Greatness In The Eyes of God

I just finished studying Matthew 11:7-11 and I was stunned. I began to read simply expecting another chance to dig a little deeper into what the Word says.  But God is so good that while I was reading He gave me insight into His heart, and I just had to share it with you all.  The five verses in this passage are talking about John the Baptist and his position in the coming Kingdom that Jesus was launching in the Earth. If we read them closely, however, we come to understand that God views man with different eyes than we do ourselves.  He sees us through a different lens and we must see through that lens if we want to come alive with the purposes of God.

To set up the story a little bit, John had been thrown in prison (11:2) and had sent his disciples to ask Jesus if He really was the One that John predicted He was, or if John had actually missed it in his prophecy (11:3).  Jesus gave the disciples of John a demonstration of His ministry to boost their faith (11:4-5), and then turned and gave them one more word of exhortation for their teacher: “You're blessed if You're not offended by who I am,” (11:6).  All of this paints a pretty bad picture for John the Baptist.  I mean here is this guy who’s ministry exploded overnight.  He called thousands to repentance and then had the fortitude to prophesy that his distant relative was the coming Messiah.  But now overnight he gets thrown into jail, his ministry ends, and he's stuck sending his students to ask questions about the Messiah that are based in doubt.

But the story doesn't end there.  And that, in and of itself, is the great part.  See most of us now would sit and judge John because we judge ourselves in these sorts of situations.  We do well for a minute and then something hits us from left field and we're left in doubt and unbelief about what God actually said.  And what we think about ourselves, or anyone else we see in that position, is that they've missed God.  But listen to what Jesus said about this man in the darkest hour of his life.  First, he asked the crowd around him what they went out to see when they went to see John in the wilderness.  They certainly didn't go out to see someone who was unstable and didn't stick to his ground on issues; like a reed blowing in the wind (11:7).  They didn't go out to see someone of earthly importance who dressed the part (11:8).  Then listen to the sound of joy in His voice when He described John, “You went out to see a prophet, but he was even more than a prophet!” (11:9).   The word Jesus used for “more than” means “abundantly more than.”  He was way more than a prophet. Jesus went on to describe John as His forerunner.  Without going into great detail, this position is what made him more than a prophet.

Jesus went on to begin His next statement with “Truly I tell you...” (11:11) which shows that this was a solemn statement that He expected His hearers to pay attention to.  Concerning John, the one who was doubting, He openly declared, “No one born to a woman has arisen who is greater than John the Baptist.” This is the part I love most about Jesus.  He looked at this man, discouraged in faith and doubting the very prophesies that had come from his mouth because the road had been weary,  and Jesus declared, “He is the greatest man ever born!”  Don't You love that about Jesus?  He  was totally unconcerned that the Pharisees never liked John.  He could care less that everyone else in the crowd was judging John for looking like a doubter.  He knew that John was great even though the rest of the world didn’t see as He saw.

But Jesus didn't stop there.  He went on to describe our greatness.  This One who sees John differently than we see him now says He sees us differently than how we see ourselves.  According to Jesus, anyone who is part of the Kingdom of God is greater than the greatest man born up until that point!  Understand this!  The smallest, most insignificant believer in the kingdom is greater than John the Baptist! God judges greatness very differently than we do.  Man looks on the outside, but God looks at the heart (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7).  Not because of anything you've done, but because you've trusted in Jesus, you are greater than any man born in the first 4000+ years of human history and every non-believer since Jesus' day.  Beloved, you are great because you have called on the name of Jesus.  You are part of a unique race, beyond normal humanity, loved by the Lord, designed for God's enjoyment, and His alone.  

Now to be fair, some of us live what look like normal, everyday lives.  But don't settle for the lie.  You become something different when you believe you are unique.  You are great.  There is greatness in you that the world may not see, but the ultimate Judge of the entire world is already enjoying it in you.  You may even be like John the Baptist, whose glory days have past, and you feel like you've doubted God.  But God sees and knows, even what we do not.  You are great in God's sight.  Believe it.

Cultivating A Prophetic Spirit at the End of the Age

Part of God’s plan for the earth during this season of tribulation that is coming (see the previous post “An Introduction To End Time Events and Their Meaning For The Church in this Hour”) is to raise up a prophetic witness in the Earth that proclaims the reality of Jesus. He wants fiery messengers that not only declare who Jesus is, but what He is after in the hour of testing. Again, its important to know that Paul declares “But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day…” (1 Thessalonians 5:4-5). Joel 2:28-32 declares God’s intention to speak to His people in unprecedented ways at the end of the age. The prophetic spirit will operate like never before. The messengers God is raising up will not only have dreams and visions, but they will declare things that will be backed up by supernatural signs in the heavens. The highest display of this will be the two witnesses that God will raise up to challenge the Anti-Christ (Revelation 11:3-6). But Daniel declares that in those days, “The people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits,” (Daniel 11:32, NKJV).

