…for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.
1 Thessalonians 1:5
There was a time in my Christian walk that I was overwhelmed with the Spirit of God. I was so intimate with my Savior and obedient to the will of His Spirit that I have no doubt in my mind that when I asked Him where He was in the days of the Holocaust that day in Poland, as I prayed on my knees before the ashes of millions who had lost their lives in the gas chambers of Majdanek at the hands of Natzi Germany, that He sent hail and thunder to remind me that He was there and He had not forgotten what had happened in that place and He would indeed bring His wrath one day.
I was so close to Him and so sensitive to His Spirit that when He told me to leave the choir that Sunday morning in mid song and kneel and lay my hands on a dear friend and pray that her womb would be blessed and she would indeed have a child, that I did, and she did… not once but twice.
I know what it feels like to hear His voice and know His touch. I know what it is to walk in obedience to His Spirit even when it makes no sense. I know what it is to sound like a crazy woman and call someone and tell them that God has a message for them… and then to discover that God would use it to restore them to Himself and grow them like never before.
I know what it is to go and share my testimony at a church and have someone who I had never met and have never seen since speak “a word” over me that was a direct and specific prayer of my heart that I had only shared with God alone and too see that “word” come to fruition.
I know.
I know what it is to have God give you a vision of His calling on your life and then to stay in a place around those whose words and actions lead you to suppress that vision as silly dreams.
It leads to joy stealing and prayer killing and going through the motions living. It’s a miserable place. I have been trying to find my way out of this place… but as I continue through the book “Come and See” I am beginning to realize that it is not that I am needing to find my way out, but that I need to trust that God is bringing me through this place for a purpose.
The vision that I thought had died is being revived. The Lord is teaching me in and through this time. I was reminded of that as I read these words in chapter five…
So gun-shy were we of anything that smacked of Pentecostalism, with its emphasis upon the reality of the Holy Spirit- the living presence of The Lord Jesus continuing in His Church- that those who taught us passed quickly over the “foretelling” aspect of the gift to make certain we knew that “forthtelling” was probably the best understanding of the prophetic task as affects the Church today.
While there is most assuredly the element of “forthtelling” in the understanding of prophesy, such as, “speaking out for Jesus” or “preaching the Gospel,” within the power of the Holy Spirit, one must not overlook the element of “foretelling.” Those who prophesy have the ability when, under the influence of the Spirit of God, to address the future in ways that bring encouragement to the downhearted, hope for a better tomorrow, and a promise of God’s Presence shaping everything up ahead for good to those who love Him.
Such edification causes the believer experiencing broken heartlessness, disappointment, defeat, and hopelessness, to catch a renewed spiritual breath, determined to go forward to fight the good fight of faith and thereby to expect victory. Even to celebrate it in advance!
~ Robert (Bob) H Jackson & Rob Jackson from Come and See: Jesus is Alive
Truth. I have both experienced the receiving of the prophetic word and the giving of it. God once used me in this way to edify and encourage. I have no doubt that He will again.
My husband has a word picture that he lives by, one he learned through some classes that he had taken, one he has taught me, and that he teaches our girls. He tells us that whenever someone asks a question like, “who is interested in going?” or “would someone like to pray?” or “who would like to go first?” He puts his fist in the air and pretends to be knocking on an invisible door and he will ask our girls, “what’s that I hear?” and they will respond, “that’s opportunity knocking.”
Every time He does this my mind goes straight to the book of Revelation…
Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.
Revelation 3:20
This word was to the churches. We use it to illustrate the Lord’s call to salvation many times, but the context of this is a specific word to the Lord’s church and we can’t be His church if we are not of His body and we cannot be of His body apart from salvation.
The Lord knows our deeds. He knows the motive of our deeds. He knows when we are using His gifts to sell ourselves instead of buying from Him… and if we refuse to heed His internal warnings and rebukes He will expose our nakedness to all if that is what it takes to get our attention and repentance.
I don’t know about you, but I simply prefer to keep my nakedness private. So if He is standing at the door and knocking then I would answer. I would recommend letting Him come in and dine with you and straighten it all out “in the house” so that He doesn’t have to do it outside for all to see.
This word to us in the book of Revelation from our Lord is relevant to both our individual lives and our congregations, but personally I believe, due to its context, it is specific to our congregations.
So Pastors, Elders, Deacons, Beloved of God… is Jesus standing at the door knocking?
The gospel did not come to us in word only and the Lord does not expect us to deliver the gospel to others in word only, but in power and in the Holy Spirit, and with full conviction. If our deeds are not with full conviction and they are not being carried out in the power of the Holy Spirit… they are fruitless. Let us not be those who waste the opportunities given us simply because our deeds are dead.
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