The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy (Rev 19:10)

Revelation 19:10 Then I fell at his feet to worship him. But he *said to me, “Do not do that; I am a fellow servant of yours and your brethren who hold the testimony of Jesus; worship God. For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” (NASB)

This verse is one that I have heard quoted a few times and interpreted in different, interesting ways, but none of the interpretations I have heard have quite convinced me. The part of the verse I am really referring to is the very last bit: “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” It’s an unusual wording to get our heads around. One interpretation used by (I have to say) one of my favourite authors/speakers/leaders, and upon which he based an entire (and otherwise extremely good!) book, makes the ‘is’ in the middle into a kind of equals sign, so: “For the testimony of Jesus = the spirit of prophecy.” His interpretation then applies to testimony in general, and how sharing a testimony can act as a kind of prophetic word so that what was shared in the testimony has the potential to happen for someone else too.

I would not debate the certain possibility that spiritually, this could indeed happen. As I said, I think the book and the man that wrote it is wonderful, but I have to say I don’t quite think that’s what this verse is getting at.

What could it be then? “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” What is the guy talking about? For a start, John has just tried to worship this kind of angelic being who is talking to him – whether he supposed it was Jesus or not, I don’t know. All we know is that the being then says he is actually a fellow servant with John and with those who hold the testimony of Jesus. So here the testimony is first mentioned in this context. Within the wider context of Revelation and indeed the New Testament the word seems to me to hold quite a strong courtroom connotation which is sometimes lost in modern usage (to ‘witness to Jesus’ these days is to tell your neighbour about Him over coffee, or something; not wrong, but just not the full idea contained in the Greek word or the New Testament usage thereof). The judicial usage suggests that these brethren have a truthful testimony which they can share in heaven’s court (and maybe doing so on earth makes it heard in heaven anyway) which leads to a verdict rendered in favour of the saints and against the accuser (see especially Revelation 12:10-11). This, I think, is a bit more of what it means when it speaks of the ‘testimony of Jesus’.

So why is this ‘testimony of Jesus’ the ‘spirit of prophecy’? What does this phrase now mean?

To me, at least in this verse, another word I can think of for spirit is ‘essence’. Not that it’s a suitable alternative to the Greek word, it merely helps lead us towards what I think this verse is saying. The Greek word itself is ‘pneuma’, which can simply mean ‘breath’ or ‘wind’ as well as ‘spirit’. So we could say that the life-force of prophecy, its very breath, is this: to testify, bear witness to, Jesus.

This I think begins to fit the context rather well – always a good sign when interpreting a verse. There’s been a lot of prophetic stuff going on! John’s been blown away with some of these incredible revelations. And so when at this point this fellow has been instructing him in writing down these true words of God and John thinks it appropriate to worship this being, he tells John not to do so but to worship God. And then in saying this phrase “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy,” I would think that the emphasis would have been heard on ‘testimony of Jesus’, in other words, what ultimately all this prophecy is leading to, is a revelation, understanding and knowledge of Jesus through witness to Him, because ultimately that is what true prophecy is about.

Because that is what true prophecy is about, is it not? I don’t have a lot of time for prophetic words that go nowhere near Jesus and don’t make me want to worship Him more. And in fact very often such prophetic words might often come from people who would rather you worship them. But the spirit of true prophecy, the essence of what it is to really prophesy, is to bear witness to Jesus. “For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.” Or perhaps a helpful retranslation in summary would be: “For the spirit of prophecy is to bear witness to Jesus!”

I hope this makes sense. I just thought it might be worth sharing as a helpful lead into thinking about this verse!

Pressing into the mystery

I’ve been reflecting lately on the nature of revelation, and the ways in which God speaks to us, with one particular focus: the element of mystery.

Mystery is a Biblical idea and word. The book of Daniel features the idea fairly prominently in speaking more generally of the subject of revelation and prophecy. We find phrases such as that which Nebuchadnezzar spoke to Daniel: “Surely your God is a God of gods and a Lord of kings and a revealer of mysteries, since you have been able to reveal this mystery.” (Dan 2:47) Earlier in the chapter when it says that the mystery was revealed to Daniel, he uses other language which might be thought of as synonymous with ‘mystery’ – “It is He [God] who reveals the profound and hidden things…”

This general idea picks up on a few other verses from the Old Testament which speak also of hidden things being revealed. Deuteronomy 29:29 says “The secret things belong to the Lord or God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever…” Proverbs 25:2 “It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter.” There is a variation in language between God revealing and us searching out but I don’t think the ideas can be wholly separated. Of course God can hide Himself, but He deliberately chooses to reveal Himself to those who seek Him with a whole heart. They seek and He reveals (Jeremiah 29:13-14; Matthew 7:7-8).

