A PROPHETIC CHURCH

 

  And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Revelation 19:9-10

 

 

                                                   .....For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

 

 

                                                    When the Spirit of God fell upon the gathered believers on the day of Pentecost,

 

—  the outside world did not hear that mighty rushing wind filling the house

     where they were gathered....

 

—  the outside world did not see those tongues of flame dancing over their

     heads.

 

 

                                                    One sign brought the impact of this miracle of Pentecost to the outside world: words coming from their mouths.

 

- Words that burned like fire,

- Words that were able to draw multitudes and change lives.

 

“You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be my wit­nesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth,” (Acts l)......with burning words.

 

In Acts 4 when the Spirit visited the believers afresh, the same thing happened....

 

“They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God with boldness.”

 

The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy, meaning: the power that enables us to make Jesus real to that world out there is the spirit of prophecy, the spirit that gives us a living word from God.

 

The Holy Spirit is the spirit of prophecy. When the Holy Spirit visits the Body of Christ, he

 galvanizes the people into a prophetic church...a church in which every member of the Body,

 whatever their gifts, ­whatever their function, has a  prophetic word, a word from God, a word

 that can heal the sick and raise the dead and pull down strong-. holds of evil.

 

 Seeing the crowds, he went up on the mountain, and when he sat down his disciples

  came to him. And he opened his mouth and taught them saying:

  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied. Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the sons of God. Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteous­ness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

Who are these blessed ones? They are the prophets of the Kingdom.

 

“Oh, but Jesus doesn’t call them prophets.” He doesn’t?.......

 

“Blessed are you when men revile you and perse­cute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

Matthew 5:11—12

 

They persecuted the prophets who were before you and they will persecute you too...,for you too are prophets. If there is anything the Spirit of God is showing us about the kind of church he is forming in this assembly, it is that this is to be a prophetic church...a church which is anointed with a word from God all through! Every member a prophet.

 

What is a prophet? A prophet has two characteristics:

 

1.     A prophet is a person who listens with a tender heart.

 

2.     A prophet is a person who speaks with thick- skinned boldness.

 

1.      A prophet is a person who listens with a tender heart, for a word from God.

----“Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven,”

 

....the poor in spirit have tender, listening hearts.

 

“Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted,”

 

....the mourners of the kingdom have tender, listening hearts.

....the meek of the kingdom have tender, listening hearts.

 

“Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied,”

                  

                   ....they are hungering and thirsting for a word from God with tender,

               listening hearts.

 

The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him that is weary. Isaiah 50:4a

 

The Lord God is giving us the tongue of a prophet.

 

            Morning by morning he wakens, he wakens my ear to hear as those who are taught. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I was not rebellious, I turned not backward. Isaiah 50:4b-5

 

A listening ear...a tender heart...listening for a fresh word from God.

 

It’s not that God doesn’t speak to us, it’s that our hearts are hard and our minds are busy with our own plans and our own judgments. Oh how we need to learn to listen! To be still. To take off our shoes and wait for God to speak to us.

 

A prophet is a person who also listens with a tender heart to the cries of the bruised reeds.

 

“Blessed are the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy."

 

The merciful are the prophets listening to the cries of the widows and the orphans, the oppressed and the poor, the blind, the hungry, and the naked.

 

“I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me."           Matthew 25:35-36

 

 

“Thousands walked by, they did not hear my cry....but you heard my cry.”

 

That’s the tender side of the prophet. But the prophet of God also has a hard side.

 

2.      A prophet is a person who speaks the word they’ve been given by God with thick-skinned boldness.

 

  And he said to me, “Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you.” And when he spoke to me, the Spirit entered into me and set me upon my feet; and I heard him speaking to me. And he said to me, “Son of man, I send you to the people of Israel, to a nation of rebels who have rebelled against me; they and their fathers have transgressed against me to this very day. The people also are impudent and stubborn: I send you to them; and you shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord God.’ And whether they hear or refuse to hear (for they are a rebellious house) they will know that there has been a prophet among them. And you, son of man, be not afraid of them, nor be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit upon scorpions; be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house. And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear.” Ezekiel 2:l-7a

 

Ezekiel’s going to speak the word to them and they’re not going to put him on T.V.....they’re not going to give him a Cadillac as a love offering....they’re going to spit in his face!

