Discipline, conviction, correction and the prophetic

Because our sense of justice is so strong, and our thoughts that “somebody needs to do something about those people,” have strong emotional components attached to them, it is important to discuss the place of discipline, conviction and correction in the prophetic ministry. The Scripture makes it very clear that in the church we are to purge out the old leaven (1 Corinthians 5:7), that we are not to associate with brothers or sisters who are in deep sin (1 Corinthians 6:17). And was not Jesus in what I have called Old Testament prophetic mode, when he called the Pharisees a brood of vipers, and was not His act in overthrowing the tables of the money changers a prophetic act (Matthew 21:12).

I think the first thing to say, is that because there was no sin in Him, all that Jesus did must have been done in humility and love. We saw yesterday, that “Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). Now clearly Jesus needed no mercy, but we do, so we need to be very careful! I am still trying to work out the what and the how of what it means to be salt and light in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation (Matthew 5:13; Philippians 2:15). The second thing to say, is that Apostolic teaching makes it clear that we do not deal with those who are outside the church in the same way that we deal with those who are inside. Indeed if we were not to associate with any who are in deep sin, we would need to go out of the world (1 Corinthians 5:10).

The third point is that New Testament prophetic is for the church (1 Corinthians 14:22; Ephesians 4:11,12). Paul does however talk about the response of prophecy to unbelievers who come into the church. We read “The secrets of his heart are revealed; and so, falling down on his face, he will worship God” (1 Corinthians 14:25). Now there may well be conviction (verse 24), but this does not come directly from the words of the prophecy, since such words are for “building up, strengthening and encouragement (verse 3). Any conviction then must come from the Holy Spirit (John 16:8). After all this is His job not ours!

Father, what I am seeing here, is that while discipline and correction are a necessary part of church life, these things are not to be done in the context of the prophetic. From my own experience, discipline is more easily received when it’s done in a relationship of love, respect and tenderness. On the other hand the most significant prophetic words I have received, have came from those who don’t know me from Adam (though they do know me from Eve!). I want to thank You Father for the depth of Your Word, and that Your greatest desire is that we be built up and comforted. Thank You that You are the God of all comfort and I thank and praise You again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen

Part (II) Mercy triumphs over judgement): New vs. Old Testament prophetic ministry

A former Bishop of the city of Amsterdam, a city which has long been a strong contender for the sin capital of the world, is reported to have said that if God does not judge Amsterdam, then He will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. He certainly rained down Judgement on Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24), and in fact the nations too. This was according to His promise of blessings for obedience, and cures for disobedience (Deuteronomy 30:19). So why has God not judged Amsterdam? The short answer, is that before Christ, God dealt with mankind under the Old Covenant, under the Law. But since Jesus came, we are no longer under Law, but under Grace. And as I said last day, under the New Covenant, judgement is put off until the last day in order to give time for the unrepentant to turn in repentance and be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

At some level, moral outrage is out of fashion in this post-Christian era. But moral outrage cannot be so easily denied. In fact, there seems to be as much moral outrage from unbelievers (admittedly over different issues), as there is from those who are marked by hypocritical self-righteousness. Part of this, is that being made in God’s image, we are moral agents, and our moral outrage can reflect God's own moral outrage. What I am saying, is that our strong sense of justice is God given. We rightly believe Hitler should be judged, and we are offended and appalled by genocide, rape, child abuse and the like. And we have the sense that something should be done. In fact there is coming a day, the day of Judgement, when every wrong will be put right and justice will prevail.

But there is another side of God’s nature that resides, or is at least meant to reside, in us. I am of course talking about His mercy. This however, is much easier to suppress. I know this first hand, because as I have been wrestling with these posts, I find my own sense of moral outrage that “something should be done,” is often accompanied by strong emotion. And these strong emotions do not easily subside even as I meditate on what the Scripture is saying about these things. And that is why I believe, we need the equally strong teaching from the context of this morning’ verse. It is “Judgment is without mercy to the one who has shown no mercy” (James 2:13). We need to let this sink in, and we need to let it permeate all that we think and do, and especially in the way that we give and receive the prophetic word.