Paul picks up on Daniel’s language of mystery and uses it quite extensively in his letters. In particular we find him speaking of the mystery of the addition of Gentiles to the people of God (eg. Ephesians 3:1-10). This isn’t the only mystery though. Another one is that it’s “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) Why are these things “mysteries”? Because for a time, these things were hidden (Ephesians 3:5). That seems to be Paul’s understanding of the idea. They were hidden for a while, then were revealed or discovered. A bit like a ‘mystery’ as we would usually think of it, involves something ultimately unknown for a while, until it is finally solved, and the unknown element becomes known, causing the pieces to slot into place.

Finally, more cognate language is found in key verses like Ephesians 1:17-19 when Paul speaks about a spirit of wisdom and revelation being granted, so that the eyes of the heart may be enlightened, and that things may become really, deeply known to the believer, that weren’t known before.

All of that provides a very brief framework for thinking about mystery in the context of revelation. It’s probably incomplete – I do have more complete material on the subject of revelation, which I can dig out if people wish (let me know in the comments).

But I have yet to make my point, so I’ll move on.

The actual point I wished to make, was to emphasise that there is often an element of mystery when God speaks to us. What do I mean by this, and why do I say it?

Here’s what I mean: many readers might be familiar with the idea of listening to God – either for your own life, someone else’s, or some sort of corporate context. When we do, He might give us a word or picture by which to speak to us. Just the very fact that we understand He speaks to us in pictures should encourage us in this area: God likes metaphorical, symbolic language. And so when someone receives a picture, they often naturally know that it needs interpreting.

And so I reach the question of why I’m bringing up the subject. I think it’s worth reminding ourselves what’s going on here – and to see if there’s further that we can go in exploring the ways God speaks to us. Say you see a waterfall cascading over someone and you believe this is something you should share with them (note: it’s always worth asking God if a word/picture should be shared or not, no matter how seemingly harmless). The interpretation probably won’t be that they should go and stand under a waterfall (though let’s not limit God – if that’s what He wants to say, fair enough!). But it’s more likely God will be saying that He wants to flood over and into them afresh, by His Holy Spirit. We know that the Bible uses pictures of water very often to speak of the Spirit (in Isaiah for example, the examples are all over the book!).

And this is the kind of simple picture that I will often hear shared in prayer meetings. But here’s my point: what ELSE is God saying? Because if we now remind ourselves that God is a revealer of mysteries, and that He uses pictoral language to speak, you have to wonder what’s going on if someone has a real easy time interpreting the pictures they receive, all the time.

This sounds harsh, and I apologise. It’s not like God won’t say something very simple to understand, but if this is always the case, perhaps we have just forgotten that there could be more behind what He has said, and that if we press in a bit further, we might get to it.

I think this lies behind what I’m trying to say: God wants us to press in further in our prophetic giftings. Paul spoke of the “unfathomable riches of Christ,” and said that in Christ all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge were “hidden” – there is more to be explored! And so when He speaks to us in a way which is somehow mysterious, which we don’t immediately understand, the opportunity is there for deeper relationship. If there’s one thing I’ve learnt, it’s that God is a God of relationship, so if there’s any opportunity to deepen our relationship with Him, He wants us to take it. So perhaps this is one reason why He speaks in coded language!

I must finish with encouragement: If we trust Him and believe Him and seek to follow Him, He isn’t going to befuddle us with incomprehensibilities. You will know the pleasure of hearing His voice and knowing that He has spoken to you – often you can feel the Spirit around when He is speaking – but you will also have to press in a bit more for the meaning.

Or perhaps I should finish with an example. Recently while visiting another church and having a meal with their worship team, we were praying at the end and I saw a picture of white chess pieces, and the Queen was particularly in focus. I didn’t know what this meant. It was slightly cloudy, but what I did was pray into it, and ask God to clarify it and bring out those elements which were important. In the end I discovered that He was speaking about the church (represented by the Queen) being clothed in white linen (white chess pieces) – which is purity, and the works of the saints, according to the book of Revelation. Did I still get all of it? I don’t think so, but I knew that when God spoke, He was drawing me into something relationally, and as I sought the meaning, it drew me closer to Him, and helped me to learn more how to listen to Him. I hope you are encouraged to do the same!

Love is…

At the outset of many of my blog posts, I often have to find new language to excuse myself for what might seem like the obvious points made in the ensuing diatribe/exposition/rant/study/musing/etc. I’m afraid this one’s no exception. Revelation, I find, does not always involve the unveiling of brand-new information – in fact in my experience, this is very rare. Instead of unveiling, it usually involves the shedding of light on something. An area you knew existed but had only thought about to an extent, is suddenly opened up to you with a whole new realm of possibilities. This is revelation. As I see it, anyway.

