(242) “The Promises of God Are Absolute, No Matter How Circumstances Appear”

0:00 When prophecy comes to us, we have a tendency to think that it's immediate. We have an expectation that's immediate. And if it doesn't happen within a year, it's not God. Yeah. And the thing about prophecy is that prophecy can have more than one fulfillment. Yes. And so we need to not be so quick about deciding what the prophecy means. Because many times it repeats itself. It'll repeat itself and it'll get bigger every time. God promises in Joel 2, 28 to pour out a spirit on all humanity.

0:41 Welcome to Global Outpouring, where we contend for that promise outpouring, we equip for that outpouring so that we may engage in that very outpouring. I'm Philip Bus. And I'm Sharon Bus. Welcome to the podcast today. We are so glad that you're with us. This is going to be a wonderful, encouraging discussion that will help you gain faith because you can know that you know that you know that the promises of God are absolute, no matter how circumstances appear. Thank you so much for joining us today. We are really looking forward to sharing this discussion with you.

1:21 But before we get started, we want to encourage you, if you haven't already done so, to go to our website, globaloutpouring.net, and make sure that you have subscribed to our email lists so that we can stay in touch with you. We don't want to lose touch by the things that can happen on social media. If we have your email address, we can be sure to be able to reach out to you and you can stay in touch with us and you can give us feedback. There's a feedback form on that page and there's also a feedback email address, feedback at globaloutpouring.org. And we love, we love, we love, we love to hear from you.

2:01 Also, before we get started, we want to make sure that you are aware about our convention 2025 that's coming up over Memorial Day weekend, the Wednesday through Saturday of Memorial Day weekend. It's going to be a glory time in St. Louis, Missouri at the St. Louis Airport Marriott. We know for sure that we have Tony Kemp is going to be speaking for us and also Dean Braxton. I'll be one of the speakers and we've got a few more. So we're just wanting to make sure that you're going to be there. It will be a family camp. There's something for every age group and it's going to be anointed and life changing. We're going to have glorious worship and deep word things that'll be life changing for you.

2:44 Intercession off the charts and a call to the nations. If you have any kind of a call to the nations, if you're an intercessor, these are areas that in particular you're going to find people of like precious faith. You're going to find your tribe. It's going to be a glory, glory time. So we want to make sure that you're planning to be with us. There's a link on our website on the events page where you can go there and make a reservation at the hotel and just plan to be with us and bring somebody with you. And while we're at it, bring somebody into this podcast with you. If you have friends that love the deep things of God and they have a vision for what God wants to do in the earth in these days that are to come, it's greater than revival.

3:30 It's outpouring. It's greater even than reformation. It's outpouring where the Holy Spirit is going to change lives. So we want to encourage you to participate with us and bring people along, especially if you're listening on Apple podcasts. If you would put a review, give us a five-star review. Those things help to promote the podcast and get other people interested in it. It will really make a difference for us. And if you want to help us, you know, we don't have anybody sponsoring this podcast. I kind of don't even like the idea of having sponsors where you have to say, this episode is sponsored by and do an advertisement for people. But we do need help to pay it forward.

4:13 We're just taking it out of our general fund to stand behind this and make these podcasts available to you. So if you are enjoying it, if you feel led by the Holy Spirit, we would encourage you to help us out and encourage others. Just forward this on to somebody else that you know will be helped by it. So Philip brought up a message in our devotions with our staff yesterday that I just want to throw the ball to you, Philip, and you just run with it. You know, this time of year, many of us, we listen to Handel's Messiah. Oh, yeah. And it's all scripture. I love it. And it's about, you know, the birth of Jesus and then the Hallelujah Chorus, which everybody knows, even if they don't know anything else, they usually recognize Hallelujah Chorus.

5:03 And there's one of the scriptures in there that is prophetic of Jesus, but very, I'd say probably ninety nine point nine percent of believers would not know where it comes from or the circumstances have all been around it. They might know that it comes from Isaiah, but they probably don't know the content. Yeah, they would know Isaiah, but they don't know what's going on around it. And that is the scripture. Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and call his name Emmanuel, which when you listen to Hannah's Messiah, the interpretation is God with us. That's what Emmanuel means.

