The Coming Outpouring with Fire by Roy Roden 10-16-2001 |
There is coming upon
the body of Christ in
There will be concentrated areas of hot spiritual
activity. Wherever this fire erupts, it will ignite the people with the Holy
Spirit and with fire that will spread outward until it consumes all of
"I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but
He that comes after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear:
He shall baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire" (Mt. 3:11).
Tongues of Fire
This fire will be like
the day of Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit fell from heaven as a mighty rushing
wind that filled the entire house. This was seen like cloven tongues of fire
that sat upon each of them. (Acts. 2: 2-3) If we are going to understand the
coming fire and how to prepare for it, we must understand the significance of
what took place on the day of Pentecost. It was on this day that the church was
birthed and empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak as the Oracles of God.
(1 Pe. 4:11) As the Spirit gave the utterance, they spoke in other tongues.
This language was the same as some of the Jews present who said, "We
do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God" (Acts2:11).
They not only
spoke in tongues, but in a language the Jews of other nations could clearly
understand. God had sovereignly provided the interpretation for them. Tongues
and interpretation equal the gift of prophecy. Prophecy is defined as God
speaking to men. (1 Cor. 14:3) The Holy Spirit did not point to the manifestation
of tongues itself, but to the wonderful works of God. Thus, the result
of the manifestation was prophecy that brought glory to God. When the people
asked, "What is this?" Peter stood up addressing the crowd quoting
the prophet Joel
And it shall come
to pass in the last days, says God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all
flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men
shall see visions, your old men shall dream dreams: And on my servants and on
my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit and they shall
prophesy (Acts 2: 17,18).
As these verses clearly indicate, when the
Holy Spirit is poured out in an unprecedented measure, the results will be
visions, dreams and prophecy. Peter knew that the New Testament church was not
only birthed by receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit, but by the
manifestations of the Spirit whereby God speaks to men. Receiving the gift of
the Holy Spirit and speaking His words that glorify God is part of the message
of Pentecost. Thus, Peter in the first message given to the church, verified by
scriptures that one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit is to reveal the mind
of Christ to His people through prophecy, visions, and dreams. We can expect
this to occur anytime that God pours out His Spirit. Whenever and wherever the
Holy Spirit touches the lives of people, they will not only sense His divine
presence, but they will also hear from heaven. What a glorious gift of heavenly
communication we have received and will receive in greater measure!
To receive the gift of
the Holy Spirit is to be filled with the Holy Spirit of the Lord. The gift of
the Holy Spirit is not merely a gift for power, but the gift of God Himself.
This means that within us we have His Holy Spirit that has His divine nature,
Holy Character, wisdom, understanding, and anointing! "But we have
this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God
and not of us" (2 Cor. 4:7). What is coming to the body of Christ
is not only the gift of the Holy Spirit to those who have not been baptized in
the Holy Spirit, but an filling of the fullness of the Holy Spirit to all
believers in the body of Christ.
Upon All Flesh
When Peter quoted Joel
2:28 saying, "I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh"
(Acts 2:17) he did not mean to imply that the Holy Spirit would come
upon every person in the world, believers and non-believers alike. We know that
the Lord is not going to pour out His Spirit upon non-believers. He was stating
that the Lord would pour out His Spirit out upon all flesh – meaning
that the Spirit of God would be poured out upon every true believer in the body
of Christ! The translation for "all flesh" in the King James Version
could have been "the whole body." This Peter explained, will
be poured out upon the Lord’s servants and His handmaidens. Thus, signifying
that it will be God’s people who will receive the fullness of the Holy Spirit.
This will come upon the young and the old, male and female, Jews and gentile.
This of course is not
just for the state of
The results of the pouring of His Spirit will
be that of visions, dreams, and prophecies! Whether we believe they are for
today or not will not matter either, because the church is about to experience
them! Soon to come, people are going to have visitations from the Lord, where
they will experience the reality of God’s scriptural truth. Some will wake up
at night speaking in other tongues. Many will have visions and dreams’ knowing
that God has spoken to them. The youth are about to experience the supernatural
with visitations from the Lord that will impart to them great understanding.