It’s no mystery that Christians might have a thing or two to say about love. 1 Corinthians 13 is probably the most-read chapter at weddings. Some might hear the undertones of 60s hippie mantras about ‘peace and love, man’, but the kind of drug-enduced emotional surges such people might have called love is not what I refer to. Others might think of what else Hollywood has had to say on the subject, and with the hundreds of thousands of movies out there, most have had very little to say other than that it can be soppy, has to involve sex, and is fairly free and easy. I know they don’t all say all of these things; but most do say some of them.

Not talking about that kind of love either. To turn to a strange and surprising guru for this one (Christians don’t worry, Bible coming in a minute), in a live recorded concert, John Mayer got talking about wanting to live more for love. Now I don’t know what he had in his head, but he too did say “I don’t mean like a Roman candle firework Hollywood hot-pink love, I mean like ‘I got your BACK’ love!” Eliciting a huge scream from the crowd of course.

But the dude has a point, whatever he ultimately meant by it, or whether he was just saying it for the cheer. Love isn’t just there for making someone feel good once in a while, and in our self-driven culture, often making yourself feel good too, but it’s there to have someone’s back; to go the extra mile; to actually do a ‘greater good’ once in a while. That’s something like the kind of love I have in my head as I write this.

There’s precious little of it around these days. For all the great many words poured forth in poetry, song, prose and script concerning love, I find this in a sense surprising, but I can see what’s happened. Love has in many cases been cheapened. Furthermore I believe that other values have been brought to fundamentally override love. In our society especially, we have seen the exaltation of rights and choice for the individual to an extremely high status. These two factors I would say have been the greatest enemies to the operation of true love in our society and have led to a lot of brokenness and upset at all levels.

I know that is a large blanket statement. I’m not always a fan of such things. But sometimes you have to be bold with what you believe otherwise you never make an impact, and you need to have somewhere to start even if you need to refine what you say.

Of course choice in and of itself is not wrong – part of my core belief system as a Christian is in the fact that we were created free beings with real choice. Neither are ‘rights’ wrong (if you get my meaning) necessarily, but I believe they have to be framed correctly. So we see in history that the emancipation of, for example, the blacks of America from prejudice and racial hatred, was finally won through a great ‘civil rights movement’.

But I say that an argument for rights has to be framed rightly, and by this I mean that such rights as we saw the likes of Martin Luther King fight for were framed in a fundamental understanding of the love of God and of the created order, where all of humanity really was created equal. We could spend time extracting this from the language of Genesis 1 and 2 but that would take more space than most sane people want to see in a blog. It’s there. I can go into it if people want.

Not all rights arguments have been framed like this. Many more have been argued along with the cry for ‘choice’ to be maintained for individuals, and this is where I believe we get into untenable territory. Maybe someone can explain to me, but when one person’s desire to choose one thing directly conflicts with my desire to choose another thing, in what way is choice a stable basis for rights arguments? On the surface of it many of the more controversial rights bills of late might have seemed to have displayed choice as something entirely affecting the right only of the individual able to choose and affecting no other individuals’ choices around them, but even then the surface is pretty thin. Where abortionist protagonists argue the right of the mother to choose, one may riposte that the baby’s right to life trumps the mother’s right to choose whether the baby should live. Choice in the baby’s case is most unfairly squashed, in the mother’s case highly exalted. There’s no logic to it. (Suggest choice happens at a good time around when conception might or might not take place.) People are now able to freely shirk responsibility, because they have the right through choice. And, my main point here: love no longer has the upper hand. Choice and rights do.

I wonder if the sense that the individual has this sacred right to choose lies at the heart of some of the many divorces that we see so pervading society. I don’t know. I know these things can be complicated and sometimes irreversible because of a great many hurts; but equally I don’t wonder that self is exalted over others when freedom of choice and rights are exalted over love. And so we can decide that an affair is okay, or divorce is alright. It’s at least possible.

I wonder too if we could say that the ‘freedom’ and ‘right’ to choose could be expressed rather as the freedom to make the wrong choice and not feel or be made to feel guilty about it. No one should be calling my moral shots; no one should be holding me accountable; I’m an individual, I can do what I like.

So let’s boil it down some more: It’s self-interests versus the interests of others. It sounds like what might come out at the weekly readings at your local parish from a dry wheezy voice – “we should look out not just for our own needs but the needs of others”. But this concept, birthed as strongly as it is in the Bible, in particular the New Testament, is as radical an idea today as it was then, perhaps more so with the way our culture has gone, and when really lived out, has the power to transform society from the bottom up. Mother Teresa didn’t do what she did because she chose to and had the right to. She did what she did because she loved. When asked what would achieve world peace she said, “Go home and love your family.” What a great starting place! No one can deny the tremendous difference that a life like hers made to countless thousands.