5:44 Why don't you just sing that that little clip? Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bear a son and shall call his name Emmanuel, God with us. There you have it with no effects on it, no computers, nothing. Just voice. So I want to look a little into the history because this is about Mary, who is going to birth Jesus and the story behind that.

6:25 It's in the first chapter of Luke. And when she has this visitation of the angel and the angel says unto her, Fear not, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And behold, you shall conceive in thy womb and bring forth a son and shall call his name Jesus or Yeshua. Yes, that would be the Hebrew name. And it means salvation. He shall be great and shall be called the son of the highest and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father, David. He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever and of his kingdom there shall be no end. Then Mary said unto the angel, How can this be?

7:06 See, and I know not a man. The angel answered and said to her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the highest shall overshadow thee. Therefore also the holy that uses thing here, you know, is the scripture. I didn't have time to look that up. It's got a better meaning, but which shall be born of you shall be called the son of God. Amen. So this is the promise to Mary. So we go back the circumstances where this all started to about 742 BC. This is a long time ago, 750 years plus 2000 years there.

7:46 So you're talking 2750 years ago. This word was given that a virgin shall conceive. And the story is referring to the days of Ahaz, the king of Jotham, son of Uzziah, king of Judah. And this is what's happening. The resin, the king of Syria, Pekah, the king of Israel, went up to Jerusalem to war against it. So the city is going to be besieged. And you know, back then, when a city is besieged, they encamp around it and you starve the people out of it. Yeah, that's usually what happens. That's a that's a really tough thing. But the word of the Lord comes to Isaiah.

8:27 And he says unto him, I'm writing out of the King James here, Take heed to be quiet, fear not, neither be faint hearted for the two tails of the smoking fire brands, for the fierce anger resin with Syria and the son of Remaliah. Because Syria Ephraim, the son of Remaliah, have taken evil counsel against you, saying, Let us go against Judah, vex it, and let us make a breach thereof for it, said a king in the midst of it, even the son of Thabiel. And thus says the Lord God, it shall not stand, neither shall it come to pass. Amen. Hallelujah. Now, tell you a little bit about this king. Was Ahaz a good guy?

9:07 He was not a good guy. He was a wicked king. Yeah. And so here you are, the prophet of God going to a wicked king. So I'm going to go back to second Kings, chapter 16 and verse seven. This is Ahaz. And the 17th year, Pekah, the son of Remaliah, Ahaz the son of Jotham, king of Judah began to reign. 20 years old was Ahaz when he began to reign. Think of yourself as a 20 year old if you're older. Do you think you are fit to rule a nation? Uh huh. You know? Sure is. You got a lot of pressures, peer pressure, da da da da. And he reigns 16 years in Jerusalem and did not that which was right in the sight of the Lord like David, his father.

9:52 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, yea, and made his son pass through the fire. Oh my. According to the abominations of the heathen whom the Lord cast out from before the children of Israel. And what he is doing here is what they would do. They would sacrifice their children. A lot of times the firstborn on the Moloch. And this was a God of Ammon. You know, this was a pagan practice. Actually, I'll read the scripture here. First Kings 11, 7. Then did Solomon build, and this was the downfall of Solomon in his later years, which he did repent of. Then did Solomon build a high place for Shimos, the abomination of Moab and the hill that is before Jerusalem and for Moloch, the abomination of the children of Ammon.

10:43 Now what Moloch was, it would be like a big statue, a big idol. And it had its hands would reach out. And they had a big fire going in it. So it would just get red hot and they would put a live baby in its hands and sacrifice it live. That was the practice. And different kings did this. They would sacrifice their children under Moloch. You know, this is an abomination. Sure it is. You know, and all that. And here it is in Jeremiah chapter 32, 35. And they shall build the high places of Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnon to cause the abomination. And they shall cause their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire on the Moloch, which I commanded them not.