Some will bring a message to the church with power that will astound the church
leaders. As on the day of Pentecost, the question will be raised once again,
"What is this?"
To date, we have not
seen the Holy Spirit poured out upon the entire body of believers. On the day
of Pentecost, the church received the promise of the gift of the Holy Spirit,
whom Jesus prayed to the Father to send "That He may abide with you
for ever" (John 14:16). But the fulfillment of this prophecy by
Joel to completely fill every believer will indeed occur in the last days, but
in the latter part of the last days. (See Acts 2:19 -21
& Joel 30-32).
The Glory of the
Latter House
In order for the present church to come into
the fullness of the Holy Spirit, there must be a tremendous outpouring of God’s
Spirit! The power and testimony of the church today is but a phantom of the
glory the early church knew and walked in as recorded in the book of Acts. And
yet the scriptures tell us that the glory of the latter house shall be greater
than the former. "The glory of this latter house shall be greater
than of the former, says the Lord of hosts: and in this place will I give
peace" (Haggai 2: 7).
The final end results of
the outpouring will fill the latter house with God’s glory with peace. This
will be so tremendous and unprecedented, that it will have global proportions,
touching every nation. As God’s Spirit is poured out, it will shake the nations
to the degree that all that is left, is the glory of God. "That
those things which cannot be shaken may remain" (He. 12:27).We
don’t know how this outpouring is coming or even when. But it is believed to be
very soon! Just as the rain clouds can be seen on the horizon and the thunder
heard and the lighting seen, the next move is being perceived by many as being
right on the horizon. The smell of rain is in the air! Hopefully, it will come
as a mighty rushing wind as on the day of Pentecost, but most likely it will
come in increasing waves during troublesome times. This Jesus said, would occur
in the last day. We know that the glory of God will increase in proportion to
the evil that increases upon the earth. As evil increases, so will His power
and anointing upon the church.
"For
behold the darkness shall cover the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you,
and His glory shall be seen upon you. For, behold, the darkness shall cover the
earth, and gross darkness the people: but the Lord shall arise upon you, and
His glory shall be seen upon you" (Is. 60:1, 2).
It may be the sovereign move of God’s
outpouring that will fill Christians with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, or
as a result of troublesome times that will cause the church to pray more
fervently when many Christians will seek the Lord. But mostly likely, it will
be the combination of the two and one will greatly impact the other.
The Church in
Labor
This outpouring
will not come all at once, but in progressive waves coming more frequently with
time and stronger with each rising tide. Jesus refereed to these times as birth
pains that will come upon the earth. Like a natural birth, each contraction
will come more frequently and with greater intensity until the final delivery.
The end results will be a church without spot or wrinkle.
Historically, this progression has been taking
place during this past century. The church plummeted in spiritual apostasy and
darkness during the Middle Ages and has yet to recover the fullness of the
light and glory she once knew. Although there have been rivals and movements
throughout church history, it was not until the outpouring in Topeka, Kansas
and then Azusa Street in Los Angels, Calif. in 1906, which launched the
well-known Pentecostal movement that quickly swept around the word. This
restored to the church the understanding of "Baptism by the Holy
Spirit" with speaking in other tongues as on the day of Pentecost.
This is where the name
"Pentecostal" was taken from that birthed the Pentecostal churches we
know today. The baptism of the Holy Spirit empowered believers with spiritual
life for daily living and spiritual gifts for the work of the ministry. The
most distinctive trait of this movement was the uplifting of hands for worship.
Prior to this, the use of musical instruments was restricted solely to the
organ. Pentecostals took Psalms 150 and include the use of guitars, accordions,
violins, and other musical instruments as being scriptural. This movement
however, only touched a small fraction of the body of Christ.
By the 1940’s much of the power and
manifestations of the Holy Spirit had disappeared from the average
congregation. The newer generation of ministers and believers became hungry for
a visitation of God. Anointed messengers of God began to preach "Call
for a fast" and "Ask for rain" based on "Ask
of the Lord rain in the time of the latter rain: so shall the Lord make bright
clouds, and given them showers of rain" (Zech. 10:1).