So in order to love we sometimes have to be prepared to forsake our choices and even our rights. Love isn’t always a mushy feeling. Sometimes it too is a choice – and I would say, is the right choice! (See what I did there? Right…rights…choice…choice… anyway…) If I want a night in but my other half has been itching to get out all week, what do I do? I give her what she wants. Because I love her, and want to show her that. If I were to use my ‘right’ to ‘choose’ that I should stay in, it would break down the relationship.

I think we all know this on some level, but it is worth thinking how far it can apply, and how much it could change about society if we lived it out. I want to start applying it merely to the way I drive and treat other road users! I can’t always be the nicest driver, but nothing is helped by moody driving. Giving way to someone in front might make the person behind a bit grumpy, but they can’t exactly say I did the wrong thing. They’d probably only be getting grumpy because they would feel they had a right to be somewhere as quickly as possible. If they lived by love too, wouldn’t the world be a happier place!

Well, we’ve got a long way to go. Once again I feel that I’ve said everything every which way I can, except what I really had on my heart, which remains that much more elusive and somehow inexpressible. I only hope the reader can glean that bit more by thinking further about this. It burns on my heart as something real and profound, and I know it’s how God wants me to live and I want to make it my mission to live like it til my dying day; somehow I don’t think it’s going to happen overnight. But He made this place and knows the power of that which will make it the way He wants it to be again – love.

I promised some Bible. It’s all over the New Testament. There’s 1 Corinthians 13 where it is expressly shown what love is. It doesn’t seek its own (it’s like Paul saw into our own day); doesn’t keep a record of wrongs (ditto); and so on. Readers can check it out. But back in 1 Corinthians 8 you can see how the principle of love also works more subtly over rights in making decisions in the church.

Paul and Jesus both in their own ways said that the commands to love at the center of the Law. Jesus picked out two and put them in this order: Love the Lord your God is the most important; love your neighbour as yourself is the next most important!

John’s letters are full of it, so much so that he says, you know what, “God IS love”. It’s His whole being! And it was to frame the whole church attitude of individuals toward one another. Apparently as he aged they used to wheel him around and he would simply preach “my little children, love one another!” Far from being the words of a doddery old man who has forgotten how to say anything else, he was laying down a message so fundamental that it could be all he preached on and that wouldn’t matter. It was the basis for stable society: love.

Jesus said that we would be known as His disciples because we love one another. You know what, if we Christians are the only ones who can really get this concept of living by love, let’s do it! The world is trying everything else, and then trying everything again, to achieve peace and order, and I don’t believe they will ever achieve it. They will continue in circles until they stop and see a bunch of people who have made love the highest mandate, living harmoniously and transforming society around them through their love lifestyle; then, maybe, they’ll want to come under the shadow of that lifestyle. I hope so.

Post #99

I feel like I should say something special to commemorate post no. 99. (Not post no. 100 – that would be too clichéd)

But those who know me will know I’m not usually the type who says something just for the sake of it. So what can I say? Only what’s on my mind at the moment, and which I will be sharing in an appropriate church context tomorrow, this little phrase which I read from Bill Johnson recently: “It’s much more fun to pray with God than merely to pray to Him.”

I love this phrase. For me it sums up brilliantly many of the important things the New Testament has to say about prayer. I think of Romans 8, where the Spirit helps us in our weakness, coming alongside as the ‘paraclete’ – that’s the Greek word which literally means ‘the one called alongside to help’. Jesus, who was Himself, God, nevertheless prayed, with His Father, for example, “I do the things which I have seen with My Father” (John 8:38) – there He talks of experiences He has with His Father where He is shown things that He will later do. It’s all part of prayer, the fact that we’re being WITH God, not just praying TO Him.

I don’t know how many Christians might take issue with this idea, but I guess there could be a few.

(INTERJECTION: I don’t know if it’s a strength or a weakness of mine that I’m always pointing out the people who would take issue with the things I write about – hence most of my blogs become polemics/apologetics. It’s probably both strength and weakness. Maybe from post no. 100, I’ll be revising whether I need to do this so much. Interjection over.)

For example some might think that the idea of ‘praying WITH God’ doesn’t make any sense, we are meant to be praying TO Him to sort things out, period. Praying with Him, and as I will go on to say, agreeing with Him, suggests that He needs our help. Without us He is somehow weak. Behind it I see perhaps the ultra-Calvinistic fatalistic approach vs. the open-view approach.

