*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