Father, it is obvious to me that the Pharisee is alive and well and living both on the left and on the right, in the conservative and in the liberal, in my brothers and my sisters, and in me! It is not that long ago that You convicted me of judging those who judge, “Those blankety blank judgemental people!” I need to extend mercy to others Father, because I need mercy for me! I need Your help Lord, and I choose to humble myself before You this morning, and ask You to help me to see others the way You see them, to see the treasure not the trash. And I ask You Lord to give me prophetic words to draw out the treasure, and in this way to draw others to Yourself in Jesus Name Amen

Mercy triumphs over judgement: New versus Old Testament prophetic ministry (I)

If God never changes, would not prophesy in the Old Testament be exactly the same in the New? Well since Christ, we can all prophesy (1 Corinthians 14:5,31). So you had better hope that it is different, because under the Old Testament if you got it wrong, they had to put you to death (Deuteronomy 18:20). In fact we are told in the New Testament, that we see things imperfectly, and that our prophecy is “in part” (1 Corinthians 13: 12, 9). And a sure implication of this, is that the way we understand how to give and receive a prophetic word has to differ from the Old Testament model. So while God never changes, I thank God this morning, that His way of dealing with us has changed!

Some have understood prophecy as being purely predictive, as in prophet receiving revelation from God pertaining to something that would occur in the future. Certainly, this "foretelling" is a big part of the prophetic in both the Old and the New Testament. The Old Testament for example predicted the Messiah. In the New, Jesus predicted the fall of the Temple. But prophecy is more than foretelling. The prophet Jeremiah’s ministry involved being set over the nations to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant (Jeremiah 1:10). On the other hand, the references to the purpose of prophecy in the New Testament, pertain exclusively to building up, encouragement, comfort and the like (1 Corinthians 14:3; Ephesians 4:12). Some have called this “forth-telling.”

The Old Testament is rife with fulfilled predictions of famine, the withholding of rain, defeat in battle, deportation etc., etc. And this is reflected in Old Testament prophecy. In the New Testament, it’s not that with our Holy God condemnation and punishment no longer apply, but rather they are delayed. We read that unrepentant hearts accumulate “wrath in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God” (Romans 2:5). In other words judgement and condemnation are put off until Judgement Day. Peter tells us the reason for this delay, is because God is longsuffering toward us, and His desire, in the delay, is that all should come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9). This being the case, surely this needs to be reflected in the New Testament prophetic model. In particular the way we give and receive prophecy, needs to conform to the purposes (as stated above) of New Testament prophecy. In particular, mercy needs to triumph over judgement (James 2:13). There is more to say!

Father, I am grateful that we are no longer required to stone our rebellious sons and daughters (Deuteronomy 21:18- 21). We love them Lord as you do, even in their rebellion. In the meantime Lord it is our earnest prayer, expectation and sure hope, that You will pour out Your Spirit on them (Isaiah 44:3), that You will teach them, and that their peace will be great (Isaiah 54:13). We trust You to do this Lord for You are faithful to perform Your Word (Jeremiah 1:12), in Jesus Name Amen

Believe in His prophets and you shall prosper: Chronicles 20:20 Part (4)

I was talking yesterday with a Pastor friend of mine about prophecy, and he told me one of the reasons he had not embraced it, was because he and others, had had bad experiences with it. But this is to throw out the baby with the bathwater! There is much to say, and the first thing is that this is one of many, many the enemy has robbed us of, over the years (John 10:10a). But God has been restoring them. First of all through Luther and others, He restored the rightful place of the Scriptures. He has restored missions, the place of the Holy Spirit, and more recently, the Fatherhood of God (this through the so called Toronto blessing and other moves). The needed restoration of His Fatherhood is to what is probably the most spiritually orphaned generation there ever was.

I have always felt that, while we must not be naive, we do need to be open to what the Lord is doing through streams in the Church, other than our own. The Scripture puts it this way “Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good (1 Thessalonians 5:19-21). In accordance with this philosophy, I visited the International House of prayer at Kansas City in 2007. I wanted to check out the 24/7 prayer meeting that at that time, had been going on for eight years. I was fascinated, because prayer for me was somewhat boring. But I digress, what I want to say it that I received a prophetic word there to the effect that I have a book in my bowls. Well perhaps I am constipated, because if it is true, it must still be there (at lest the time of writing) in my bowls.