Out of
this came a revival called "The Latter Rain movement."
Some of the distinctive traits of this movement were the restoration of laying
on of hands for deliverance with prophecy. Another main theme was the use of
spiritual gifts for body ministry. This promoted the ministry of
spiritual gifts, which allowed the members of the church to minister to one
another. Prior to this time, most of the ministry was limited to the clergy of
the church.
This movement also birthed
a deeper and fuller expression of worship and praise to God. Unlike the
Pentecostals who were more demonstrative, this worship came as a melodious
praise that would blend and flow together in perfect harmony. It was also
during this time that healing Evangelist, such as Oral Roberts, became well
known in the 1950’s and early 60’s. The emphasis for healing and the miraculous
ministry of the gospel was taken to the world. Many people were saved, healed
and filled with the Holy Spirit, but again this only touched a small percentage
of the body of Christ. In the late 60’s and early 70’s, another great move of
God occurred called the Charismatic Renewal.
This movement affected every denomination
worldwide. The emphasis was to bring every believer into the baptism of the
Holy Spirit. This effected every Catholic, Protestant, Pentecostal, and Latter
Rain church. The Christians of the Charismatic movement preferred not to be
identified as "Pentecostals" because of the stigma associated with
them. They chose instead the Greek word, Charismata to identify the gift
of the Holy Spirit, and the Greek word glossolalia, which means to speak
in tongues. From these two words came the term Charismatic with glossolalia.
(The gift with tongues)The Full Gospel Businessmen’s Fellowship emerged with
popularity in the 60’s that soon became a worldwide fellowship. This ministry
provided a neutral place for people to come from all denominations to receive
the baptism of the Holy Spirit and the ministry of spiritual gifts, such as
that of healing, words of knowledge, and prophesy.
The Charismatic movement crossed every
denominational barrier in the world touching them with the Baptism of the Holy
Spirit. And yet as vast and powerful as this movement was, it only touched a
small percentage of professing Christians in the world. The next move of God is
believed to be far greater than all these movements combined, filling every
believer of every Christ centered denomination and fellowship with the fullness
of the Holy Spirit. The emphasis on the next outpouring will be the complete
fullness of the Holy Spirit, including the prophetic ministry. It is for this
very reason, that God is raising up Schools of prophecy and the Schools of the
Holy Spirit, as well as major training and equipping centers to equip and train
believers in their spiritual gifts to do the work of the ministry. With this
outpouring, the shift and emphasis of the work of the ministry will be
transferred from the clergy, to the empowered believers in the body of Christ.
This will not only greatly enhance the ministry and power of the church, but
will also free the leadership to devote their precious time to the study of the
Word, prayer, and seeking God’s presence.
The Coming Harvest
Along with the outpouring
of the Holy Spirit, we can expect to see a great harvest of souls
just as during the days of Pentecost, the "Lord adding to the church
daily, such as should be saved (Acts 2:47 ). With the
continual increase of God’s Spirit poured out upon the church, will also come a
corresponding influx of people to the Lord. There is a harvest coming of global
proportions that is unprecedented in all of history. It will also bring in more
people in the
"Continued daily
with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat
their meat with gladness and singleness of heart. Praising God, and having
favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as
should be saved" (Acts 2:46 -47)
Believers will find themselves prophesying as
the Holy Spirit moves them. Others will find that they are empowered to pray
for the sick with the gift of healing. Children will prophecy with power and
demonstration of the Holy Spirit. The gift of faith imparted to others will
give them the boldness to preach the gospel. Evangelism will be common in the streets.
In some areas, the Holy Spirit will move sovereignly over the masses. Without a
minister or ministry, the Holy Spirit will touch people from all walks of life.
Signs and wonders are coming that are going to leave many puzzled and
wondering. The Lord will also use a generation of youth that will have the
faith of a child empowered with the boldness of a lion.