Well, I always think it makes sense simply to look at what Scripture says and go with it, but seeing as all Christians seem to do that and still come up with different things, I’ll just state my convictions: He doesn’t need our ‘help’ per se as though without us He is weak. However He has made it CLEAR from the beginning that we are ‘co-labourers’ with Him (1 Cor 3:9; 2 Cor 6:1); background studies of Genesis 1:26-27 and related passages in the early chapters of the Bible indicate that we were created to be ‘co-regents’ of God over His creation. There has never been excuse for sitting back and watching God do everything. I know that praying TO Him wouldn’t look like that, but the idea of praying WITH Him might be a step too far in the direction of incapable-without-us God. I’m saying this isn’t the case, but simply that He has stated His intention that we work WITH Him to see His kingdom (reign) come on earth.

God is looking for agreement on earth with heaven’s plans. I don’t believe that God’s will is being done all the time; it is only being done when His people come into line with His intentions. I believe all His plans are good. I don’t believe He was behind some of the great atrocities of history like the holocaust or many of the natural disasters that we have seen. The New Testament, to me, seems SO ridiculously clear that His will is done when WE get involved in it! Hence we pray, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” As those who have been made citizens of heaven, but live on earth, we should be those looking for heaven to come to earth. We are ambassadors but more than that, we are looking to salt and light the world with the heavenly kingdom.

In 2 Corinthians 1 Paul talks about how all the promises of God are “yes” in Christ – but then he goes on to say that through Him is our amen. He is the yes; we bring the amen. He has stated the promises, the many wonderful things He has done and wants to do, in Christ; but none of those things will come about until we proclaim our happy agreement and say “Amen!” Then, He will have a base on the earth to fulfill those promises, when there is a body of people (the church) who agree with heaven’s plans for earth.

It’s all very exciting. I haven’t described it very well. Maybe in later years I’ll be able to refine my language for it. But for now, for post no. 99, this is what I’ve been thinking about. This is what I’m excited about.

Preaching 9th Jan – sneak preview

I’ve once again been given the privilege of having a chance to preach at church on 9th Jan. In thinking and preparing a bit about what I’m gonna say, this phrase seems to sum it up quite nicely: Yesterday’s revelations are tomorrow’s breakthroughs.

Wanna know more? Watch out for the audio of it appearing here soon under ‘Audio Messages’

Of course…these things can always change…I might talk about something else entirely! ;-P

God’s mouth and His hand

We have a good God. It is my firm belief that the understanding and belief that ‘God is good’ is the cornerstone to good theology. Living with an awareness of this, I have found more and more that Scripture confirms and underlines this! And here is just one more example that has been feeding my soul for a few days.

I blogged recently about ‘Solomon’s kingdom’. So it should be no surprise that I’m following it up with something else from 1 Kings – that’s right, I’m battling through the histories of the Old Testament at the moment. Actually, the histories are always packed with amazing stuff, but you always forget, until you get around to reading them again! Or is it just me who finds this?

Anyway, in 1 Kings 8 we have Solomon talking to the multitude that have gathered for the ‘grand opening’ of the temple, and praying to the Lord. (I hope you appreciate that due to the nature of the blog I only have space to give the briefest of contexts. I have on many occasions been accused of verbosity!)

There are a number of beautiful things to be found in this chapter alone (the glory of the Lord filling the house in verse 11; God going ahead with a desire that was in the heart of David verses 16-17) which I would love to spend time on, but I can’t, so go and look at those verses yourself.

What jumped at me this time, which I have not so much noticed before, is a phrase that is actually repeated, occurring first in verse 15, where Solomon begins to praise the Lord while explaining to the people what led to this day: “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with His mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with His hand…” I’d not spotted the distinction before, but now it occurred to me: God spoke with His mouth, and fulfilled it with His hand. Nice.

I said it was repeated. Solomon came back to this phrase again, even more succinctly, in verse 24, when he’s praying: “indeed, You have spoken with Your mouth and have fulfilled it with Your hand as it is this day.” I think he was preaching his way into revelation! What I mean by that is, perhaps when he first spoke it in verse 15, the two things occurred to him to say, and as he went on, he realised the depth and significance of the idea, refined it, and it came out again in prayer in verse 24 in the neat way that we see. Sometimes you might find this happens, when you are living in prayerful revelation. An idea occurs which begins to clarify as you meditate on it and begin to use it in prayer and proclamation!

Anyway, I found this phrase beautiful, and as I said, had a depth to it. It constituted something I already knew, but sometimes the Lord brings things back up again for us to freshly think about.

When God speaks (with His mouth), He also stretches forth His hand to empower the word and the hearers and bearers (announcers) of the word. Like I said, He is a good God. He doesn’t say something and then expect those who hear to get on an fulfill it in their own strength. Ten out of ten times, this is impossible! That’s the mistake that was so frequently made about the Law. It was as though it were for us merely to perform duties as ordained by the mouth of God. No, says Paul, it was meant to be a tutor to lead us to Christ, who is the power of God (1 Cor 1:24). It shows us our deficiency in not being able to perform what God has spoken out of our own strength, and our need for Christ and the empowerment of the anointing of the Holy Spirit (which is what ‘Christ’ or ‘Messiah’ means: ‘anointed one’).