It’s important to understand that the messengers operating in this prophetic anointing won’t just appear on the scene out of nowhere. They are currently being raised up in our church nurseries, our high schools, and the secular business world. They are us. Those of us who are alive on the earth have the responsibility of cultivating revelation of what’s coming. The prophetic anointing doesn’t just fall on an individual in one day. It comes as believers day after day submit to the Lordship of Jesus when no one is looking. This listening to Jesus and submitting to Him start now. We must cultivate a prophetic spirit in our fellowships and our own individual lives so that we can receive as much as God will give in the day of trial.

Prayer and Fasting

One of the best ways to begin to break off apathy our lives and develop prophetically is to begin a journey of prayer and fasting. Most of us pray, but very few of us pray to actually hear from God. Beloved, our God is always speaking. He is always declaring and creating by His word. Part of the purpose of prayer is to hear God about relevant issues of our lives. The Olivet Discourse (Matthew 24-25, Mark 13, and Luke 21) and the book of Revelation are stunning declarations that God desires to tell us about the end times. I believe God wants to shine new light on old scripture so that our hearts are awakened to the hour we’re living in. As we posture our hearts in prayer to understand what the scripture says, God will give dreams, visions, and insights into the word that will produce biblical urgency for the hour we live in and give us strategy to prepare for the events that are coming (cf. Eph 1:17-19). This is what we desperately need in this hour.

Fasting is another crucial element that must be added to our spiritual journey if we desire to understand the hour we’re living in. Fasting, for those outside of the lingo, is a discipline in which believers voluntarily give up eating for a period of time in order to humble themselves before God. Fasting positions our hearts before God so He can expand our hearts and give us more revelation. This discipline will have incredible significance when God is pouring out judgment on the Earth (Joel 2:1, 2:12-17). Because fasting helps our heart receive from God faster and opens us up to supernatural direction (Acts 13:2) it is a needed tool in gaining insight for the hour ahead.

The biblical model for this pursuit is Daniel. Daniel saw in scripture a prophetic promise for Israel that would affect his generation. When he became aware of the promise in scripture, he set his heart to receive revelation from the Lord about the details of what the Lord desired to do in his generation (Daniel 9:2-3). As he is prayed, the angel Gabriel visited him, and not only gave him information about his generation but also gave him a description of the future history of Israel. We look to Daniel for much of our end-time revelation because he persisted in prayer and fasting and God answered him with true revelation. This is the need of the hour—Daniels who will fast and pray to understand the times and seasons we’re living in. Only a gripped heart will prepare for them appropriately.

The Harvest

Again, we must remember, we are not just preparing for ourselves. Daniel declares in Daniel 11:33, “Those who have insight among the people will give understanding to the many…” We prepare because we believe God not only wants to direct us by His voice, but He is going to entrust us with direction that will save many in those days. While the nations are raging against Jesus, those with prophetic insight will be declaring the way to safety in the midst of trial. Unbelievers and believers will be delivered from destruction because we took time now to hear God’s voice. Signs in the heavens will back up our words and the end result will be the salvation of many. “And it will come about that whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be delivered; for on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem there will be those who escape, as the Lord has said even among the survivors whom the Lord calls,” (Joel 2:32). Beloved, cultivating a prophetic spirit isn’t an option or a hobby, it’s a necessity that will affect the salvation of many. Let’s begin a lifestyle of prayer and fasting to cultivate a prophetic spirit for the days ahead.

A Note To Readers

This is just a quick note for those who are new to blogging. At the end of each post there is a place for replying to the post. I’d love to see the blog spark some serious discussion about what’s ahead for the body of Christ. If you have a comment you’d like to add, click on the comment link at the bottom of each post and enter your thoughts. Thanks!

An Introduction To End Time Events and Their Meaning For The Church in this Hour

An unprecedented thing is happening in the body of Christ worldwide. Not since the first century church has so much of the body of Christ believed that we are living at the end of the age. And yet this profound thought—that we are the last days body of Christ—has had little affect on the lives of every day believers. I say little because it has had a measured affect. People have come to know the Lord through the Left Behind books, older Christians have moved forward because this belief has stirred them, and even a small remnant of people have begun to live their lives at odds with the spirit of this age.

But to be fair, I think the vast majority of us, including myself, think about the end of the age much like a bill that needs to be paid: It nags the back of our minds, we know that it’s coming up, but to control the reality of it we keep it almost subconscious. It’s an easier thought to control from the back of our minds. But if we desire to live the way the early church lived we must believe what they believed. Peter, Paul, John and others were continuously living their lives in light of the appearing of Jesus at the end of the age, and we must do the same.