The Fire
Keepers
In the Old Testament, the Lord started the
fire that burned upon the altar, but the priests of God were commanded to keep
the fire going. The Lord is going to pour out His Spirit with the results of
prophecy, visions and dreams, but it will be our responsibility to keep the
fire burning. We were shown by revelation, that the coming fire for prophecy,
visions, and dreams, will consume the entire house. (Church) There were firemen
standing by with water hoses as fire keepers, whose job was to allow the fire
to burn, but not to allow the sparks to land elsewhere that would create
wildfires. Water biblically stands for the Word of God. (Is. 51:10)
It is the heart of God that the coming fire
be contained in an area that will provide heat and warmth to the body of
Christ, but not to burn out of control. There have been far too many churches
and movements needlessly damaged or destroyed by the careless sparks because of
the misuse of spiritual gifts. It will be the proper teaching of the Word that
will serve to keep the main fire contained and burning brightly, while
extinguishing the wildfires before they can get out of control. The Lord wants a
"controlled burn."
These will be the "fire keepers" of
the Lord who will not quench the fire, but will fuel it by equipping and
training believers with understanding in the use of spiritual gifts. This will
bring much-needed wisdom that will maintain the integrity of the prophetic
ministry as it prospers the body of Christ. As the apostle Paul admonishes us, "Let
all things be done decently and in order" (1 Cor. 14:40 ).
When God’s people are equipped to operate in the gift of prophecy with wisdom
and integrity, the church will come to a whole new level of operating in the
Spirit. This in itself will spark fires of revival and renewal that will keep
the home fires burning.
On the other side of the
coin are those who will try to "stomp out" the main fire that will
start in the churches. In doing so, they will find they are spreading the
sparks that will ignite fires in other areas, other than where it is suppose to
have a controlled burn. These wild fires will be the very people who will leave
the church, or despite the church, try to continue to minister in their gifts
and callings without proper growth and understanding. Many of those who try to
put out the fire will actually believe that the outpouring is a false anointing
trying to invade the church. Because of this, they will greatly quench the Holy
Spirit in their own ministry while spreading the fire elsewhere. Is this what
Paul meant when He said, "Quench not the Spirit. Despise not
prophesying" (1 Thes 5: 19 & 20).
Patience is a
Virtue
We must be
patient while dealing with the mess that can occur while believers are
exercising their gifts before they have come to maturity in the fullness of the
Holy Spirit. There is much strength that can be added to any congregation when
the children of God mature in spiritual gifts and are able to do the work of
the ministry. If we try to keep the crib clean, we may have a church that is
orderly, but without the power of God. "Where no oxen are, the crib
is clean: but much increase is by the strength of the ox" (Pro. 14:4)
Especially the prophetic ministry, as this
ministry is a powerful ministry, but it is also one of the most complicated
ministries. It is not a science to be understood, but anointed revelation that
requires the art of interpretation and application, as well as proper timing
and presentation. Like a newborn child, it must be tended to until the child is
grown and able to take care of itself. Once this occurs, the believer will be
able to walk in the presence of God’s anointing with wisdom and integrity. If
believers are kept back from maturing, they will remain as immature children.
Those who have a hunger for God will seek ministries that can mature them in
their spiritual gifts. We must remember that it is the Holy Spirit that
empowers believers to do the work of the ministry for it is "Not by
might, nor by power, but by my Spirit says the Lord of Host. (Zechariah 4:6).
The spiritual life and empowerment of the
people determines the strength of a church. If the believers are not able to
function spiritually, the church remains weak lacking the power of God. There
are no ministers on earth that can do the work of the ministry for their
congregation. To try to do so is spiritual pride of the highest kind, as it
presumes to take the place of Christ who is the head of His body. (Eph.
1:18-23) The Lord has His own gift distribution plan ordained for the members
of His body, so that His power might be revealed through His church. This is
the inheritance of the saints in glory. (Eph. 1:18-23)Historically, many
ministers have shut down the prophetic gifts because of misuse and abuse. How
often I have heard it said, "We don’t prophesy here." Or, "We
prefer to seek the giver and not the gifts." I have heard it said that God
does not speak to us today except through the scriptures and yet the scriptures
in themselves, from the Old Testament to the book of Revelation, point to the
fact that God communicates to men through the Holy Spirit. All of these concepts are contrary to
scriptures and the working of the Holy Spirit for the New Testament Church. The
Holy Spirit is still with us today, as He was on the day of Pentecost and with
the early church. There are no scriptures that tell us that God has ceased from
speaking to men.