 

“Don’t be afraid of them. Don’t be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns are with you and you sit upon scorpions.”

 

In other words, have thick skin. (Don’t try to sit on scorpions unless your skin is thick.)

“Don’t be afraid of their words. Don’t be dismayed at their looks. Speak what I give you with boldness.”

 

This picture people have of Jesus...so sweet and tender.  “Gentle Jesus, meek and mild,” is an evil distortion. Jesus didn’t get nailed to that cross for being sweet and tender. He got nailed to that cross because he spoke burning words from God that shocked and offended the religious establishment to the point where they couldn’t take it any more.

 

“Blessed are you when men revile you and per­secute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

 

Why will they revile us and persecute us and utter all kinds of evil against us falsely on Jesus’ account? Because we’re sweet and tender, meek and mild?

 

No, because we speak a bold word which will bring life to some and death to others...because it will offend. And we will not speak that word with integrity unless our skin is thick and our hearts are bold.

 

Just as assemblies of believers around the city and around the world worship God in different ways....

 

—       some use piano,

—       some use pipe organ,

—       some use drums and trumpets,

 

—           some are quiet,

—           some are loud,

 

so you could say that congregations take on certain characteristics as they fulfill their function-earthly or divine.  There’s the friendly church,

 the busy church,

 the therapeutic church,

 the prosperity church,

 the self—esteem church.

 

What's becoming clear to many of us is that to make an impact for the Kingdom of God in this location we have no choice under God but to be a prophetic church—simple and clear.

 

In early February the leadership of this congregation began finding unity around the revelation that we are to be a church that has a prophetic word...make a prophetic impact...through all its members, And that everything we do,

— as a congregation,

— in small groups,

— in our individual ministries where we live and. work, is to result in a strong, clear, prophetic word going forth from our mouths and from our lives.

 

Since early February, along with the rest of the leader­ship, I began getting a similar word from the Lord which has been basically this:

 

“Don’t try to hold people together any more by anything other than a strong, clear word from me. If it offends, let it offend, as long as it’s my word and not yours. For, if it is my word it also will draw, edify, equip and send forth prophets of the Kingdom.”

 

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are true words of God.” Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, “You must not do that! I am a fellow servant with you and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God.” For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

 

And the spirit of prophecy has a twofold message for us this day of Pentecost:

 

1.     Listen with tender hearts.

 

2.    Speak with thick-skinned boldness.

 

1.      Listen with tender hearts for a word from God.... daily, when we withdraw in solitude and seek the face of God and cry out,

 

“Speak to me, 0 God! Your word is spirit and it is life. I live not by bread alone, but by words from your mouth. Be not silent unto me, lest, if thou be silent to me, I become like them that go down into the pit.”

 

Listen for a word from God when you gather in small groups to pray. Listen for a word from God week-by- week here as the assembly comes together to break bread, and translate what you hear into action.... do it! Build your house upon the rock.

 

Listen also to the cries of the bruised reeds and lost sheep, the oppressed and the sick and the troubled.... listen....listen with a tender heart. And as we listen, a living word from God begins to burn like fire in our hearts.

 

2.      Now it’s time to speak with thick-skinned boldness...

 

of the One who is already Lord of this earth, before whose name every knee shall bow, whose lordship every tongue will have to confess....speak to him.

 

As we speak this word we will be maligned and slandered... don’t be upset...have a thick skin. Do not be afraid of them or of their words.

 

....though briers and thorns are with you and you sit upon scorpions; be not afraid of their words, or of their looks....

 

Speak of the Lord Jesus!...Speak of him, and there will be fruit...there will be fruit...fruit of judgment and fruit of grace. The word that goes forth from your mouth will not come back empty...it will do the job....

 

....for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.