“…. I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.” Revelation 3:1b-2 (NIV)
Wake up, Church!! Look at the signs around us, the time is near. Our Lord Jesus is NOT going to return to a dead church, but a glorious Church. God will fill the whole earth with His glory. “The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house.” (Haggai 2:9). God will deal with His Church first. “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household….” (1 Peter 4:17).
Pockets of revival are sparking everywhere and God is opening the mouths of His children to preach the gospel under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. What is revival? It means to revive our life from being lukewarm to being on fire for God. When you are on fire for God, you will love Him and obey Him. And obedience is the pathway to perfection and the ultimate mark of Sonship.
We are living in exciting times where we can see the signs of end times happening as mentioned in the Bible. Things are changing so fast in the world that the Church need the zeal of the Lord to fulfil her call. The Lord is accelerating His works as the time is near.
The main purpose of God is to speak life to His people. Sermons should come directly from Him speaking through His vessels under His anointing, not what the pulpit preachers desire to speak.
Jesus said in John 6:63 that "The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life". Two important things we must learn from Jesus: Firstly, Jesus has the living Rhema word inside of Him. And secondly, Jesus told us that He never said or did anything unless the Father spoke it to Him first. (John 8:28; 14:24; 5:19). Therefore, in order for us to have the power that Jesus had, we must possess the Rhema words.
Logos is the written Word of God and Rhema is the living, spoken Word of God. The Word changes from logos to rhema in our heart, not our mind.
Jesus was Spirit-filled and Spirit-led. Jesus in reality, only did three things in His entire life on Earth:
- He did what the Father told Him to do.
- He went where the Father told Him to go.
- He said what the Father told Him to say.
He just waited to receive the Rhema word from His Heavenly Father before He acted.
About a decade ago, my pastor took me to a hospital to pray for a boy who was in coma. He died and I grieved. Then the Lord spoke to me in an audible, loud voice, "Next time, wait for My word."
It is not us doing things for God - it is God doing His works through us. Jesus said "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." Matthew 11:30. We have to remember it is Jesus’ yoke. He carries most of the load and we are yoke to Him, keeping pace with Him to achieve His purpose for our lives.
And this can only happen when there is a right living relationship between us and the Heavenly Father in whom we trust and obey at all times.
Therefore, we cannot just engage the Bible with our mind. The Bible is a spiritual book and spiritual things are caught, not taught. We must apply also our heart and spirit in reading the Word. Important truths about God are spiritually revealed rather than through cognitive learning.
Anybody can read the Bible. The devil is a great theologian. He knows the logos better than many learned theologians. But, one thing that the devil does not have is the anointing of the Holy Spirit.
See how the devil used the word of God to challenge Jesus when He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil (Matthew 4:1-11).
Yes, we have to read the Bible under the anointing of the Holy Spirit. As the apostle John says in 1 John 2:27: "As for you, the anointing you received from Him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as His anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit–just as it has taught you, remain in Him."
So, dear friends, maintain your anointing at all times and remain in Him. Be obedient to the Holy Spirit. Hold on to the truth that God's words are Spirit and they are life (John 6:63). If we apply His living and active (Hebrews 4:12) words diligently, God will definitely confirm His word with 'signs' accompanying.
Often in my ministry, when His glory rests upon me (1 Peter 4:14) and when I am full of His Spirit (John 3:34) the words that I speak will be accompanied by 'signs'. This is because I speak the 'Rhema' words that He puts in my mouth.
The Bible records in Luke 24 an interesting event which happened to two of Jesus’ disciples who were on their way to Emmaus. What we can learn from this story is what the two disciples testified at the end of their journey with Jesus in Luke 24:32: “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?” This is precisely what I mean by ