ผมสัมผัสถึงศึกที่กำลังประสบอยู่ในฤดูกาลนี้...
ผมรู้ว่าเวลานี้เป็นเวลาแห่งการวิงวอนต่อพระเจ้าในระยะประชิตพระทัยพระองค์
ผมได้ยินเสียงหลอกลวงของศัตรู และเสียงของพระเจ้าที่กำลังแย่งชิงกัน
ผมรู้ถึงความเป็นไปในระยะอันใกล้นี้...
เวลาแห่งการเปลี่ยนแปลง เปลี่ยนผ่านไปสู่สิ่งใหม่
หากคิดว่าตนคือผู้เข้มแข็งอาจต้องโซเซล้มพับกันไป...
บอกใจว่านิ่งต่อพระเจ้าผู้ทรงพระชนม์
ความรอดไม่มีในมนุษย์ทั่วใต้ฟ้า
หากใครที่แสวงหาการช่วยกู้ของมนุษย์ จำต้องเจอบทเรียนแห่งความเจ็บปวด
รางวัลแห่งการเชื่อใจในและมุ่งหวังในมนุษย์ คือ น้ำตาแห่งความเหนื่อยล้าและหมดหวัง
เพราะพระเจ้าคือพระเจ้าที่หวงแหน...
การงานของวิญญาณแห่งการไหว้รูปเคารพกำลังเบนเข็มทิศมาที่เรา
มนุษย์บางคน อาจเป็น"รูปเคารพ" สำหรับบางคน คนที่เราเลือกจะวางใจและติดตามเขาไปทุกๆหนแห่ง... ระวัง !!
เพราะพระเจ้าคือพระเจ้าที่หวงแหน... He is Jealous for you and me...
พระเจ้าทรงรอคอย และทรงซ่อนพระพักตร์เพื่อเราจะต้องแสวงหาพระองค์ (อิสยาห์45:15)
"The Great Turmoil Is Invading and The Great Peace Is Waiting for Sons and Daughters to Rest In"
ความวุ่นวายครั้งใหญ่กำลังเข้าใกล้ และสันติสุขที่ยิ่งใหญ่กำลังรอบุตรชายบุตรหญิงทั้งหลายพักสงบ...
ดนตรีร็อคที่ว่าเร้าใจนั้นฟังดูจืดไปเลยในยามที่ใจต้องการนมัสการแบบเงียบๆ
การอธิษฐานที่ไม่เป็นคำเข้าใจง่ายอย่างน่าเหลือเชื่อ
เมื่อเจอเช่นนี้ต้องบอกว่า "ความรัก"ของพระเจ้าช่วยเปิดหนทางให้หน่อยจ้า... ฉันรู้ว่าเธอคือทางออก...
วันอาทิตย์ที่ 20 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2554
วันจันทร์ที่ 7 กุมภาพันธ์ พ.ศ. 2554
Seeing and Hearing, Part 5
This week we will study the prophetic gifts and how they work in us. When we do, many will realize that they have been working in them, but did not understand them. Even so, this is not a science but a relationship. We are listening to a Person, not just learning formulas and procedures.
In Amos 3:7 we are told, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.” There is nowhere in the Law that the Lord obligated Himself to do this, but He does it because He does not want to do anything without sharing it with His friends, which is the basic essence of prophetic ministry—friendship with God. The prophets are those who have become so close to God that He does not want to do anything without sharing it with them.
Many question whether one must be called as a prophet or if it can be pursued. Both are true. Some were called before they were born, and they cannot do anything else. The prophetic is also something that the Scriptures exhort us to seek, so He would not tell us this if He would not let us achieve it. Because the real essence of the prophetic is friendship with God, this is something He wants all of His people to pursue. This is why Moses said that he would that all of God’s people were prophets (see Numbers 11:29).
The prophets see what He is doing because they stay so close to His throne—they see and hear what is happening there. I have heard it often said that we should not seek the gifts, but the Giver. This sounds noble and wise, but it is contrary to the Scriptures, and it is the immature that follow such glib-sounding phrases that divert them from the truth of the Scriptures. We are exhorted in such places as I Corinthians 14:1 to: “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Pursuing the gifts of the Spirit is a way that we pursue the Lord. The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth, and the gifts of the Spirit are a way that we do this.
Of course, we pursue the Giver first, but this does not exclude pursing the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are not gifts in the sense that we think of gifts, like presents. A better translation could have been something like “tools of the Spirit.” The gifts of the Spirit are not given as a reward, or to just bless us, but are given so that we can do His work. This work of the Lord is worship; it is our service, done because we love Him.
A basic work of the prophet is to speak for God, to say what He wants said in a situation. This is an ultimate trust that He will not give to the immature or the frivolous. What king would want someone representing him who was prone to add his own opinions? Therefore, anyone can be used to prophesy, but it takes a level of maturity, integrity, and trust from the Lord to be commissioned as a prophet. It is a trap for us to think that we have God’s opinion about everything—that what we think is what He is thinking, and what we may feel about something is the way He is feeling about it. This will lead to prophesying from our own soul, at best.
This is what happened to the Apostle Peter right after he had received the greatest revelation—that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus commended Peter for hearing this straight from the Father and was told that it was upon that rock, the rock which is revelation that comes from the Father, that He would build His church. Then He blessed Peter with the keys of the kingdom. The very next words that came out of Peter’s mouth were straight from hell, and Jesus had to scold him by telling him to “Get behind me Satan!” (see Matthew 16:23)
So here we see how easy it is to hear straight from heaven and the next thing can come straight from Satan. This happened because of Peter’s immaturity, and it happens to virtually every prophetically-gifted person when they are immature. If this is too discouraging to you, and you are too afraid of making such a mistake, you will never make it as a prophet. If you learn from your mistakes, you will learn to discern between the voice of God and your own soul, or the devil, but if you are too afraid of making a mistake, you will never learn. Peter was prone to the biggest mistakes in the New Testament, but he was also used for some of the greatest works, which is why he was given the keys to the kingdom. Peter was not afraid to use them, and he did open the door of faith to both the Jews and Gentiles, not to mention walking on water, raising the dead, and having such power that just being touched by his shadow brought healing.
Many want a formula for knowing God’s voice so that they can avoid making mistakes, but the only formula I know is to mature in Christ. I would love to have the gift of being able to lay hands on people and have them mature instantly, but I have never seen that gift in Scripture. Maturity requires experience. It is also true that people often learn much faster from making mistakes, so if we want to mature fast, we need to embrace our mistakes as opportunities. This is not to imply that we should want to make mistakes, but we cannot be too afraid of them to step out in faith. If we are, we will never do anything, and we will never mature in the gifts.
I do not know of a single person I consider to have a prophetic gift of true New Testament stature who has not made major mistakes on their path to maturity. Once we are a commissioned prophet, we should not still be making these, but there is a difference between a calling and a commissioning to the ministry. Paul was called as an apostle many years before he received the commission at Antioch. You are not a prophet when you are called as a prophet, but only when you have been commissioned. We have to “make our calling and election sure” (see II Peter 1:10), or we must pursue maturity in our calling until God sees that it is time for our commissioning. If you are wondering whether or not you have been commissioned yet, then you have not. When the real thing comes, you will not have any doubts about it. Until then, enjoy the opportunity to try your wings, and stay humble enough to embrace your mistakes and learn from them.
Rick Joyner
In Amos 3:7 we are told, “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing unless He reveals His secret counsel to His servants the prophets.” There is nowhere in the Law that the Lord obligated Himself to do this, but He does it because He does not want to do anything without sharing it with His friends, which is the basic essence of prophetic ministry—friendship with God. The prophets are those who have become so close to God that He does not want to do anything without sharing it with them.
Many question whether one must be called as a prophet or if it can be pursued. Both are true. Some were called before they were born, and they cannot do anything else. The prophetic is also something that the Scriptures exhort us to seek, so He would not tell us this if He would not let us achieve it. Because the real essence of the prophetic is friendship with God, this is something He wants all of His people to pursue. This is why Moses said that he would that all of God’s people were prophets (see Numbers 11:29).
The prophets see what He is doing because they stay so close to His throne—they see and hear what is happening there. I have heard it often said that we should not seek the gifts, but the Giver. This sounds noble and wise, but it is contrary to the Scriptures, and it is the immature that follow such glib-sounding phrases that divert them from the truth of the Scriptures. We are exhorted in such places as I Corinthians 14:1 to: “Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy.” Pursuing the gifts of the Spirit is a way that we pursue the Lord. The Father is seeking those who will worship Him in Spirit and in truth, and the gifts of the Spirit are a way that we do this.
Of course, we pursue the Giver first, but this does not exclude pursing the gifts of the Spirit. The gifts of the Spirit are not gifts in the sense that we think of gifts, like presents. A better translation could have been something like “tools of the Spirit.” The gifts of the Spirit are not given as a reward, or to just bless us, but are given so that we can do His work. This work of the Lord is worship; it is our service, done because we love Him.
A basic work of the prophet is to speak for God, to say what He wants said in a situation. This is an ultimate trust that He will not give to the immature or the frivolous. What king would want someone representing him who was prone to add his own opinions? Therefore, anyone can be used to prophesy, but it takes a level of maturity, integrity, and trust from the Lord to be commissioned as a prophet. It is a trap for us to think that we have God’s opinion about everything—that what we think is what He is thinking, and what we may feel about something is the way He is feeling about it. This will lead to prophesying from our own soul, at best.
This is what happened to the Apostle Peter right after he had received the greatest revelation—that Jesus was the Christ. Jesus commended Peter for hearing this straight from the Father and was told that it was upon that rock, the rock which is revelation that comes from the Father, that He would build His church. Then He blessed Peter with the keys of the kingdom. The very next words that came out of Peter’s mouth were straight from hell, and Jesus had to scold him by telling him to “Get behind me Satan!” (see Matthew 16:23)
So here we see how easy it is to hear straight from heaven and the next thing can come straight from Satan. This happened because of Peter’s immaturity, and it happens to virtually every prophetically-gifted person when they are immature. If this is too discouraging to you, and you are too afraid of making such a mistake, you will never make it as a prophet. If you learn from your mistakes, you will learn to discern between the voice of God and your own soul, or the devil, but if you are too afraid of making a mistake, you will never learn. Peter was prone to the biggest mistakes in the New Testament, but he was also used for some of the greatest works, which is why he was given the keys to the kingdom. Peter was not afraid to use them, and he did open the door of faith to both the Jews and Gentiles, not to mention walking on water, raising the dead, and having such power that just being touched by his shadow brought healing.
Many want a formula for knowing God’s voice so that they can avoid making mistakes, but the only formula I know is to mature in Christ. I would love to have the gift of being able to lay hands on people and have them mature instantly, but I have never seen that gift in Scripture. Maturity requires experience. It is also true that people often learn much faster from making mistakes, so if we want to mature fast, we need to embrace our mistakes as opportunities. This is not to imply that we should want to make mistakes, but we cannot be too afraid of them to step out in faith. If we are, we will never do anything, and we will never mature in the gifts.
I do not know of a single person I consider to have a prophetic gift of true New Testament stature who has not made major mistakes on their path to maturity. Once we are a commissioned prophet, we should not still be making these, but there is a difference between a calling and a commissioning to the ministry. Paul was called as an apostle many years before he received the commission at Antioch. You are not a prophet when you are called as a prophet, but only when you have been commissioned. We have to “make our calling and election sure” (see II Peter 1:10), or we must pursue maturity in our calling until God sees that it is time for our commissioning. If you are wondering whether or not you have been commissioned yet, then you have not. When the real thing comes, you will not have any doubts about it. Until then, enjoy the opportunity to try your wings, and stay humble enough to embrace your mistakes and learn from them.
Rick Joyner
Seeing and Hearing, Part 4
Although the Old Testament prophets' mandate of bringing correction to God’s people has become more of the mandate of the apostle in the New Testament, there is still a need for the prophetic preachers of righteousness and justice. John the Baptist, the greatest of all transitional ministries, was the greatest of all preachers of righteousness. We are told that John came in the anointing of Elijah, but unlike Elijah, he had very little prophetic revelation and really did not demonstrate any of the kind of power that Elijah walked in. Even so, his message prepared the way for the Lord. For this reason, he was called by the Lord the greatest man ever born of woman (see Matthew 11:11).
We are told in Malachi that before the end of this age, before the great and terrible day of the Lord, that Elijah the prophet will be sent again. Teachers and theologians have speculated about this probably since Malachi wrote it, but most New Testament scholars agree that this will come like it did upon John the Baptist with the anointing of Elijah. Most also see this coming in a corporate anointing upon many rather than upon one person because the Lord is now manifested through the many members of His body, the church.
This anointing is evidenced on a number throughout the church age, which has been used to prepare the way for the Lord. This ministry is one of building part of the highway that is spoken of in Isaiah 40, which we are told is how we are to prepare the way of the Lord. The highway of Isaiah 40 is God’s “higher way.” It is the path to the kingdom. The message of repentance is to turn people from the road to destruction to the highway that leads to the kingdom.
As Francis Frangipane points out, both Jesus and John preached repentance because the kingdom was at hand, not because judgment was at hand. We are told in Romans 2:4 that it is the “kindness of God that leads to repentance,” not threats of punishment as some suppose. This being so, we must also keep in mind that the great kindness of God is demonstrated at the cross more than anywhere else. His greatest kindness of all was paying the price that He did for our sins. So the greatest of all realizations of the kindness of God is the cross. This is why the message of the cross is so central to true apostolic preaching and has been so much the basis of the great messages and messengers of the entire church age.
The message of the cross was much more than the teaching of the atonement we have through the cross, but it was also the preaching of the life of the cross. The true Christian life is a life of sacrifice, which Jesus said we had to do daily by taking up our own crosses if we were to be His disciples (see Luke 9:23). This message of the cross is sown throughout the message of the great saints who have been the prophetic and apostolic messengers of the church age. You can also tell that this was much more than just their message—it was their life. They lived the message of the cross by dying daily to their own will and their own desires to live a life of sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.
Those who try to preach the cross, but do not live it are easily discerned by the lack of power in their words, and their message will die with them. Those who truly “die daily” for the sake of the gospel touch eternal life in such a way that their message cannot die either—and it lives long beyond their own physical lives. That message is their part of the highway that leads to the kingdom, and some in every generation have done their part to build it.
Many think that they have to reach a certain degree of holiness before God will anoint them with power, but the truth is that God has anointed some very unholy people with power, as Samson is just one example. People who have power ministries can fall into sin and the power will continue because God is faithful even if we become unfaithful, and we are told the gifts and callings of God are “without repentance” (see Romans 11:29 KJV). This means once He has given them to us, He will not take them back. For this reason, just because God still uses us to do miracles, does not mean that we are right with Him. As we are told in I Corinthians 13, we can do many miracles, and even have the faith to move mountains, but if we do not have love, it will all count for nothing.
We need more power, and we need more miracles, healings, and prophecy, but in our pursuit of them, we cannot forget that our ultimate calling is to grow in love for God and then love for one another. Just as the greatest demonstration of God’s love that there will ever be was the cross, those who live a true life of the cross, the life of sacrifice for the sake of the gospel and the people who need it, is the greatest of all demonstrations of true love. The more you love someone, the more you will gladly sacrifice for them. The more we love God, the more we will lay down our own lives for Him and those whom He laid down His life for.
We will study the prophetic gifts and ministries that have been given to the church, and we will seek more power. However, we will also keep in mind the saying that “power corrupts” can be true of spiritual power too if we are not living our lives on the solid foundation of abiding in the Lord, of loving Him and one another, which is demonstrated by our devotion to taking up our crosses daily. This alone will keep us on the path of life.
We are told in Malachi that before the end of this age, before the great and terrible day of the Lord, that Elijah the prophet will be sent again. Teachers and theologians have speculated about this probably since Malachi wrote it, but most New Testament scholars agree that this will come like it did upon John the Baptist with the anointing of Elijah. Most also see this coming in a corporate anointing upon many rather than upon one person because the Lord is now manifested through the many members of His body, the church.
This anointing is evidenced on a number throughout the church age, which has been used to prepare the way for the Lord. This ministry is one of building part of the highway that is spoken of in Isaiah 40, which we are told is how we are to prepare the way of the Lord. The highway of Isaiah 40 is God’s “higher way.” It is the path to the kingdom. The message of repentance is to turn people from the road to destruction to the highway that leads to the kingdom.
As Francis Frangipane points out, both Jesus and John preached repentance because the kingdom was at hand, not because judgment was at hand. We are told in Romans 2:4 that it is the “kindness of God that leads to repentance,” not threats of punishment as some suppose. This being so, we must also keep in mind that the great kindness of God is demonstrated at the cross more than anywhere else. His greatest kindness of all was paying the price that He did for our sins. So the greatest of all realizations of the kindness of God is the cross. This is why the message of the cross is so central to true apostolic preaching and has been so much the basis of the great messages and messengers of the entire church age.
The message of the cross was much more than the teaching of the atonement we have through the cross, but it was also the preaching of the life of the cross. The true Christian life is a life of sacrifice, which Jesus said we had to do daily by taking up our own crosses if we were to be His disciples (see Luke 9:23). This message of the cross is sown throughout the message of the great saints who have been the prophetic and apostolic messengers of the church age. You can also tell that this was much more than just their message—it was their life. They lived the message of the cross by dying daily to their own will and their own desires to live a life of sacrifice for the sake of the gospel.
Those who try to preach the cross, but do not live it are easily discerned by the lack of power in their words, and their message will die with them. Those who truly “die daily” for the sake of the gospel touch eternal life in such a way that their message cannot die either—and it lives long beyond their own physical lives. That message is their part of the highway that leads to the kingdom, and some in every generation have done their part to build it.
Many think that they have to reach a certain degree of holiness before God will anoint them with power, but the truth is that God has anointed some very unholy people with power, as Samson is just one example. People who have power ministries can fall into sin and the power will continue because God is faithful even if we become unfaithful, and we are told the gifts and callings of God are “without repentance” (see Romans 11:29 KJV). This means once He has given them to us, He will not take them back. For this reason, just because God still uses us to do miracles, does not mean that we are right with Him. As we are told in I Corinthians 13, we can do many miracles, and even have the faith to move mountains, but if we do not have love, it will all count for nothing.
We need more power, and we need more miracles, healings, and prophecy, but in our pursuit of them, we cannot forget that our ultimate calling is to grow in love for God and then love for one another. Just as the greatest demonstration of God’s love that there will ever be was the cross, those who live a true life of the cross, the life of sacrifice for the sake of the gospel and the people who need it, is the greatest of all demonstrations of true love. The more you love someone, the more you will gladly sacrifice for them. The more we love God, the more we will lay down our own lives for Him and those whom He laid down His life for.
We will study the prophetic gifts and ministries that have been given to the church, and we will seek more power. However, we will also keep in mind the saying that “power corrupts” can be true of spiritual power too if we are not living our lives on the solid foundation of abiding in the Lord, of loving Him and one another, which is demonstrated by our devotion to taking up our crosses daily. This alone will keep us on the path of life.
Seeing and Hearing, Part 3
Overall, the body of Christ is walking in about 15 percent of the prophetic vision that we are called to have under the New Covenant. As we are told in II Corinthians 3, we are supposed to be experiencing more of the glory of God than Moses did. We are also told in Hebrews 7:22 that we have been given “a better covenant.” The greatest of what was experienced under the Old Covenant should be the floor of what we experience in the New Covenant. However, we have not yet seen this, as we have not yet seen “the greater works” than what the Lord did as He promised in John 14. However, His Word is true and we can be sure that before the end of this age we will see these.
Because we experience more than previous generations does not mean that we are greater than they are. In fact, it could be that we are inferior, but the increased glory is revealed because of the increased darkness, just as we see in Isaiah 60:1-3:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
“For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.
“And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
The greater glory comes at the very time of the greater darkness, and it also comes because of it. We also see here that the glory will prevail, and the light will win over the darkness. For this reason, we will see such a rising of the power of the Lord upon His people because we are going to need it.
We all want to see miracles, but very few want to be put in a place where they have to have them. We are entering such a time. The greater prophetic revelation promised in Acts 2 “in the last days” is because we are going to need increased guidance in these times.
This year we will see prophetic authority and revelation double, but even then, we will have a long way to go before coming to the level of maturity we will need in this ministry for the times we are entering. Under the Old Covenant, there were prophets who knew everything enemy kings were saying even in their most secret places—virtually nothing could be hidden from the prophets. We are in need of such prophets today. Under the Old Covenant, they were shocked when any major event took place that they did not foresee. Today we are still shocked when we foresee a major event, but that will now change.
Regardless of how well we know the Lord’s voice now, we need to resolve to know it at least twice as well this coming year. We need to pursue hearing Him speak to us in many more ways and about many more things than we have been open to in the past. The times that we are entering are going to help us in this pursuit. As I Corinthians 14:1 exhorts:
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts,
but especially that you may prophesy.
As we are told in I Thessalonians 5:5-11:
We are sons of light and sons of day. We are
not of night, nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep as others do, but let
us be alert and sober.
For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and
those who get drunk get drunk at night.
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having
put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep,
we may live together with Him.
Therefore encourage one another, and build up one
another, just as you also are doing.
Resolve that this year you are going to get closer to the Lord than ever before, and know His voice at least twice as good as ever before. We are going to need it.
Rick Joyner
Because we experience more than previous generations does not mean that we are greater than they are. In fact, it could be that we are inferior, but the increased glory is revealed because of the increased darkness, just as we see in Isaiah 60:1-3:
“Arise, shine; for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD has risen upon you.
“For behold, darkness will cover the earth, and deep darkness the peoples; but the LORD will rise upon you, and His glory will appear upon you.
“And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising.”
The greater glory comes at the very time of the greater darkness, and it also comes because of it. We also see here that the glory will prevail, and the light will win over the darkness. For this reason, we will see such a rising of the power of the Lord upon His people because we are going to need it.
We all want to see miracles, but very few want to be put in a place where they have to have them. We are entering such a time. The greater prophetic revelation promised in Acts 2 “in the last days” is because we are going to need increased guidance in these times.
This year we will see prophetic authority and revelation double, but even then, we will have a long way to go before coming to the level of maturity we will need in this ministry for the times we are entering. Under the Old Covenant, there were prophets who knew everything enemy kings were saying even in their most secret places—virtually nothing could be hidden from the prophets. We are in need of such prophets today. Under the Old Covenant, they were shocked when any major event took place that they did not foresee. Today we are still shocked when we foresee a major event, but that will now change.
Regardless of how well we know the Lord’s voice now, we need to resolve to know it at least twice as well this coming year. We need to pursue hearing Him speak to us in many more ways and about many more things than we have been open to in the past. The times that we are entering are going to help us in this pursuit. As I Corinthians 14:1 exhorts:
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts,
but especially that you may prophesy.
As we are told in I Thessalonians 5:5-11:
We are sons of light and sons of day. We are
not of night, nor of darkness;
so then let us not sleep as others do, but let
us be alert and sober.
For those who sleep do their sleeping at night, and
those who get drunk get drunk at night.
But since we are of the day, let us be sober, having
put on the breastplate of faith and love, and as a helmet, the hope of salvation.
For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ,
who died for us, that whether we are awake or asleep,
we may live together with Him.
Therefore encourage one another, and build up one
another, just as you also are doing.
Resolve that this year you are going to get closer to the Lord than ever before, and know His voice at least twice as good as ever before. We are going to need it.
Rick Joyner
Seeing and Hearing, Part 2
The ministry of a pastor is only mentioned one time in the New Testament—in Ephesians 4:11 where it is listed with the other equipping ministries given to the church. There is no definition or description given to this ministry in the New Testament, yet this one ministry has virtually dominated church leadership since the third century. True New Covenant ministry is a team ministry as we see in this verse, and we need to receive all of the ministries to be a fully equipped church.
Even though almost all Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches are led by someone with the title of pastor, few of these are pastors according to the biblical sense. This is not to imply that they are not true ministries, but most are teachers, evangelists, prophets, or maybe even apostles. However, since pastor is the title most Christians relate to, they take this title when leading a church. This has worked somewhat, but in the times to come, we will need to become more biblical with church leadership.
To describe the ministry of a New Covenant prophet will require some examination of the team that the New Covenant ministry is intended to be. We cannot truly understand any of these equipping ministries, including the prophet, without understanding the interrelationship with the team. This is actually true of all the New Testament ministries—we cannot truly understand them except in the light of the whole team of ministries given to the church.
Many have modeled New Covenant prophets after the Old Covenant model, which is a mistake. The prophetic gifts may be the same under the Old and New Covenants, and the type of revelation may be similar, but the application is not the same. In Old Covenant times, the prophet often stood alone to challenge the nation’s departure from the Lord or even challenge its kings. However, in the New Covenant, the prophet is a member of a team that works for the building up of the body of Christ. We have examples of New Covenant prophets being used in remarkable ways in Scripture, but there are no examples of one bringing correction as this is done through the apostles and elders.
We see in Ephesians 4:11 that the main purpose of all of the equipping ministries in the church is to equip the believers, the saints, who are to do the work of the ministry. So equipping is a main function of the prophetic ministry, and this equipping has to do with helping all of God’s people to know His voice and even to be able to prophesy. In I Corinthians 14:31, we are told that “you can all prophesy.” Any believer can be used to prophesy at any time, and almost all will be used in this way at least once.
Enoch was the first to have walked with God after the Fall, and it was said of him that he prophesied (see Jude 14). A good case can be made from church history that everyone who walks with God will prophesy. I have even known some who do not believe that God still speaks prophetically and have seen them prophesy very accurately, but they just did not call it that.
The prophetic ministry is about much more than getting revelations of the future, but this is an important aspect of this ministry. It has been the special heritage of all who have walked with God to be given prophetic revelation into the future, and this is a gift that will become increasingly critical in the times ahead. Prophets are called “seers” and “watchmen” in the Old Testament because this was their function—to see. In places like Isaiah 29:10, prophets are called “eyes” and they are called to be the eyes of the body of Christ. Because the prophets are the eyes of the body, a church without prophetic ministry is in fact blind in some basic ways.
As the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians, one part of the body should not say that it has no need of another part of the body, but this is in fact what much of the body has done, not just in relation to the prophets but to other ministries as well.
Most churches may not know they are blind because they are not moving, going anywhere, and so they are not stumbling about in the dark. However, if they do get moving, they will stumble if they do not have prophetic vision. They may still be able to feel their way through and crawl to where they’re going. However, we will see a major difference in the times to come between the churches, ministries, and missions who have prophetic vision and those who do not.
We are told in Acts 2:17-18 that “in the last days” the Lord will pour out His Spirit, and the result of this will be prophetic revelation in the form of visions, dreams, and prophecy. This is necessary “in the last days” because as we draw closer to the end of this age, we will need prophetic guidance more than ever.
Rick Joyner
Even though almost all Protestant, Evangelical, Pentecostal, and Charismatic churches are led by someone with the title of pastor, few of these are pastors according to the biblical sense. This is not to imply that they are not true ministries, but most are teachers, evangelists, prophets, or maybe even apostles. However, since pastor is the title most Christians relate to, they take this title when leading a church. This has worked somewhat, but in the times to come, we will need to become more biblical with church leadership.