We can misuse His gifts, power, blessings,
and even the authority that has been delegated to us. In the coming outpouring
however, the fire will either burn the house down, or be contained. Trying to
ignore the manifestations hoping that it will go away, or exercising authority
over the people in the attempt to control it, will only be futile, as the fire
will continue to burn. It will either be contained or burn out of control- but
it will burn! This fire can become the greatest blessing the church has ever
known or the greatest danger for those who are not prepared.
That You May All
Prophesy
We are expressly told in 1 Cor. 14:1, that we
are to "Follow after love and desire spiritual gifts",
but we should especially covet the gift of prophecy. Why would we especially
seek to "Rather that you may prophesy?" The reason Paul
tells us is seen in light of the use of tongues. Those who speak in tongues are
not benefiting the body of Christ, as they are speaking to God. (Unless there
is an interpretation) But those who prophesy bring ministry to the church.
"For
he that speaks in an unknown tongue speaks not unto men but unto God… But he
that prophesies speaks unto men to edification, exhortation, and comfort"
(1 Cor. 14:2,3).
By this scripture we can see that the basic
definition of the gift of prophecy is God speaking to men for the express
purpose to bring divine edification, exhortation and comfort to
the body of Christ. This is not the human quality of our character or
personality that ministers, but the divine qualities of the Holy Spirit that
ministers through the gift of prophecy.
The entire 14th chapter of
1st Corinthians gives a wonderful insight of a church that is filled with the
Holy Spirit. When the people came together, they shared a fresh revelation of
God they received through a psalm, a doctrine, a tongue with interpretation or
a revelation. In fact, there was so much prophetic ministry taking place at the
same time, that Paul tells them to slow down and speak one at a time. Paul did
not quench the anointing nor did he forbid the people to prophesy, but rather
he had the wisdom to say "Let all things be done, but done decently and in
order. (1 Cor. 14:40). He also tells us who may prophesy? All true believers in
the body of Christ may prophesy! "For you may all prophesy one by
one that all may learn, and all may be comforted" (1 Cor. 14:31 ).
The Coming
Outpouring of Rain
I have seen on numerous occasions’ visions of
an outpouring of heavy rain. Biblically, rain stands for the Word of God. (Eph.
5:26) This is the anointed Word of God that reveals His thoughts and ways from
heaven as the rain that waters the earth.
" For as the heavens are higher
than the earth so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts higher
than your thoughts. For as the rain comes down from heaven, and returns not but
waters the earth, and makes it bring forth and bud, that if may give seed to
the sower and bread to the eater. So shall my word be that goes forth out of my
mouth" (Is. 55:10-11).
One of the ministries that the Lord is going
to restore to its fullness in the church, is the true gift of teaching. We see
in Eph. 4:11, that this is one of the ministries of the ascension gifts of
Christ. I am not talking about presenting facts and information that appeal to
the mind, but anointed words that bring revelation. When the Holy Spirit is
teaching, His words are spirit that imparts spiritual understanding that speaks
to the heart and soul. This is what brings spiritual life to His people –His
words that have His life. Jesus said,
"It is the Spirit that quickens,
the flesh profits nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are Spirit,
and they are life (John 6:63).
The true ministry of teaching occurs when the
people hear His voice that reveals His heart as well as His thoughts. This is
the bread that will feed the hungry and the water that will quench the thirst
of those who are suffering from spiritual dehydration. In the coming times if
we will
"Ask for rain in the day of latter
rain" (Zech 10:1) the Lord will give unto us showers of rain. "He
shall come down like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the
earth" (Ps. 72:6).
We need a continual outpouring of rain for
fresh teaching that will bring understanding and revelation to the ministry of
visions, dreams and prophecy. This will bring in a freshness that will maintain
the life of the people that will raise the spiritual temperature of the fire.