We need to dust off the scriptures and proclaim their relevance to our generation. There’s a whole generation that’s been convinced that end time events are too difficult to understand or that they have no relevance to today. But Paul says to the church, “ Now as to the times and the epochs, brethren, you have no need of anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know full well that the day of the Lord will come just like a thief in the night. While they are saying, ‘Peace and safety!’ then destruction will come upon them suddenly like labor pains upon a woman with child, and they will not escape. But you, brethren, are not in darkness, that the day would overtake you like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day We are not of night nor of darkness. . .” We are of the light, and the day of the Lord should not overtake us like a thief. We must be sober and alert for the hour that is coming.

The Deception

Part of the apathy that the body of Christ has suffered is the result of many blindly accepting the pre-tribulation rapture without diligent study of the scriptures. A diligent study of Scripture will show that Jesus is promised to only come again one more time, not twice as many believe. The idea that Jesus will come once secretly and then again in open view is found nowhere in the Bible. To the contrary, speaking of the coming of Jesus, John writes to the churches in Revelation, “Behold He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him,” (Revelation 1:7, cf. 2 Thessalonians 1:6-8). Yet good, honest believers have taught this theory for years. The result has been a belief that the events of Revelation 7-17 have no bearing on the life of the church, when in fact those chapters were written to prepare us for that hour.

For those taught this doctrine, my previous statements will almost no doubt ring heretical in your ears. But when dealing with end time scriptures we have to be very careful to say what the Bible is saying instead of making the Bible say what we say. For example, Paul says in 2 Thessalonians 2:1-4, “ Now we request you, brethren, with regard to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, that you not be quickly shaken from your composure or be disturbed either by a spirit or a message or a letter…Let no one in any way deceive you, for it will not come unless the apostasy comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, displaying himself as being God.” Notice that Paul places the second coming of Jesus after the great apostasy and the rise to power of the Anti-Christ. This has massive implications for the church that require preparation.

We cannot continue to put off preparing for the days that are ahead. Trite answers will not save us in that day. Only reality birthed in the hearts of believers by the Spirit of God will stand the onslaught of wickedness and persecution that is coming. Not having our minds made up on this topic will only cause us to vacillate spiritually. We’ll have an idea that we need to prepare but not the surety that causes us to prepare with the diligence required. We must be sure about the reality that is coming. Scripture promises there will be a great falling away. This will affect people in every geographic region. There will be persecution that comes from a satanically inspired world leader. This man, whom the Bible describes as a beast, will affect people you know. We must prepare.

Preparing

In the weeks ahead I’ll discuss a little more of what I believe preparation will look like. But we must have a vision of the days we’re preparing to live in. Scripture describes the day of the Lord as “the great and very terrible day” (Joel 2:11). There are going to be positive aspects of the day of the Lord that we must prepare. There will also be “very terrible” things that will require us to change in ways that will be difficult to imagine. God promises in Haggai 2:6-7, “For thus says the LORD of hosts: ‘Once more (it is a little while) I will shake heaven and earth, the sea and dry land; and I will shake all nations, and they shall come to the Desire of All Nations, and I will fill this temple with glory,’ says the LORD of hosts.” Everything that can be shaken will be shaken. This will include the church. We must prepare both for the glory that is coming and the judgments because they will both shake us.

Most of us, including myself, have very little clue about how to prepare for revival. America has been without true awakening in the land for so long that we’ll have no idea how to respond with thousands of new converts in each city. Remember the book of Acts experienced 3,000 conversions in one day and more were added to their number every day. At the same time, if a believer lied to the leadership of the church, they died (Acts 5:1-11). This is the glory that rested upon the early church. And God’s desire is to pour out more glory in the last days than He did in the first. The glory is going to break our current church structures in a way few of us realize.

But while revival is breaking everywhere God’s judgment upon on the Earth will reach catastrophic levels. There will be a massive turning away from Christ in the Christian community. If it is possible the Anti-Christ will attempt to deceive even the elect. Few of us have positioned our hearts to follow Christ even if no one around us is. This isn’t only problematic; it will devastate us in the days to come. Though we haven’t seen it in America, persecution against the church has been rising steadily in almost every corner of the globe. When the world comes under the dominion of the Anti-Christ it will only increase. Finally, God will pour out judgments on the earth as part of His end-time strategy to fully possess it. The whole testimony of Revelation is clear about this. All of these conditions on their own are dreadful, but they will all happen simultaneously, rocking the Earth to its core.

Beloved, the time has come to prepare soberly for what is ahead. I believe that the days ahead are going to be the best we’ve ever imagined, but the loss sustained from not preparing is staggering. In coming weeks, we’ll discuss how to react to these times, but for now let’s get a vision for the season we are living in. Only a proper vision will prepare us for what’s ahead.