To describe the ministry of a New Covenant prophet will require some examination of the team that the New Covenant ministry is intended to be. We cannot truly understand any of these equipping ministries, including the prophet, without understanding the interrelationship with the team. This is actually true of all the New Testament ministries—we cannot truly understand them except in the light of the whole team of ministries given to the church.
Many have modeled New Covenant prophets after the Old Covenant model, which is a mistake. The prophetic gifts may be the same under the Old and New Covenants, and the type of revelation may be similar, but the application is not the same. In Old Covenant times, the prophet often stood alone to challenge the nation’s departure from the Lord or even challenge its kings. However, in the New Covenant, the prophet is a member of a team that works for the building up of the body of Christ. We have examples of New Covenant prophets being used in remarkable ways in Scripture, but there are no examples of one bringing correction as this is done through the apostles and elders.
We see in Ephesians 4:11 that the main purpose of all of the equipping ministries in the church is to equip the believers, the saints, who are to do the work of the ministry. So equipping is a main function of the prophetic ministry, and this equipping has to do with helping all of God’s people to know His voice and even to be able to prophesy. In I Corinthians 14:31, we are told that “you can all prophesy.” Any believer can be used to prophesy at any time, and almost all will be used in this way at least once.
Enoch was the first to have walked with God after the Fall, and it was said of him that he prophesied (see Jude 14). A good case can be made from church history that everyone who walks with God will prophesy. I have even known some who do not believe that God still speaks prophetically and have seen them prophesy very accurately, but they just did not call it that.
The prophetic ministry is about much more than getting revelations of the future, but this is an important aspect of this ministry. It has been the special heritage of all who have walked with God to be given prophetic revelation into the future, and this is a gift that will become increasingly critical in the times ahead. Prophets are called “seers” and “watchmen” in the Old Testament because this was their function—to see. In places like Isaiah 29:10, prophets are called “eyes” and they are called to be the eyes of the body of Christ. Because the prophets are the eyes of the body, a church without prophetic ministry is in fact blind in some basic ways.
As the Apostle Paul warned the Corinthians, one part of the body should not say that it has no need of another part of the body, but this is in fact what much of the body has done, not just in relation to the prophets but to other ministries as well.
Most churches may not know they are blind because they are not moving, going anywhere, and so they are not stumbling about in the dark. However, if they do get moving, they will stumble if they do not have prophetic vision. They may still be able to feel their way through and crawl to where they’re going. However, we will see a major difference in the times to come between the churches, ministries, and missions who have prophetic vision and those who do not.
We are told in Acts 2:17-18 that “in the last days” the Lord will pour out His Spirit, and the result of this will be prophetic revelation in the form of visions, dreams, and prophecy. This is necessary “in the last days” because as we draw closer to the end of this age, we will need prophetic guidance more than ever.
Rick Joyner
Seeing and Hearing, Part 1
Since this is the first Word for the Week of 2011, and we are studying how to know God’s voice and the prophetic gifts that He has given to His church, I want to begin by sharing what may be one of the most prolific messages God’s people have been receiving. The question I may be asked more than any other is what 11-11 means. Whether seeing it repeatedly on their clocks or in other ways, many people have been receiving this for years. New Year’s Day was 1/1/11 or 11-11. This usually speaks of a second chance, which is the message of Isaiah 11:11 because it is here that God promises to restore Israel to their land a second time.
When Isaiah received this message, Israel had not even been scattered from the land and re-gathered the first time. When Jesus was asked about the signs of the end of the age, one of the things He said was that we should consider the fig tree, which is a symbol for Israel. Israel is one of the bold prophetic messages that prophets watch and consider. Israel is a barometer of mankind. It is in a perpetual state of conflict, both within and without. This has lasted for so long and they have desired peace so much that they have even been willing to give up large parts of their tiny bit of land in the hope of achieving peace. However, instead of leading to peace, the land they surrendered has become a base for attacking them. Their peace will never come from man, but only from God. The good news is that it will come from God, which is the most basic message of Isaiah 11.
Peace will never come by giving away what God assigned to us, but rather by esteeming everything He has given to us even more than peace with men and by seeing His purpose as even more valuable than life. It is time for Israel to be grafted back into the Tree—God Himself. It is a beginning to be re-gathered to the land, but it is more important to be re-gathered to the Lord.
Israel is a sign of God’s faithfulness to His Word. In Jeremiah 31, the Lord states that the order of the sun, moon, and the roaring of the sea would cease before His promises for Israel would fail. Many believe that these are now fulfilled in the church, “spiritual Israel.” This is true of many of them, but this does not negate that they are also for “natural Israel.” The Lord makes it clear in His Word in a number of places that these are for the physical seed of Abraham. The Apostle Paul also asserted this in his most important Epistle on New Covenant theology, the Book of Romans, as we read in chapters nine through eleven. As we are warned in this text, it is a big mistake to “become arrogant toward the natural branches” (see Romans 11:18).