I repeat: God never speaks a word without also making power available to accomplish it. In the New Testament this is summed up beautifully in Luke 1:37. If you were to turn there in your Bible, it is likely it might say something like “For nothing will be impossible with God.” How, you might ask, does this sound like what I have just described? It might vaguely, but not exactly.

Well, translators of even the most ‘literal’ translations (like mine) still take liberties sometimes to make something slightly more readable, and what is actually contained in the Greek of this verse is that “no word from God will be without power.”

Hopefully you see a little more now how this reflects what I have been saying! No word from God is without power! Furthermore the word ‘word’ is ‘rhema’ which is often used to describe, in Strong’s definition, “that which is or has been uttered by the living voice…” Some would say it is used to describe words that have come immediately, ‘in the moment’, including such words from God, as opposed to the established, written word (generally meaning Scriptures), for which the Greek word ‘logos’ is often used.

In the context of Luke 1 it helps us to see how it applies: Gabriel has just delivered a word to Mary that she is to bear the Messiah, and that the means are not to be natural but supernatural, it will be a ‘virgin birth’. How will it be achieved? Not, of course, by any human strength, but “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will  overshadow you…” (verse 35).

The word ‘overshadow’ there leads us to another verse, to be found back in Isaiah 51:16. It has been a favourite of mine for a number of years. In it the Lord states: “I have put My words in your mouth and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to established the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, ‘You are My people.’” Here we see that the activity of the word of the Lord and the hand of the Lord are more intimately interwoven. God has a word which He has placed into the mouth of the prophet so that he (the prophet) can be the one who speaks it out. God’s hand then overshadows the prophet (hence the link to Luke 1) to create the ‘atmosphere of anointing’ appropriate for the prophet to release that word. As they release it, it is empowered by the Lord’s hand to do what it was sent to accomplish. It establishes something in the heavens, which also affects the earth (‘founding’ it – laying a foundation) and furthermore speaks empowerment to the people of God (“You are My people”).

Did you know that plenty of atheists and antagonists read the Bible to tear it apart, viciously seeking to undermine its authority and condemn things that it has to say. Others all over the world (a great many more I dare say) – many millions – take massive encouragement from it and find God speaks to them through it. What is the difference? The anointing, the power of God. Without it, the Bible can be a dry book! No wonder Jesus said, “You are mistaken, not knowing the Scriptures nor the power of God” (Mark 12:24). In order to have understanding, He is saying, you must not only know what the Scriptures say, but you must know and have experience of the power of God!

Perhaps you know this. One day you read it and nothing seems to go in. You go away and don’t remember a thing you just read! But on another day, perhaps you’re in a prayer meeting, or have just been in a time of worship, or have been praying yourself, and suddenly something in Scripture opens up like you’ve never seen it before. It has a ‘power’ which it didn’t have the day before – because the atmosphere is of prayer, the Spirit is there, and now God is speaking! I hope you’ve had the pleasure of this experience – it’s always tremendously exciting and something that we should seek to make a daily experience.

To press on: Zechariah 4:6 is a well-known verse which I think speaks again directly into this subject. The Lord has been speaking some incredible words to Zerubbabel, and then He caps it off with this: “‘Not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.” In case you were thinking you were going to achieve all these things in your own strength, Zerubbabel, you got another think coming! It was the Lord’s reminder that he would need the anointing (pictured by the oil that flows right throughout this chapter) to accomplish all that was spoken of (including laying the foundations of the new temple they were rebuilding, right up to completing it by placing the final ‘capstone’ as the building work was completed!).

Ecclesiastes 8:4 in the New King James Version reads “Where the word of a king is, there is power.”

And lastly (for now), we see how this idea operated in the vibrant life of the early church in Acts chapter 4. Having been persecuted for preaching the word and seeing a lame man miraculously healed, the church gathers and prays a powerful prayer, saying: “And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bondservants may speak Your word with all boldness, while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus.” Having prayed this, the whole house where they were gathered was shaken – a powerful confirmation from the Lord, I would say, that He heard and liked their prayer!

They asked that as they proclaimed His WORD, that He would confirm and accompany it with POWER. They believed the two things to be inextricably linked. You cannot have the word of God without power. Without power, the good news is not good news. Jesus went about preaching the kingdom, and healing all who were sick (Matthew 4:23; 9:35; Mark 1:21-28). Signs accompanying the proclamation of the gospel were a given in the days of the early church (Mark 16:15-20).

