Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #9 Opening their understanding to understand the scripture

Luke 24:45  “Then opened he their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures,”

This is one of the most important considerations as the church faces this fork in the road. I really believe that the Spirit of God is actively wooing many new covenant prophets. It is imperative that we listen. The question to ask is, can one properly hear, and believe if they are clinging to the old paradigm, especially when it comes to scripture understanding? This is precisely why Jesus and His first century followers changed the paradigm back then. The problem that we face is that the early church fathers of the second through fourth centuries ignored Jesus paradigm, and returned to the Pharisees paradigm. The early church fathers greatly influenced church dogma and doctrine and it has moved forward through the centuries and still affects us today. Didn’t Jesus warn about the leaven of the Pharisees? Didn’t He say that the leaven was the doctrine/teaching of the Pharisees and could it be possible that the last two thousand years of evangelical orthodox doctrine was in fact the *strong delusion* of 2Thess 2:11?

Of course I am referring to the legal constitutional view of scripture which was the Pharisees old covenant model. It is important to see that Pharisees did not understand the scripture. Jesus had to open the understanding of His followers to understand the scriptures in the above passage from Luke’s gospel. Look at the fifth chapter of Revelation. It was the Lion of the tribe of Judah that was able to unseal the scroll (understand the scripture.) There is a direct correlation between Luke 24:45 and Revelation 5:9. He alone was the only one worthy to open the book and He alone was able to open the understanding to understand the scripture. Look at Isaiah: Isa 29:11-13  “And the vision of all is become unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one that is learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I cannot; for it is sealed:  (12)  And the book is delivered to him that is not learned, saying, Read this, I pray thee: and he saith, I am not learned.  (13)  Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honour me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men:” It was prophesied in Isaiah that the scribes and Pharisees would not understand the scripture at all.

And yet, we adopt the method of the scribes and Pharisees to understand the scripture. It is little wonder that we are in such a state as we face today. We MUST adopt the redemptive view of scripture. We must use it as the story of redemption and not a legal constitutional document. It saddens me when I hear apostles and prophets claim to be so sure of what they are saying when they are in reality adopting a legal constitutional view of scripture.

Isn’t it obvious that we would be able to accept the prophecies that are currently given if we have had our paradigm shifted to view the scripture as Jesus did and as he taught his first century followers to do… More to come tomorrow!

Forty Prophecies in Forty Days #8 Misusing the scripture Part 2

When you look at the teaching of evangelicals, fundamentalists, Pentecostals and charismatics today you will find this phenomenon. You will find people that emphasize law, holiness and obedience, and those who emphasize grace, love and forgiveness. These groups are constantly at war against each other and often doubt the salvation of the other group. The former group, those who emphasize law always have a legal constitutional view of scripture. If one takes a hard line on the legal constitutional aspect of scripture it is impossible to come to any other conclusion. You end up with a schizophrenic view of salvation. Yes, we are saved by grace and not law obedience but we prove our salvation by law obedience and if there is no *law-obedience* then salvation is questionable at the very least. John Calvin stated it this way; “faith alone saves, but faith that saves is never alone.” This means that there will always be obvious law obedience with all who have been saved… Not necessarily and this is the source of the problem.

The legal constitutional view of scripture ultimately leads to fear of not measuring up. Come on now, look in that mirror tomorrow morning and say it isn’t so This is why Jesus taught the redemptive view of scripture. He knew that grace (believe it or not) leads to obedience from the heart. Grace changes the heart. Peace with God, (Rom 5:1) develops a supernatural love for God because of His love, mercy and grace. The supernatural love is what enables one to be obedient. One develops what Paul calls the obedience of faith (Rom 16:26 & 1:5)

Paul said it this way in his letter to Titus: Tit 2:11-12  “For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,  (12)  Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world;” The legal constitutional view of scripture robs the effectiveness of transforming grace. This is probably the single most prohibitive factor in a broad acceptance of the paradigm shift that is ever increasing in the ranks of day to day Christians.

Believe me when I say that the New Covenant way of viewing scripture is solely redemptive. This can be proven. In fact, I have proven it over and again over the three hundred posts of this blog. Here is the crux of today’s prophetic word. We must shift the paradigm to a redemptive view of scripture. It will not diminish in any way the inspiration of scripture. It will however bolster faith in the gospel and the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When one puts the legal constitutional view of scripture to the test it does not really stand up and that is why there are so many liberal Christians that deny the resurrection and the deity of Jesus Christ. More to come on this topic tomorrow!

Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #7 Misusing Scripture and its purpose

What is the purpose of scripture? This is an area in which the church needs a drastic paradigm shift. As we face the fork in the road that is here today, understanding the proper use of scripture is paramount to walking boldly forth in the plan God has for our day and time. The big shift that so many prophecy and speak of will demand that we change the way we view scripture. How you ask? We must learn to view it exactly as Jesus did and exactly as he taught his first century followers. One of the things that the early church fathers did that has proved to be destructive to the redemptive plan of God is to ignore Jesus teaching on scripture, and instead adopt the Scribes and Pharisees teaching.

What did Jesus teach about the purpose and use of scripture? He taught a completely redemptive view of scripture. He said that its sole purpose was to point to Him as Messiah and provide eternal life. John 5:39-40:  “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.  (40)  And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” Jesus stated clearly that the sole purpose of scripture was to point to him and the redemption that He was bringing humanity. You can also see this in other places in the gospels. Luke 24:27 & 43-45 are important in showing that Jesus taught his followers a different way of looking at scripture. Luke 24:45 explains that he opened their understanding so that they could understand the scriptures. This shows you that the Pharisees DID NOT understand them! It is also obvious that the Pharisees did not understand the scripture because so few of them came to Jesus for life (John 5:40.)

This will take more than one day to establish but it is necessary that the church be confronted with how badly they use the scripture, and how they twist it against what Jesus taught. Paul says the Law was good as long as it was used lawfully (1 Tim 1:8.) Unfortunately, much of modern evangelical doctrine uses the Law unlawfully!

How did the Pharisees, under the Old Covenant view scripture? The answer is they viewed it as a legal constitutional document. Does that sound familiar? Does that ring a bell for you? The bulk of modern, evangelicals, fundamentalists, Pentecostals and charismatics, you name them, look at the scripture as a legal constitutional document. Viewing it that way is the source of many of the problems that we face today. Jesus taught that it was the story of redemption. He taught that it was a love story about a God that loved the world so much that he had redeemed it before he ever created it. Yes my friend, that is precisely what Ephesians chapter one teaches. God had purposed Jesus and redemption before the foundation of the world which means that redemption was His first purpose in creation. God created the world to redeem it. Isn’t that something? These prophecies will show over time that Jesus also redefined the word of God from the Old Testament to the gospel. There is so much to say about this, but I assure you that it is true, and easily seen with a slight paradigm shift. I am purposefully making these entries short (therefore, easy to read) so I implore you to follow this forty day prophecy all the way through till the end.

I will tie together the redemptive purpose over the next few posts and will show that “the gospel” is the Word of God for the New Covenant era. Let me leave you with this though for now. In Revelation, we are told that the testimony of Jesus (the gospel) is the Spirit of Prophesy (Rev 19:10.) Please stay tuned and share… this is going somewhere that will help you with the next phase and the shift that is ordained by God. More to come tomorrow!  

Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #6 New Covenant Blessings and Deut 28

What does Deuteronomy 28 have to do with the New Covenant, non-Jewish believer if anything? We hear and read all the time about being blessed in the city and in the field. We hear and read about being the head and not the tail; above and not beneath. We sing about it, confess it in daily confessions, and hear teachings and sermons about it. What one must honestly see is that the blessings are predicated upon covenant faithfulness and were given as promises to national Israel under the old covenant. Don’t become discouraged and stop reading. This prophetic word has a very happy ending, but first we must be real and we must deal faithfully with the text. So then Deu 28:1-14 explain the benefits and blessings for covenant obedience and faithfulness and Deu 28:15-45 (almost twice as many verses) explain the consequences and curses of covenant disobedience and unfaithfulness. Don’t look funny; it is in the book that way! Also, do not lose heart and stop reading. This is not the end of this matter.

I want the full effects of the blessings, how about you? I want the blessings, and not the curses how about you? I want to be included in the promises how about you? Of course you have no doubt answered yes to all of the above. I would also.