The power and life of God eventually dies when the river of life ceases to
move, as still water becomes stagnate. In order to keep the river of life
moving, the power of God must be released where it can flow freely through the
people. Rivers of life flow when God’s people are able to continue to flow in
the river of life. With fresh water come streams of new life from the
understanding and revelation that keeps believers ever moving in the presence
of the Lord. It is the passion of God and His delight for us to know His heart
and pleasure. Consider the words of David, who said,
"You shall make them drink of the river
of your pleasures. For with you is the fountain of life: in your light we shall
see light" (Ps, 36:8-9).
When we drink of the rivers of God’s
pleasures and experience His light, we will not only see light, but we will be
filled with the very same light. (Mt. 6:22)
Noah’s Ark
Upon contemplating this next move of God, I
asked the Lord for something biblical that we could relate to. The thought came
to me of Noah’s Ark. Noah understood by revelation that a flood was coming upon
the earth. In preparation for this, he built an ark that was 75 ft wide, 450 ft
long, and 45 ft high. The reason for this ark was to provide a haven and a
protective covering for those who trust in God that would protect them from the
coming flood. Can you image building a ship of this size in a desert region far
removed from the sea and any major lake? As the people of the surrounding areas
looked on, word soon spread throughout the earth of the crazed man who was
building an ark in a desert! One who dared to claim that he had heard from God
who told him that it was going to rain! As the people laughed and criticized
Noah, he humbly continued to believe God and kept right on building for the
future The very ark that He spent decades building, would eventually house his
family and every pair of creatures known on earth. Like Abraham who left a city
and went into the promise land to obtain his inheritance, he staggered not
because of unbelief.
"He
staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strong in faith
giving glory to God. And being fully persuaded that, which He had promised, He
was able to perform. And therefore it was imputed to Him for
righteousness" (Ro. 4:20-22).
We too must
begin now to build for the future! It will seem foolish by many to build an
Those who are preparing for the outpouring
are finding God’s grace and wisdom with them, as well as His anointing. I have
witnessed a very strong abiding presence of God with the equipping and training
ministries. Like the children of Israel, they are being led by the Lord as He
goes before them "By day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them in the
way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light; to go by day and
night" (Exodus 13:21).
It is not unusual for the glory of God to
reveal Himself as a midst or cloud. I have seen this many times.
What
We Can Do To Prepare
Interesting,
for a number of years now, many Christians have envisioned the coming
outpouring in
Know
your gifts and callings – When asked, most Christians do not know their
particular gifts or callings. It is said that less than 10 per cent of the body
of Christ know how God has gifted them and set them in the church as it has
pleased Him. ( 1 Cor. 12:18) The first step to take is a very crucial step. Ask
the Lord to reveal to you what your gifts and callings are. (See Je. 33:3) Desires
spiritual gifts and ask for them, but it is also wise to ask the Lord for His
divine nature and Holy Character - especially that of love, the conduit by
which all spiritual gifts and ministry flow.
Prepare
Your self – There is a major difference between a calling and the time when
one is commissioned. Jesus had a calling upon His life, but it wasn’t until He
was 30 when He emerged from the desert, commissioned to do the work of the
ministry. (Luke 4:32) When one has a calling, they have been given talents and
gifts that need developing and maturing. They can minister during this time,
but when they are commissioned, they are sent by Christ with
the anointing to minister. You can prepare yourself for your ministry by
linking up with those who are mature and operating in the same gifts and
calling. Find a good mentor to disciple you. It is hard for a carpenter to
train a plumber, so be sure to link up with someone, or a ministry that can
train and equip you in your ministry gifts.
Become
familiar with the prophetic ministry – In the coming outpouring there will be
a release of visions, prophesy, and dreams. It only stands to reason that you
familiarize yourself, and your people in these areas. This training and
equipping is available from a number of ministries that the Lord has raised up
for this purpose. At the same time, the leadership can begin to raise up fire
keepers who have a prophetic gifting, with the heart of God with a love for
the prophetic ministry who can keep the fire going.