In the coming days, I want to talk about the need in receiving a prophetic word to discern, to have the word confirmed, and having done so, to press in. The first thing I need to say though, is just because the fulfillment does not happen in our desired time, does not mean it was not an accurate word. In terms of discernment, the word I am talking about resonated with me, since I have always wanted to write. But I struggled with my “constipation” for years, changing titles, writing and rewriting introductions and chapters etc., etc. I could not find my focus. Finally I decided to write a blog, which at first was spasmodic. Then about a year and a half ago, after attending a prophetic conference, I got a new impetus for my blog which I now write almost every day. More recently a sister in the Lord asked me “Why don’t you write up these posts as a book?” This is a long overdue confirmation, and all I need to do now is to press in!

Father, Your Word tells us that the purpose of New Testament prophecy is for building up, for encouragement and comfort (1 Corinthians 14:3). And You used the above prophetic word, which I believed, to enable me at least to not give up, if not always to persist. Lord we all need building up, encouragement and comfort, and my sense (if I am right) is that this is why You are leading me to blog on this much neglected subject. The coming days will either confirm this or not!In any case I need Your help to press in with the blog, in Jesus Name Amen

Eye has not seen, nor ear heard …

There was a glorious sunrise here this morning. It stretched from the East to the West with a thousand shades of orange. And it changed from moment to moment, as I watched. And several times I tried in vain to catch the fullness the glory on my camera. But while the eye of the camera can catch something of the glory, in the end it is a pale imitation of reality. And somehow it reminded me the verse “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man, the things God has prepared for those who love Him.” (1 Corinthians 2:9).

I do however catch a glimps of these things in a sunrise or a sunset, or in the fall colours. And this morning as I gazed at the sunrise, the phrase "eye candy" came to mind, and I had this picture of a beloved sister and I driving to Corner Brook when I was there, and her chuckling with delight at the fall colours. If we delight over these things, how much more must He, our Father delight in our delight? After all “He delights over you with singing” (Zephaniah 3:17). He is the prince of delight, He is the author of joy and peace and hope and love, and in these thoughts, He is indeed giving me a glimps of all that He is, of all that you and I mean to Him, and of the pleasures for evermore that He has in store for us (Psalm 16:11).

Some people think heaven and hell are here on earth, and I think know what they mean. I mean I think that we catch a glimps of hell if we think about the here and now with everything remouved that is true and noble and just and lovely, and whatever is of good report. And we can catch a glimps of heaven if we think about the here and now with everything that the opposite remouved. But this morning’s verse is essentially saying “You ain’t seen nothing yet.” And I am caused to wonder again why anyone would not want that. But then again I know that “the god of this age has blinded the eyes of those who do not believe” (2 Corinthians 4:4). And it brings me to ask again “How shall I then live” (2 Peter 3:11)?

Father, I want to thank You this morning for the beauty and the glory of creation. Thank You Lord that for those who have eyes to see, the invisible things of Yourself are so very, very obvious (Romans 1:20). Once I too was blind Lord, but now I see. And I ask You this morning Father, to help me to live a life that points to You, and for You to give me courage to be Your ambassador, speaking Your words when You want me to speak, and the serenity to be silent when You want me to be silent, and to know by the nudging of Your precious Holy Spirit when to do what. In Jesus Name Amen

Believe in the LORD, and you shall be established: Chronicles 20:20 Part (3)

King David also talked about being established in Psalm 40:2. And in the context of this morning’s verse and the wider context of Psalm 40 (i.e. Psalms 38, and 39), it is clear that being established has a lot to do with patient endurance, with waiting in hope, and in trusting the Lord in spite of all that is going on. In the Chronicles reference, Israel was facing an overwhelming force arrayed against it in battle. David describes his trial as being in a horrible, desolate pit (Psalm 40:2 again), a pit that is reminiscent of the pit into which Jeremiah was thrown. It was nothing but mud, and he sank in it up to his waist (Jeremiah 38:6).

What I’m seeing this morning, over and over again, is that the saints in Scripture were only established through the refining furnace of trials, temptations and difficulties. And although Paul could describe his furnace as “light momentary affliction” (2 Corinthians 4:17), the trials that we are called to endure can seem anything but light, and can seem to last forever. Rest assured however, that there is an end to these things. In particular after we have suffered a little while, the Lord will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, establish and settle us (1 Peter 5:10 ESV).