11:27 Neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination to cause Judah to sin. So you see adjoining here a Baal and Moloch. And this same spirit is alive today. I'll give you one more scripture. The first time this is mentioned, you know, Moloch, this is in Leviticus chapter 1821. And now shot, and this is what the Lord gave Moses to tell the children of Israel. And now shall not let any of the seed pass through the fire to Moloch. Amen. Neither shall thou profane the name of the Lord thy God. I am the Lord. So that is the background of Moloch. And so this is the influence on King Ahas.

12:09 Because, you know, he also because he sacrificed and burned incense in the high places on the hills. Under every green tree, every abomination in the book. So here you have the administration of that day. He's the head cheese. You know, he's the king. He's the head administration are into idol worship. And this is parallel to where we are today in this nation of USA and other nations. Yeah. You talking about aborted babies. It's the same spirit. The baby is not being put in the hands of a red hot iron, you know, idol to burn up. But it's being torn limb from limb. It's limb from limb in an abortion clinic.

12:50 Yeah. And it's the same spirit. And even the same administration we have has that spirit operating through them. And that's why it is so strong. You know, this may sound like strong words, but this is things happen today. You can go back into the Old Testament and you can find what God says about it. Right. Because he's the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last. And what he gives, what he says goes. Absolutely. He's the creator of it all. He's the leader of it all. So this would be like some well-known leaders of our nation that are real prophetic and all that. Going to the leaders of our administration say, this is the word of the Lord. Da da da da da.

13:31 You know, so here you have you have Ahaz going before the prophet Isaiah, which give a lot of prophetic things about Jesus that is coming to pass. And so he's talking to him, you know, and he gives in these scriptures. And so he comes to Isaiah or Isaiah goes to him. He wouldn't go to Isaiah. Yeah. You don't want the prophet to come to your house because he's got something to tell you. I can attest to that. So anyway, in verse 11 of chapter seven of Isaiah, you know, he says on to Ahaz, as see a sign of the Lord thy God, ask it either in the depth or in the height the room. But Ahaz says, I will not ask.

14:12 Neither will I tempt the Lord. What can he ask? What can he say? Yeah, because he's he's been behaving so badly. Yeah, he's a rank heathen. So anyway, you know, Isaiah has given them, you know, this word that these two firebrands that God's going to take care of it. And then in verse 13, and he said, Here you know, how said David, it is a small thing for you to worry men, but will you worry my God also? Therefore, the Lord himself shall give you a sign. Behold, a virgin shall conceive and bury son and shall call his name Emmanuel. And this came to pass that the two firebrands did not take over Jerusalem.

14:54 Right. And seven hundred and fifty two years later, Massamanos, a little bit. This prophetic word happens to Mary. The angel visits Mary and gives her this word, you know, that you are going to conceive and the Holy Spirit's going to come upon you. What happened for those of you that received the Holy Spirit? What happened when he came down on you? It changed your life, didn't it? Absolutely. It changed Mary's life and it changed Joseph's life. Because here is Mary pregnant with child and it's not him. You know, back then you would be stoned. Yeah, that was the matter. You know, if a woman committed adultery, she was stoned because it says in Luke, you know, he thought maybe I need to put Mary away.

15:40 I need to hide her, you know, because now they're going to be taxed and there's no way to hide that. Right. And you have to go to be taxed because that's an order of Caesar that has to be done. That is where that scripture comes from. That's amazing context. It's really amazing context when you look at the background of all that. Wow, wow. So let me just interject here that when prophecy comes to us, we have a tendency to think that it's immediate. We have an expectation that's immediate. And if it doesn't happen within a year, it's not God. Yeah. And the thing about prophecy and that's that's what we're going to show in this podcast is that prophecies were given.