Make
room for the Holy Spirit – In order for the fullness of the Holy Spirit to
take place in the church as well as in the believer’s life, there must be room
made in the church for every gifting of the Holy Spirit. If we want the
fullness of Christ, for the All in All to be in our midst, we must allow all of
Christ to function in our midst. (Eph. 1:23)
Hear
His voice and follow Him - In every area of your church life, home,
workplace, etc, learn to walk with God and abide in His presence. It will be
mandatory to hear His voice in the days to come. Anything that we do that comes
from our own initiative and understanding will only cause us grief and suffering.
We must hear His voice if we are going to fulfill His mandate according to the
hope of His calling. (John 10:27)
Judge yourself – Ask the Lord to judge and cleanse you of all
unrighteousness. There is a Spirit of sanctification being released to bring us
into a higher realm of holiness. The Lord wants to give us a new impartation of
freshness of His righteousness that will enable us to minister His love and
life at a higher level. We also want to insure that there are no sins in our
life that will hinder us from receiving the refreshing that come from the
presence of the Lord. (Acts 3:19).
Keep
your focus on Jesus – In this day of distractions, there is much that is competing for
our time, emotions, thoughts and energy. We must keep the main thing the main
thing, which is our intimacy with Christ, or else we will major in minors. Our
highest purpose and calling in life is to love Him and abide in His presence. "If
you are risen with Christ, seek those things which are above where Christ sits.
Set your affections on things above, not on things on the earth" (Col.
3:1).
Seek the Unity of the Spirit. – The coming revival will be so
big, that no church or denomination will big enough to contain all the new
converts, nor should we want too. The body of Christ must unify together in the
bond of peace in order to work together in the coming harvest. This means that
pastors and leaders of all Christ centered denominations, as well as all
believers, will need to come together to fulfill one purpose- His. In the end,
there will only be one church. (Eph. 4:1-6)
Reproduce your ministry –If
you have a certain gift and talent, seek to reproduce your given spiritual
gifts in others. In doing so, the Lord will give you other talents and abilities.
(See the parable of
Equip
the Saints - Connect the people to Christ and empower them to do the work of
the ministry. It is a process of equipping and training and releasing. (Eph.
4:12) It is important that we bring others up to our present spiritual level.
We all must seek to go higher while bringing others up. In doing so, the Lord
will lift us up higher and give us more to give.
Associate with others of like vision – Be sure to
surround yourself with those who are uplifting, encouraging and have the same
passion for Christ. Stay clear of those who are negative and oppose your vision
and purpose, as this will come against your faith through doubt, fear, and
unbelief.
Prepare
for the Harvest – We can begin to prepare for the harvest today by stockpiling
bibles, bible guides, tapes, books and videos on basic doctrines to ground new
believes in Christ.
Stir up your gift – As the apostle Paul charged Timothy, "Stir
up the gift of God, which is in you" (2 Tim. 1:6). The more we exercise
our gifts, like the muscles in our body, the more we use them the stronger they
get. The scriptures states that we prophesy according to our faith. The more
you step out in faith to prophesy, the stronger your faith will become to
prophesy.
What We Are Doing
Prophetic Destiny
Ministries was birthed as a non-denominational ministry with the vision to
equip and train believers in their spiritual gifts to do the work of the
ministry. Our key focus is for believers to form a passionate and intimate relationship
with Jesus. Loving Jesus is the center of all that we do. We are prayerfully
positioning ourselves for the fullness of the Spirit as well as for the harvest
to come. Not only to see people come to Christ, but to see them become rooted
and grounded in Christ and mature in the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We
provide training in spiritual gifts such as the gift of prophecy, the word of
knowledge, healing and the interpretation of visions and dreams, prayer and
intercession.
Our desire is also to see the authentic
prophetic ministry restored to the church. Of great importance is being formed
into the image of Christ having His divine nature and Holy character bearing
the fruits of the Spirit as well as the gifts.