So let’s stop a minute and look at the old and new covenants. My first prophetic word of the day is STOP being old covenant prophets! I can assure you that it will get you nowhere. Yes some have the audacity to claim in new covenant congregations that the way to get the blessings is by obedience to the law. Here is the great problem that the church (remember my definition;  the true believers in Christ across all denominations and groups) face. Too many people are trying to be Old Covenant prophets, apostles and pastors in the New Covenant. Too many are operating in an Old Covenant way.

Prophetic word two: You cannot get New Covenant blessings with Old Covenant methods!!!

So then, how do these blessings operate in the New Covenant setting? The answer is simple and is the content of the gospel. It is IN Christ Jesus and no other way. Furthermore, it is by faith. (without faith it is impossible to please the Father.) Jesus is the Seed of Abraham, Jesus was covenant faithful. Jesus fulfilled all the requirements. Jesus alone receives the blessings. In Jesus the promises of God are not yes and no as seen in Deu 28. In Jesus the promises are yes and amen! In Jesus there are no curses.

Look at this passage. It could not be made more plain and understandable: Gal 3:11-16  “But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith.  (12)  And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them.  (13)  Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree:  (14)  That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.  (15)  Brethren, I speak after the manner of men; Though it be but a man's covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto.  (16)  Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made. He saith not, And to seeds, as of many; but as of one, And to thy seed, which is Christ.”

Christ has redeemed us from the curses of the law. Deu 28:15-45 does not apply! we must believe this by faith! According to Paul, we believers are the Seed of Abraham in Christ Jesus…. Gal 3:29  “And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise.” This ALONE is the way that we are benefactors of the promises of Deu 28. … More tomorrow!

Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #5 The accuser and heavenly dwellers

Day five and there is more to say about the accuser of the brethren. It is important to remember that the church (the true believers not any one church denomination or group) is truly at a fork in the road. There are choices to be made and in some cases they will be hard choices to make. This passage about the accuser of the brethren sheds some insight into these possible choices. If you look at biblical history you see roughly three two thousand year periods, and we are just now entering a fourth. It is the fourth period that the paradigm shift is occurring. It is a shift specifically for this fourth period.

Rev 12:12  “Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

The phrase, “rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them” has some interesting implications. Who should be heaven dwellers? Yes, you are right it is believers. Paul tells us we are seated in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. We are the heaven dwellers. All those who put faith and trust in Jesus are potentially heaven dwellers.

On the other hand, those who are earth bound, focusing on the natural environment are targets for Satan and his minions. When one is continually caught up in the day to day affairs around him or her; caught up in the politics and struggles of life in the natural world; caught up in seeking answers for themselves; caught up in being in control at all times, they then are targets for the Devil.

This is what Paul was speaking of in Colossians three: Col 3:1-3 “If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God.  (2)  Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.  (3) For ye are dead, and your life is hid with Christ in God.”

We are positionally raised and are in heavenly places with Christ. We must then continue, by faith to see ourselves as heavenly beings. How is Satan going to get at your life if it is hidden in God? The answer is that he cannot, but you must be dwelling in heavenly places in your mind. You must be ever aware of your status with the Father, ever trusting in the goodness of the Father and the provision He has made for you in Christ Jesus. Herein lies the importance of positive prophecy from New Covenant prophets. They will encourage you to trust in the real spiritual situation you are in, and rise above being an earth dweller.

We must guard our ears and our hearts from the negative speech of so many. Negative speech is a part of the accuser of the brethren’s modus operandi. Encouraging one another is a very important part of our corporate relationship with our brothers and sisters and if we are not getting that then we need to move on to a place where it is available.

A large part of the choice that the church faces is the decision about which voices to listen to and entertain and which to cut off. Remember 1Cor 14:3. You need to surround yourself with 1 Cor 14:3 prophets! More to come tomorrow….

Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #4 the accuser of the brethren

Here is the fourth prophecy of this series. The church (the true believers in Jesus in all churches) are at a fork in the road. Down one path is business as usual. The other path will restore the mission and vision of God from before the foundation of the world. It will restore the pristine gospel. It will radically affect the culture just as it did in the first century when it was written that these men have turned the world upside down.  The fork in the road offers choice and one of the choices will shake the foundation of the world. It will bring to pass the words of a prophet in a dream that my wife had some years ago… He simply said, “the world as you know it will never be the same.”

Rev 12:10-12  “And I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: for the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.  (11)  And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death.  (12)  Therefore rejoice, ye heavens, and ye that dwell in them. Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time.”

The accuser of the brethren (brothers and sisters) who accuses them day and night before the Father is cast down. You can read that he came to Job and also to Joshua the High Priest in Zechariah 3. What are his accusations? They always have something to do with telling us that we are not right with God. We don’t pray enough, we don’t really worship enough, we don’t act right. You will hear statements like this… you aren’t really serving God… you’re not really a man or woman of God. They are designed to drive a wedge between us and our relationship with Father. They are meant to discourage and tear down. Satan can do this to us with our thoughts, but he can also use other well-meaning people to make these accusations. When they use scripture to back them up they add a level of authority that seems hard to overcome. Remember however that Satan can quote scripture with the best of them. He can use our brothers and sisters in authority to his purpose and can disguise himself as an angel of light.

I learned an interesting fact in an advanced prophetic course that I took from Prophet Russell Walden over at Father’s Heart Ministries. He taught me, correctly, that the New Covenant Prophet should encourage. He said this on the authority of 1 Cor 14:3… I like the way it reads in the NLT 1Co 14:3  “But one who prophesies strengthens others, encourages them, and comforts them.”

So that begs this question… why do so many modern day new covenant prophets sound like the accuser of the brethren? Why do so many Sunday morning sermons work as accusations? Why is there so little encouraging, comforting and strengthening? These are interesting questions indeed!

A big part of moving into a *world shaking stance* is to begin to question the path that we have taken so long. There indeed needs to be a complete paradigm shift… I don’t want to be insulting, but in case you do not know what paradigm means let me provide the definition: “a pattern of thinking and acting.” We need to shift our paradigm when it comes to the things of God. He is providing us a shift and we must embrace it…. more to come tomorrow!

 

Forty Prophecies in Forty Days: #3 What about signs and wonders?

As I continue on with my assignment from the Lord, here is the third prophecy. I should say that what I originally heard was present forty prophetic messages that will help enable my apostles and prophets to move into my shift. All are prophesying a great movement of my Spirit on the earth and these are some of the nuts and bolts, some of the frames and cross members of my structure. They are necessary in my total plan of redemption for the world.

Acts 14:3  “Long time therefore abode they speaking boldly in the Lord, which gave testimony unto the word of his grace, and granted signs and wonders to be done by their hands.”

Somehow, over the years, the church (remember the definition) have lost a true understanding of the reason for signs and wonders. The Father says, "I did signs, wonders and marvelous feats in the first century to establish the gospel of grace." Now we live in a time where so many have made grace a dirty word. Personal holiness is held above grace making grace of no effect. If those who are representing me are basically denying my grace in all they teach and do is it any wonder that we do not see more signs and wonders?

Further, I hate to have to tell you but many of the so called signs and wonders today are in reality “lying” signs and wonders. God WILL NOT put his stamp of approval on this mixture of Old Covenant and New Covenant no matter how sincere we may be. Now understand this, there is a lot of New Covenant in the Old Testament and there is a lot of Old Covenant in the New Testament so I am not referring the divisions of the bible. They are mostly arbitrary anyway. I am speaking of rightly dividing the word of truth. What is the word of truth you ask?

Let us let Paul define it for us: Eph 1:13  “In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,” Oh I see, the word of truth according to Paul is the gospel of your salvation. When we rightly divide the word of truth, correctly handle the word of truth we are rightly dividing and correctly handling the gospel. That is drastically missing from the doctrinal landscape these days. Is it any wonder that we do not see broad examples of glorious signs and wonders?

Yes, we stand at a fork in the road. Yes, the Spirit of God wants to move powerfully in this season. Yes, God has called you to a specific place and time with a specific purpose. Understand that you must also present his program. It was one that was set in place before the foundation of the world, Ephesians 1. According to Paul, God’s first purpose in creation was redemption and that was before he created anything else. It is time to embrace the gospel of God. It is time to encourage the saints. It is time to stop doing the work of the accuser of the brethren. It is time to stop being discouraging. It is time to focus on the gospel in a way like never before!

It is time to focus on the New Covenant and the New Jerusalem. I will have a lot more to say on this…. more tomorrow!