Be encouraged! If God has spoken a word (be it a fresh revelation from Scripture, or an impression in your heart, or the audible voice of the Lord, or in any way), He also provides the power to accomplish it. And He is a God who finishes, who completes the work He began! (Philippians 1:6)

I Love This

I generally love listening to Shawn for the reason that he says stuff like this! Come on. I think this is great because it shows Christians that we can rise above this whole ‘cultural relevance’ thing that people try and go for so much, and become culture-setters. I’m okay with that!

Value in God’s economy

There are lots of things that God seems to have been repeating lately. One is “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Another is “If God is for us, who can be against us?”

All awesome verses from the Bible. And another thing, more of a concept than just one particular verse, which I have been meditating on probably for a couple of weeks now, is the concept of value and worth.

That is, value and worth in God’s economy. God’s economy – whatever you might think or know of this concept, be sure of this: it is unlike the world’s economy. Its means of transaction is by faith. It often increases by multiplication, rather than addition, and can work with the most unusual of resources. For example, five loaves and two fish are enough to feed a crowd of thousands. He supplies not according to any old measure but ‘according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus’ (Philippians 4:19). He is not a stingy God. One of Jesus’ specific mission targets was that He came to give life more abundantly (John 10:10) – He is not happy when any life is shown to have had things stolen, killed or destroyed by the devil.

That is rather a short summary of what really deserves a lot more attention and teaching, hopefully I can address that sometime in the near future. When we understand the nature of God that affects and changes our faith and the way we behave towards others too so I believe this kind of understanding is important to grasp.

One of the areas I believe we also need to adjust our thinking to God’s way of thinking, is in how we value people – and indeed ourselves. When I say value I mean a lot of things, but in particular how we honour them for their time and gifts, but not only that, how we see the POTENTIAL that is in them as beings created in the image of God Himself. How we honour who God made them to be. And how we see ourselves as we are in God’s eyes.

One of the things that really struck me recently is that so many of us have been tied into the world’s system which basically uses pay packets and wages to ascribe to people their apparent ‘worth’. Unsurprisingly these days, those who earn less often feel worth less, or worse, worthless! People talk especially of the wealthy in terms of “The are WORTH 2.5 billion” or whatever the figure is, basically meaning that’s how much money they have. I heard some say that of prosperity preachers recently. I might well have responded (if I’d had my wits about me at the time): “they are worth the same as any Christian – and any non-Christian for that matter – nothing less than the life of Jesus Christ, Son of God.”

That is the ultimate truth of it. We as Christians ought to be those who know and believe and act like everyone is worth the SAME, and that SAME price is the highest price thinkable in the universe: the Son of God. Without doubt, the man who has swept my street for the last 35 years is equal in value to Bob Diamond (the investment banker hitting the news recently for having been appointed CEO of Barclay’s bank). And that value is higher than anything Bob Diamond, or any other banker or entrepreneur, or any of them put together, have ever earned! Indescribable worth!

There is nothing higher that God could have paid. That’s why Paul says, “He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things?” (Romans 8:32). This is something you need to spend some time just chewing over! It’s amazing and I believe would really liberate so many more Christians if they thought for a while about how much God loves them and paid for them to be made right with Him!

And so in light of this, it really strikes me that we as Christians need to move away from valueing people just according to how well we think they’ve done in a natural sense – not to dismiss or ignore talents and hard work – but to use a bit more of God’s economy, blessing people with more honour than they might usually expect to receive for something, and thereby hopefully showing them the love of God, and bringing out of them some more of the God-given potential that He wrote into their DNA.

Then, maybe, we’ll find a bit of God’s economy flowing back to us. “According to your standard of measure, it will be measured to you,” someone rather important and wonderful once said. “Give and it will be given to you, pressed down, shaken together and running over.”

A final reminder: whoever you are, you’re worth more than you could possibly imagine in God’s eyes. If you’re reading this thinking that this probably applies to just about everyone else EXCEPT you, think again: God loves you with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), so much that He gave His only Son. You are worth everything to Him, and it’s His nature as Father to want to show you that love – just open yourself up to Him!

And show that love, that worth, that value to others. No matter who they are – the nameless, faceless poor of the city, or the richest business men and women in your area. Your best friend, or the awkward person at church with learning difficulties and lack of social skills. Your lovely neighbour on one side, or the broken or unfriendly neighbour on the other! “walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us…” (Ephesians 5:2)

Worship 7: The results of extravagant worship

I blogged before about extravagant worship, concerning which I believe the Scripture has some important things to say. The Lord has been opening up a little bit more to me about this subject, of late. I have observed what else is involved in situations where worship is radically expressed in an abandoned way.

