THE PROPHETIC CHURCH 2

*Until the word in season comes, the weariness continues*. 

CHARACTERISTIC OF A PROPHETIC CHURCH

We have previously seen that the prophetic church is:

1) Intimate with God 

2) Consecrated to the Lord, (Holy) 

3) Orderly not rigid or lawless.  That is, functioning according to the principles of scriptures but in subjection to the dealings of the Holy Ghost. 

4) Spirit ruled /governed 

5) Mission minded, has a sent mentality, apostolic in nature. 

Now let's see one more characteristic.

6) The prophetic church is born out of prophecy to fulfill prophecy. It is not born out of human needs, feelings or ideas. The prophetic church is not an avenue for giftings to find expression but born out of the word of God to fulfill prophecy.

 Eph. 2:17-22, 2 Peter 3:1- 2.

The prophetic church is apostolic in nature but birth by prophecy. The foundation has to be God Built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, on “thus saith the Lord ". The prophetic and holiness go hand in hand. 

EXAMPLES OF ISRAEL AND THE EARLY CHURCH. 

Israel as the first church was actually born out of prophecy. The nation of Israel stemmed from Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The take-off point for these people was God; it was not the idea of any man. The whole process that brought them out of Egypt was by the will of God, prophetic instructions. They were a prophetic church but refused to be intimate with God. They were simply interested in using God to meet their needs and not interested in knowing His ways or becoming intimate with Him.  

Exodus 40:34-38-  In the prophetic church, it is about Him, not I. Our greatest challenge is that we are not open to change. Most of the issues in marriages is a fight against change. Not willing to let go of ‘self’. There is no place for self in the prophetic church.

The Israelites had an ordered pattern by which they moved. It was God who determined their movements. For as long as the cloud moved, they followed, if the cloud stopped, they did same, if it went up, they followed. There was order in this prophetic church and it was enforced. They were on a journey and God provided manna daily for them.  

Life is a journey and if the journey will be hitch-free, we must go with the cloud (the Spirit) and not by our feelings or events. We need to depend on him daily.  Every time they moved out of the cloud, they became exposed and whatever befell them was due to their negligence and disobedience. Under the cloud, they were kept, preserved and sustained.

Moses was the leader of Israel (a type of Christ, represented as a prophet and also as a Pastor) Exodus 25:40-Moses didn’t just do what he liked, he did as he was commanded.  The conflicts he encountered with the people was because the people refused to be intimate with the Lord,  so sometimes they went against the instructions that the Lord gave to Moses. As believers in our day, we are still acting like the Israelites. 

Now, we have the Holy Spirit living in us, but we still have structures. God is the God of structure. It is for the sake of structure that He instituted the five-fold ministry for the perfecting of the saints and for the work of ministry, to lead the people. Yes, as individuals, we must be connected to the source (God), but to fulfill all of His purposes and come into perfection, we must also be connected with the leaders and structure God has put in place. 

As God has placed apostles and prophets in the church,  we should also have them in the market place, charting new paths, enforcing kingdom values and standards in the market place. 

How you respond to the structure set is a reflection of what you believe and in whom you believe- Ex.39:21, 26, 32, 42-43. Every instruction Moses gave was as the Lord commanded him.  Every time they resisted/rejected Moses, it was actually the Lord they were resisting/rejecting because Moses was under the Lord, following the command of the Lord.

Much later, in the promised land, when they asked for a king, Samuel was angry but the Lord said they had rejected Him and not Samuel. (1st Samuel 8:7)

How you take the owner of the message will show in the way you respond to the messenger. Your response to the message/messenger is actually your response to the one who sent the messenger. We have to learn to respond to the commands of God, through His servants (structure and order). Let’s learn to respond to Spirit-inspired instructions, spirit promptings, etc, so that the glory will be revealed. 

THE EARLY CHURCH. 

The early church was Spirit ruled and governed.  All their response was from the Spirit and they followed the teachings of the apostles and prophets, and they always sought the Lord to know what to do per time. They were empowered and envisioned by the Holy Ghost. Acts 1:1-2,8. 

They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and in prayers. They had all things common. (Acts 2: 42). At a point, they lost their sense of mission and stayed back in Jerusalem.  But the persecution caused them to be scattered and this reawakened their sense of mission, and they went everywhere preaching the gospel. The early church experienced victory because they followed through with what the Lord commanded. 

This season has come to fulfill certain scriptures.  There is a shaking going on so that only that which cannot be shaken will remain. (Hebrews 12: 26-29 )

Prayer

Lord, I receive grace to serve You acceptably with reverence and godly fear. Hebrews 12:28