These thoughts may not be too easy to receive this morning, especially if you are already discouraged. But what the Lord seems to be reminding of me this morning, is that the call to be a Christian, is a call to die. In one of the so-called hard sayings of Jesus, He tells us “Unless you take up your cross every day and follow Me, you cannot be my disciple” (Matthew 16:24). And we likely cannot do this, if we take our eyes off Jesus “who for the joy set before him endured the cross despising the shame” (Hebrews 12:2). Having said this, there is much help available. In particular the quotation in the title of this post continues “believe His prophets, and you shall prosper,” and I want to talk tomorrow, about the vital role the prophetic plays in all of this.

Father, Paul in reasoning for the resurrection of the dead, says that if there is no resurrection, his fight with beasts at Ephesus would have been in vain (1 Corinthians 15:32). Indeed if we have believed cunningly devised fables, our faith would also be in vain. But I choose to believe the witness of Peter and the other disciples, who experiences His Majesty (2 Peter 1:16), and that our faith is indeed not in vain. And I also choose to believe that these things are working a far more exceeding weight of glory (2 Corinthians 4:17). And I know Lord, that when You have tried us we will come forth as gold (Job 23:10). We need your help, we need Your grace, we need Your mercy. Thank You that we are not alone, that You will never leave us nor forsake us. Give us overwhelming, joyful endurance this morning Lord, in Jesus Name Amen

Part 2 Believing: Believe in the LORD your God, and you shall be established; believe His prophets, and you shall prosper

I don’t know where you are with the prophetic this morning. Perhaps you are new to the prophetic, and have many questions. Perhaps you, or someone you know has been hurt by the abuse, or the misuse of the prophetic. Perhaps you fully embrace the prophetic with or without discernment (1 Thessalonians 5:21). You may even believe that prophecy disappeared with the completion of the New Testament. But surely I can start with the need to believe at least one of God’s prophets, namely the Lord Jesus Christ. After all He is prophet and priest and king (John 4:19; Hebrews 7:17; John 18:37! But also wherever you are, the battle to believe it is likely to be strong. For example Jesus told us that whoever believes in Him would do greater things than He (John 14:12). Are you there yet? Have you raised the dead yet?

There is much to say about prophets and prophecy, about the differences and similarities between Old Testament and New Testament prophecy, and about the need to test all things etc. etc. It very clear that there are false prophets both in the old and the New Testament (i.e. 1 Kings 22; Matthew 7:15), and we certainly don’t want to believe false prophets! Nevertheless the aspect of what I want to talk about this morning is believing, believing both God and His prophets. In a certain sense, the whole of the Bible is prophetic, and I want to start with something that I hope we can all agreed on. We have all likely had the experience of the verse “jumping out” at us, this is the Holy Spirit illuminating the verse. The Lord illuminated one for me just recently through a sister in the Lord. It is “I will pour My Spirit on your descendants,” (Isaiah 44:3). I believe such illumination is prophetic in nature, but as I say what I want to talk about most this morning, is the battle to believe.

And it is a battle! I have been waiting many years for the fulfilment of a promise that the Lord gave to me. There is something of a fire in the delay between the promise and its fulfilment. He tells us to wait patiently upon him (Psalm 40:!). But when it doesn’t happen immediately we, like Abraham can try to make it happen or settle for Plan B. Been there done that, and I have T-shirts to prove it! On the other hand I have written down many of his promises. And when I am in danger of being discouraged, I take them out and read them, preferably out loud. The Scripture tells me, that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God Romans (10:17). So I rehearsed my promises, remember ones He has already fulfilled, and I remind Him over and over of those not yet fulfilled (Luke 11:8), sometimes with many tears.

Father, You are not a man that you should lie, and the Scriptures tell me that what You say You will do. You watch over Your Word to perform it (Jeremiah 1:12). Believing is not easy Lord, especially when there are long delays. But Your timing is perfect, and while You are never early, You are never late. And I have learnt to trust that what You need to do in me during the waiting period, is every bit as important as the fulfilment of Your promise or prophetic word. Thank You Lord that as I choose to believe You and Your prophets, You will continue the process of establishing and prospering me. I believe on that day when we meet, I will be able to say ”You have done all things well.” And I praise and thank and bless You again this morning Lord in Jesus Name Amen