is gets you out of

the way of yourself and positions you to

be in alignment with the things of God.

But what I'm mindful is that so often we

walk around

never accessing these gifts

that Jesus has called us to access.

Because if the early apostles and

disciples did it,

what makes us think that it's no longer

relevant in our lives to be in alignment

with who he is and to posture our hearts

towards him.

And the question is

in that context, if prayer and fasting

postures our hearts for intimacy with

Christ and prayer and fasting positions

us for transformation, how ought we

respond today? What does that mean for

us today?

The next sentence is not there to drive

fear.

I actually think it's one of excitement.

But the reality friends is there is an

urgency for us to respond accordingly.

The Bible says that today is the day of

salvation.

And we think about prayer and fasting.

We think about these gifts that have

been given to us to draw us into

intimacy with Christ.

But if we've got to be honest, we just

don't prioritize it. And we're like,

"Yeah, we can do that next week. Don't

worry, it'll be fine. Yeah, I'll I'll

leave it till tomorrow.

Like like between us,

like if I've got to be honest,

I've been studying this for a while and

like my heart's being convicted.

Like I'm not preaching at you. This is

like, "Hey church, we need to do more of

this."

Like, like we say we want to see a new

move of God. Like it's us, like all of

us. Like we're not going to wait till

February to do it. Like we're going to

do it like like this week. Like we're

going to make a decision this week.

Like the urgency needs to be drawn out

of us to respond accordingly.

Cuz if we say we want to be in alignment

with the will of God, we've got the

tools to do it. Why wouldn't we start

this week?

But how do we respond? Luke, and what's

the urgency? There's a piece of

scripture in Matthew.

Matthew 21, oh sorry, Matthew 25:es 1-14

says this.

It says, "Then the kingdom of heaven

will be like 10 virgins." Other um

translation says like bridesmaids

who took their lamps and went to meet

the bridegroom.

Five of them were foolish

and five were wise. For when the foolish

took their lamps, they took no oil with

them. But the wise took flasks of oil

with their lamps, preparedness, ready to

respond. And as the bridegroom was

delayed, they all became drowsy and as

slept. But at midnight, [music] there

was a cry. Here's the bridegroom. Come

out to meet him. Then all those virgins

rose and trimmed their lamps. And the

foolish said to the wise, "Give us some

of your oil, for our lamps are going

out." But the wise answered, saying,

"Since there will not be enough for us

and for you, go rather to the dealers

and buy for yourselves." And while they

were going to buy, the bridegroom came,

and those who were ready went in with

him to the marriage feast, and the door

was shut. After the other virgins came

also, saying, "Lord, Lord, open to us."

But he answered,

"Truly I say to you, I do not know you."

Watch therefore, for you know neither

the day or the hour when, friends, it's

not a message to scare you into

salvation.

It's an encouragement to get right with

King Jesus that today is the day of

salvation.

Some of us have, I got to be honest,

we've been around if we've been saved

for 2, 3, 10, 50 years.

Today, we've got a choice.

You need to you will find yourself as

part of the five.

The question is which which five will

you be?

Will you be the five ready and waiting

with vessels filled with grace and

faith, longing and waiting for the

return of our king and living a life

aligned to the calling that he has for

you?

Or will we be the five that falls asleep

at the wheel of our faith?

Pray and fasting aligns us and postures

our heart.

The time and the place,

the conversation around esquetology.

Everybody's going to have a different

opinion.

But the one thing that remains true is

the way we ought to respond in the space

in between. [music]

And the way we respond is Lord not my

will but yours. I want to live for you

Lord.

As I mentioned the Bible says this

[music] very simply that prayer and

fasting helps us to align.

Why would we not do more?

I'm not preaching at you. I asked myself

[music] the same question.

But today is the [music] day of

salvation.

And in this church, as long as we come

together at every gathering, we'll give

people an opportunity to say yes to

Jesus.

Because the Bible says that even when

one sinner comes into right standing

with God, that the heavens celebrate.

So if it matters to him, it's got to

matter to us.

And so with every head bow when I close

to give people just an opportunity, a

moment of privacy.

This is not about me and you. This is a

conversation between you and God. Asking

your heart. You know in your heart where

you are. Two groups of people I'd love

to pray for.

The first group is you're saying, Luke,

if I got to be honest, I've never

accepted Jesus in my life. Like I know

about him. him. I might have attended

church a [music] few times uh but I've

never allowed him to be Lord and Savior

of my life.

Then friend, today is the day that you

get to say yes to King Jesus

and your life can be transformed

forever.

Second group of people

is those that are saying like those five

unwise virgins that you have fell asleep

at the wheel of your life and of your

faith journey. If you got to be honest

with yourself, your heart started to be

depleted and you've walked away from God

and the things of God and you've tried

to do it in your own strength, then

friends, why wait another day to come

into right standing with King Jesus?

With every head bow and eye closed, if

that's you, you want to say yes to Jesus

today, then on the count of three, would

you be bold enough just to lift your

hand high enough so I can see? Just so I

know who I'm praying to or praying with.

not going to call you up front. I just

want to see who I'm praying with. So if

that's you, on the count of three, one,

have the courage to say yes to him

today. Hands are already going up on the

side. Come on.

Two, friends, hands already going up

at the back. Hands going up. Three. If

that's you, would you say yes to Jesus?

Thank you. I see every hand. You can put

those hands down. Incredible. I know

there's a few more in here.

I've been praying for this moment all

week.

Bible says for the joy hands going up

here in the front. Come on.

Is there one more that would say yes to

King Jesus today? This right here is the

pinnacle of the service. This right here

is the most important part of the

service.

People come into right standing with

Jesus. If that's you online, would you

raise your hand just just so you know in

your heart that that's you.

Incredible. Come on. Why don't we

celebrate with those people?

Hey church, now look at me. Everybody

look at [music] me. Here's the important

thing. We're a church family.

And I mentioned that here's the thing.

We're going to say it. If you put your

hand up, we you're going to say a prayer

from your heart to God, asking him to be

the Lord and Savior of your life.

[music] But as a church family, we're

going to say it out loud with you cuz we

want to do this journey with you. So,

would you repeat after me and as a

church family, we're going to say it

together. Say, "Dear Lord Jesus." Oh,

come on. Say, "Dear Lord Jesus,

thank you for dying on the cross for me.

Would you forgive me of my sins?

I invite you to be the Lord and Savior

of my life.

Guide me,

>> guard me, and Lord, lead me

into everything that you've called me

to.

And all God's people said, "Amen." Amen.