16:22 And in the context, in their circumstances, they may have seen it being fulfilled in a temporary way or in a smaller way, because Isaiah went to a virgin and got her pregnant. And he was thinking that it was his responsibility to bring this to pass, because if you go and read the next verse after that or verses after that, you know, it's talking about what's going to happen to this child. And before the child is able to say whatever it is that this is going to come to pass. So there was a temporary version of it. And yet we see here's a bigger picture when Jesus is conceived in Mary's womb.

17:05 So prophecy can have more than one fulfillment. And so we need to not be so quick about deciding what the prophecy means because many times it repeats itself. It'll repeat itself and it'll get bigger every time. Yeah. So at this time, you know, Israel goes into captivity after this happens down the road in the book of Jeremiah. We'll be reading that. So go another seven hundred and fifty years forward when this prophecy is fulfilled. Jesus is born. Who's in control? Rome. Right. And what is Rome? I mean, you didn't see that in Israel because they ruled with an iron thumb. But at Rome itself, it was a debauched society. Absolutely homosexuality.

17:49 Yeah, it was you just couldn't believe. And and so that's what was in control. Yeah. And you would have thought really, you would have thought when Israel came back into the land and at some point, Alexander the Great shows up with his armies and, you know, when Alexander the Great died, it was divided among his generals. And fast forward and you get this awful Antiochus epiphanies. And he's doing these horrible things and sacrifices a pig in the in the temple. And then the Maccabees rose up and they cleared the Greeks out of there. You would think that maybe when everything's going so well, that that would be the fulfillment of when God's going to send his Messiah, because here we've got everything.

18:39 The Jewish people are back in sovereignty in the land and all is well. And you would think maybe that's when it would come to pass, but it didn't. Because even when Jesus was born, it was a type of a one world government. Exactly. Rome ruled an awful lot of territory. The known world, basically. The known world, basically. And so what do we have today? We have administration that is presently in and many around the world, these leaders in high places. Globalists. Globalists want a one world government. See, it's the same spirit. Yes, it's the same spirit, just has different names.

19:19 And that's where we are today. Yeah. So to go back to where we were when this promise was given and Israel is it's being prophesied by Isaiah. It's being prophesied by Jeremiah. It's being prophesied by other minor prophets that Israel is going to go into captivity for 70 years. I mean, it was Jeremiah that gave the 70 years picture, but the others were just saying you're going into captivity because that's what the word of God promised under Moses, that if you don't keep this instruction that I've given you from Mount Sinai, if you don't keep this, you can't stay in the land.

19:59 Because the land was promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and their descendants. But it was based on keeping their relationship hot with God. Well, they didn't. And they started idolatry. So but it's interesting to me how we so often use Jeremiah 29, 11 as a word for us personally. And it works that way. Don't don't think that I'm saying it doesn't. But Jeremiah 29, 11 from the New Living Translation, for I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. They are plans for good and not for disaster to give you a future and a hope. But if you take that in context, they're getting ready to be deported.

20:43 They're getting ready to be deported to Babylon, and they're going to stay for 70 years. And Jeremiah is saying, just go and start a new life. You're going to be there for 70 years. Make it good. You know, do all the things that you should do and live there and live for the blessing of the place where you're living. Because I'm going to bless you there. I have good plans for you. This isn't for your disaster. Even though the circumstances are saying, this is awful. You know, being sent out of your your land, being sent out of your inheritance for 70 years. A lot of folks aren't going to make it back. It's only the young ones who come back as old men.

21:28 You know, the babies, the teenagers might come back as old men and women when they came back from. Some of them cried. They saw the destruction. Yeah. How bad it was. Yeah. And they're like teenagers. Yeah. And even when the first temple was rebuilt, the ones that remembered how great Solomon's Temple was, they're crying like, this is what it was. Yeah. This is a promise. Right. Here's this prophecy. I have plans for good for you. I had to give you a future and a hope. And if you go on in Jeremiah 30 and 31, 32, 33, there's promise after promise after promise of what God is going to do.