We also see the need to
train and equip ministry teams to teach basic Christian doctrine to new
believers, as well as to develop teams to pray for the sick and minister to the
spiritually oppressed, heal the broken hearted and open the prison doors to set
the captives free. The main means we will accomplish this are through the
Schools of the Holy Spirit and holding timely conferences. This is our vision
and purpose. We pray that we can join ourselves with other groups and movements
to "cross pollinate" and glean from each another, There will be times
that we will all need to interchange gifts, abilities, resources and talents
for the cause of Christ. In preparation, we are seeking to unite with other
pastors and leaders to build strong ties and bridges of trust through
relationships. It will be of utmost importance that the leadership of the
church and the emerging prophetic ministry become joined together in the unity
of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
In Conclusion
The Lord is about to pour out
His Spirit across the whole spectrum of the body of Christ. The Lord is not
going to our out His Spirit on all people, but upon His bondservants. It is
also clear that "in the last days" (Acts 2:17) that He
is going to pour out His Spirit upon His whole body –the Church. The results of every outpouring of the Holy
Spirit are prophesy, visions and dreams. This outpouring will continue to come
in increasing waves until all of the fullness of Christ is operating in the
Church as the All in All. (Eph. 1:23)
Part of this fullness will be the prophetic
ministry that is to operate in the everyday life of the believer and the local
church. We must be prepared to train and equip the people properly in their
spiritual gifts. If we do not, the fire that is poured out will be like having
wildfire around the church that can threaten to burn it down. The real reason
why there has been a myriad of problems, especially in the prophetic ministry
in the past, has been the failure of the leadership to properly pastor their
people in spiritual gifts. If the leadership does not take the responsibility
to properly equip and train their people, it will be done wrong.
No longer can the church afford to spend it’s
time trying to put out wild fires, or seeking to put it out altogether, as this
will only serve to spread the flames elsewhere. There must be a place of
acceptance between the prophetic ministries and the leadership if the body of
Christ in order for the church to prosper with spiritual life and vitality. In
the not too distant future, those who have proven ministries to equip the
saints in their gifts will be the most sought after ministries in the world.
Spiritual gifts are given
to the church to empower the believers to do the work of the ministry. Before
we can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit, we t must learn how to be led by
the Holy Spirit. "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they
are the Sons of God" (Ro. 8:14 ).
Jesus said that His sheep hear His voice and
they follow Him. (John 10:27) The prophetic ministries are given because we are
going to need them if we are going to hear the Lord and follow Him. We can only
follow the Lord to the degree that we can hear His voice. If we cannot hear
Him, He cannot lead us and we will fail to be where He is. (See John 12:26)
There is a deep hunger for
the supernatural in
Many Christians who attend church are going
to the spiritualist for spiritual ministry, to receive words of knowledge and
prophecy. The spiritualist does this by the use of tarot cards, astrology,
energy reading, palm reading, channel messages etc. There are also many
substitutes for the true gift of healing being practiced such as Reiki,
Enchantments and Polarity.
The source, by which the
occult derives their power, is from the demonic realm. The true gift of the
word of knowledge, word of wisdom, prophecy, as well as visions and dreams were
ordained by God to prosper the body of Christ. It is through the Holy Spirit
that the gifts work and that godly fruit is grown. The occult does the same
operations, except they utilize familiar spirits to empower them in counterfeit
gifts, and the fruit that leads to darkness -the counter powers to the life,
love, and divine nature and Holy character of God. The church leaders who deny
the people the truth that is in Christ are causing the people to turn to the
occult, the spirit of
“And the spirit of
God has given to His church
something much more powerful than the psychics can ever duplicate - His Spirit.
"Because greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world (1
John 4:4) Jesus said that greater works would we do because of the gift
of the Holy Spirit. When the church comes into the fullness of the Holy Spirit,
the Lord will not only continue to do His works through His people, but they
will do greater works in His name, that He might be glorified throughout the
earth. Just as in the beginning when the Spirit of God moved over the earth,
and brought forth new life out of that which was in darkness and void, the Holy
Spirit is about to move over the earth again. In doing so, He will bring forth
the glorious new creation. He will do this through God’s people and when the
Spirit moves, the sons and daughters of God will prophesy and the young and the
old will dream dreams and see visions.
Prophetic
Destiny Ministries
(207) 236-
4904 E-mail: destiny1@adelphia.net
Web site: www.propheticdestinyministries.org