It came first when I was prophesying over someone. I remembered the story of Mary anointing Jesus’ feet with the costly perfume as told in John 12:1-8, and how it says that ‘the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume’ – in other words, this was atmosphere-changing worship. That’s what I’m after! On just a few occasions (and I wish it were more), I have been in worship services where everyone has been so engaged in worship, really pressing in deeply, and there has been an atmospheric shift because the Lord loves to come and be enthroned on the praises of His people.

But it also occurred to me afterwards that it also brought out stark offense in one who already had a hard heart towards Jesus – that is, Judas Iscariot. The Bible speaks in various places of the distinction between the righteous and the unrighteous becoming more marked (Isaiah 60:2; Malachi 3:18; Matthew 13:29-30), and this seems to be one of the ways it happens. Judas becomes offended with what seems to be waste, but it is clear that there is an inner problem within him which is not betrayed by the words he uses; in other words, he blurts something out to try and contest what is happening in religious terms, but really he has selfish motivations as John makes clear (John 12:6).

Then I turned my thoughts to another of the passages that I referred to in my blog on extravagant worship, namely 2 Samuel 6, and the story of David dancing before the Lord ‘with all his might’, dressed only in a linen ephod, which was a priestly garment. Especially in Old Testament times, this was an ESPECIALLY outrageous manner of worship, as they made sacrifices at very short intervals all the way from Obed-edom’s house to Jerusalem as the ark was carried on that route. First of all, that whole story is about atmospheric change, both in the fact that the ark was that which carried the presence of God in the Old Testament, and in that they offered so many sacrifices – you’d better believe they were aromatic, as all those animals were killed and then cooked! Jerusalem would have been full of the smell of food, and hopefully, the presence of God. And what was David doing the whole time? Dancing wildly.

And interestingly, again, we see an individual rise up in more virulent opposition to what is going on, this time, Michal, Saul’s daughter and grudging wife of David. “How the king of Israel distinguished himself today!” She says sarcastically. Michal says that David UNCOVERED himself, but as we have mentioned, it is distinct that he wore the priestly ephod. She didn’t recognise his worship. All she could see was on a human level, what others might have thought of him.

I’m not even sure what encouragement we are to take from this apparent evidence that extravagant worship will probably cause a bit of opposition, but I guess it’s no surprise. This kind of worship does looking alarming and barmy to some, but it’s what people do who are completely sold out and in love with God. It’s just what they do. Sadly I know others who have made some comment or other about the ‘crazy’ way in which some people worship. Somehow forgetting that we’re not here to pass judgment, and until you yourself are worshiping as you know you should because of your love for God, it’s difficult to justify being able to criticise other peoples’ relationship with God. The Bible does say that we are to love God with our WHOLE heart, mind, soul, and strength, and that this is the most important commandment. If it’s with ALL of those, it’s going to look like more than a quiet little thank you prayer on a Sunday morning, I somehow think!

Anyway, whatever it means that some will be offended with extravagant worship, I guess it IS encouragement, because it demonstrates that there really is an atmospheric shift taking place, and that the distinctions are becoming evident to reveal hearts and not keep things hidden that need to be dealt with.

Purity and Power

There’s not much to this post. Just that the other day, in the context of a mission that we have going on at the moment, when I thought about Jesus in the Gospels, two things struck me without me even really thinking about it (in other words, the Lord spoke to me): purity, and power.

Jesus was a man who, incontrovertibly, walked in purity during His life. There is nothing that can be held against Him in accusation of wrong-doing. His death was indisputably injust.

But He was also a Man who walked in great power. Every afflicted person, by sickness, by demon, by anything else, He utterly delivered and set free. The measure of anointing to see the sick healed was almost unprecedented in His life.

But why are these two things in particular important? And why are they important together? For me, anyway, I have observed how often the church emphasises one of these, sometimes at the EXPENSE of the other. Either they harp on about power non-stop, only to fall into sin easier than they should have, or to be found already in sin. Or, often in reaction to such a scenario, they emphasise purity and say we don’t need to worry so much about whether we’re seeing the power or not, because none of that matters if you’re not pure.

I just think the Lord is a bit more balanced than that. Yes, it is very important that we maintain pure lives. But without power, we won’t see much of His kingdom come, because “The kingdom of God is not in word but in power.” (1 Cor 4:20) Jesus demonstrated both in His life with equal force. There is no need to worry that the pursuit of power will take our eyes off the need for purity, simply because of what a few other human beings of recent times have done. Look to Jesus – He is the ultimate example we should all be following. Power will see many brought into the kingdom as it will demonstrate His Lordship in a vivid way. Purity will help those who come into the kingdom to be discipled and grow into others who can go out and do the same: demonstrate His kingdom by the power of the Spirit, and then bring others into His pure life, purged of sin and cleansed by the blood of Jesus.

Amen!