22:10 Even when Israel comes back to the land, he says, I'm not ever going to push you out again. Now, they did come back and they got pushed out again. Yeah. But the promise. Because they sinned. Exactly. Broke all the commandments. They broke all the commandments. And even the Pharisees were trying really hard to keep all the commandments and being the law police, but they weren't doing it from their hearts. It was just from lip service, you know. And they didn't recognize Jesus. That's true. That's true. They didn't. But read Romans 11, God used that blindness that was over them to allow the word to go to the Gentiles and to all the earth. But now we're in the season since the 1860s or so, where the children of Israel are coming back, have been coming back for over a hundred years now.

23:02 And they are having the actual manifestation of all of these promises, where they're planting vineyards and they're living on the land and God is blessing them. And they're doing all of these things. This is a fulfillment that is over 2000 years since the prophecy was given. Yeah, I remember one of the scriptures where the land shall be filled with fruit. The world will be from Israel. And I remember our founder, Sister Gwen Shaw, she was in, I forget what... She was in Hong Kong. Hong Kong, looking at oranges and the sign said Jaffa orange. They came from Israel.

23:42 And God blessed Israel with the climate that the oranges there would be ripe before anywhere else. And so they always had the advantage of getting the first fruits. Yes. And I remember her talking about how she picked up that orange in her hand and she said, this is fulfillment of prophecy. And I'll give you a little idea, like an orange. This was my mom's story. My mom was born in 1918. Oh, yeah. And in Indianapolis on Christmas morning, there would be one orange on the table. Yeah. One orange and they would slice it. You know, so every one of the kids would get a slice because oranges were very, very expensive.

24:24 And back then there wasn't any real highways. You know, you didn't have nice interstates like we have today. So that's how rare an orange was unless you were very wealthy or wealthy family. Yeah. And that's just a hundred years ago. Wow. And so now today Israel can have four crops a year. Right. A lot of things. Right. God has blessed them. All this prophetic words have all come to pass. Right. So how does that relate to us then? So how it relates to us as I see it is here we have this promise in Joel 2.28. Yes. That I will pour out of my spirit on all flesh and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy. Your young men shall see visions and your old men shall dream dreams.

25:05 And on my servants and on my handmaidens will I pour out of my spirit and they shall prophesy. And you've got this promise. And on the day of Pentecost, when Jesus disciples were celebrating Pentecost, now they'd been celebrating Pentecost ever since Mount Sinai. It was an annual event that they were celebrating the coming of the fire on the mountain and the giving of the law. Here you have an instance where, okay, here's the first fulfillment. Peter says, this is that that was spoken of by the prophet Joel. And he quotes it again. But what they were seeing there was the seed form because there were Jewish people, Israelites that had been dispersed all around the nations and they came back to Jerusalem for this feast because they were commanded to.

25:56 They came like they were told to. And they came from all these different nations and they're listed in Acts chapter two from Cappadocia and Pontus and Phrygia and Pamphylia and all those places. And they came and they heard the great and marvelous things that God has done in their own language as the disciples were speaking in tongues because the fire had come down on them. And that was the beginning of the fulfillment of Jeremiah 31, 31 to 34. I think it is Jesus just maybe 50 days before or so had instituted the Holy Communion where he said this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

26:43 And and you have all through the Old Testament, you have the principle of substitution where a sacrifice of an animal could substitute for your sins. So Jesus is presenting a cup of wine and he's saying this cup is the new covenant in my blood. So you have grapes, the blood of grapes substituting for Jesus literal blood. And he says, this is the cup of the new covenant with the new covenant is that thing in Jeremiah 31, verses 31 to 34. We've talked about it before where God says, I'm going to write my word in your hearts and in your minds and you can know me.

27:24 You can know me. That is the beginning of this fulfillment. And it went out into the nations with those people who were there as a seed of the nations. And they carried it and they they brought the word with them wherever they went. So it went out to the nations. But we're about to see an outpouring that is a harvest fulfillment like that was the first fruits version. And we're about to see something that is so much greater. And I we've mentioned this prophecy before, but I think it bears mentioning again the the words that Arthur Burt heard.