The main message of the re-gathered nation of Israel is that God is faithful to His Word. He remains faithful even if we are unfaithful, and in His faithfulness He will give us another chance. The whole chapter of Isaiah11 is about the restoration of the earth to the paradise it was originally created to be, a second chance for the whole earth—the re-gathering of Israel “the second time” is a sign that this is near. The kingdom of God that God’s people have been praying for since Jesus walked the earth is near.
This is a year for recovering what has been lost, for many promises to come to pass, and for the backsliders to be brought back. This begins with prayer, intercession, and often fasting. When Daniel read in the prophecy of Jeremiah that Israel was to be scattered from the land the first time for seventy years, he did not just start rejoicing that it was time to return, but he started fasting and praying for God’s Word to be fulfilled.
Why do the promises of God need intercession to be fulfilled? As we are told in Psalm 115:16, “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” The Lord delegated authority over the earth to men, which is why He will not do things on the earth until we ask Him to. This is also why Jesus became a Man to become the Mediator, and while on earth, He always referred to Himself as the Son of man. He was the Son of God too, but He came here to be a Man to recover what man had lost.
Therefore, when we know it is time for the promises of God to be fulfilled, we need to engage heaven with prayer and fasting, being intercessors in unity with Jesus who we are told “ever lives to intercede” (see Hebrews 7:25). He is a Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, and we are priests in the same order. For this reason, one of the primary messages and works among His people will be to restore the priesthood to which we are all called.
Rick Joyner
When Isaiah received this message, Israel had not even been scattered from the land and re-gathered the first time. When Jesus was asked about the signs of the end of the age, one of the things He said was that we should consider the fig tree, which is a symbol for Israel. Israel is one of the bold prophetic messages that prophets watch and consider. Israel is a barometer of mankind. It is in a perpetual state of conflict, both within and without. This has lasted for so long and they have desired peace so much that they have even been willing to give up large parts of their tiny bit of land in the hope of achieving peace. However, instead of leading to peace, the land they surrendered has become a base for attacking them. Their peace will never come from man, but only from God. The good news is that it will come from God, which is the most basic message of Isaiah 11.
Peace will never come by giving away what God assigned to us, but rather by esteeming everything He has given to us even more than peace with men and by seeing His purpose as even more valuable than life. It is time for Israel to be grafted back into the Tree—God Himself. It is a beginning to be re-gathered to the land, but it is more important to be re-gathered to the Lord.
Israel is a sign of God’s faithfulness to His Word. In Jeremiah 31, the Lord states that the order of the sun, moon, and the roaring of the sea would cease before His promises for Israel would fail. Many believe that these are now fulfilled in the church, “spiritual Israel.” This is true of many of them, but this does not negate that they are also for “natural Israel.” The Lord makes it clear in His Word in a number of places that these are for the physical seed of Abraham. The Apostle Paul also asserted this in his most important Epistle on New Covenant theology, the Book of Romans, as we read in chapters nine through eleven. As we are warned in this text, it is a big mistake to “become arrogant toward the natural branches” (see Romans 11:18).
The main message of the re-gathered nation of Israel is that God is faithful to His Word. He remains faithful even if we are unfaithful, and in His faithfulness He will give us another chance. The whole chapter of Isaiah11 is about the restoration of the earth to the paradise it was originally created to be, a second chance for the whole earth—the re-gathering of Israel “the second time” is a sign that this is near. The kingdom of God that God’s people have been praying for since Jesus walked the earth is near.
This is a year for recovering what has been lost, for many promises to come to pass, and for the backsliders to be brought back. This begins with prayer, intercession, and often fasting. When Daniel read in the prophecy of Jeremiah that Israel was to be scattered from the land the first time for seventy years, he did not just start rejoicing that it was time to return, but he started fasting and praying for God’s Word to be fulfilled.
Why do the promises of God need intercession to be fulfilled? As we are told in Psalm 115:16, “The heavens are the heavens of the Lord, but the earth He has given to the sons of men.” The Lord delegated authority over the earth to men, which is why He will not do things on the earth until we ask Him to. This is also why Jesus became a Man to become the Mediator, and while on earth, He always referred to Himself as the Son of man. He was the Son of God too, but He came here to be a Man to recover what man had lost.
Therefore, when we know it is time for the promises of God to be fulfilled, we need to engage heaven with prayer and fasting, being intercessors in unity with Jesus who we are told “ever lives to intercede” (see Hebrews 7:25). He is a Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek, and we are priests in the same order. For this reason, one of the primary messages and works among His people will be to restore the priesthood to which we are all called.
Rick Joyner
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