28:05 He didn't give it, but he heard it back in a 1933, 34, 35, 36, somewhere in there. And he carried around in his pocket for decades. And it goes something like this. You know what? I'm going to bring it up so that I quote it exactly. It shall come as a breath and the breath shall bring the wind and the wind shall bring the rain and there shall be floods and floods and floods and torrents and torrents and torrents. Souls shall be saved like falling leaves from mighty oaks swept by a hurricane. Arms and legs will come down from heaven and there shall be no ebb.

28:48 No ebb. In other words, you know, when the waves come in, waves of revival come in, they'll last for weeks, months, a few years maybe. And then the the wave goes back out just like the tide. The tide comes in and then it ebbs back out. But this one, this move, this outpouring on all flesh, this prophesied that there shall be no ebb. It's like the spirit of God is going to be poured out so strong. And Paul says in Philippians 3 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection.

29:28 So what happened when Jesus was resurrected? All these people that were dead in the graves came to life. Yeah. I mean, wow. Yeah. The power that raised him from the dead was enough to raise them from the dead as well. Wow. Wow. Yeah. So it's going to quicken your mortal bodies. Yes. Yes. By his spirit that dwells within you. Wow. Hallelujah. So no matter what the circumstances look like, no matter what the circumstances look like, we can count on the promises of God. We can have an expectation that he is going to fulfill everything that he promised. And it doesn't matter what the circumstances look like. Jesus came when Rome was in control.

30:11 I mean, even Mary and Joseph themselves were put in a position where they had to obey this order from Caesar. But it put them into Bethlehem where Jesus needed to be born because he's the bread of life. And he's a descendant of David. And he needed to be born in the place where David was born. He needed to be born in the house of bread, Bethlehem. He needed to be born there to fulfill prophecy. So many prophecies about him that were fulfilled one by one by one by one. And he still has yet some things to fulfill. And he's in the process of doing it now, just like the coming of Israel back into the land and becoming a nation once again, just what is it, 75, 76 years ago, almost 76 now.

31:01 They've become a nation again. And this is the one that God says, I will bring you back even as I've scattered you in the nation. See, he didn't scatter them when they went to Babylon. They just went to one place. They weren't scattered into the nations at that point. But when they were scattered by Rome, they were scattered into the nations. But it took nearly 2000 years for that prophecy to begin to be fulfilled. But we're living in the day of fulfillment of prophecy. Amen. Hallelujah. So you can expect, you can trust God. His promises are absolute. And it doesn't matter how the circumstances appear. If God has given you a word, hang on to it.

31:41 Trust him. He is absolutely the one you can trust and put your confidence in because he loves you. Specifically, you yourself. Even if there were nobody else on the planet, he has his eye on you. He loves you and he's going to fulfill everything he's promised. Amen. Father, I just pray for all our listeners listening that, Lord, this is an encouragement to them. Even prophetic words, some had they haven't seen them come to pass yet, oh God. But Lord, it awaits the right timing. Yes. Because, Lord, your timing is everything. It's when we try to hurry things up that sometimes we get off on the wrong track.

32:22 So we thank you, Lord, while this Christmas season, Lord, even this time when Israel celebrates Hanukkah. And, Lord, we celebrate, Lord, you because you are the light of the world. Yes. So we thank you, Father, that your word is yes and amen. And everything spoken concerning you thousands of years ago come into pass, still come into pass. And there's more to come. Amen. But the great outpouring is coming. Hallelujah. Amen. Amen. If you enjoyed today's podcast, please subscribe, rate and review this podcast on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen to podcasts.

33:05 Your review helps the podcasting platform suggest this podcast to other listeners who are also looking for a great move of the Holy Spirit. Check out our website at globaloutpouring.org to find out more information, read our blogs, connect with us and donate. You can also browse our web store for life-changing anointed books. Until next time, this is Sharon Buss. And I'm Philip Buss. God bless you with this overwhelming, loving presence.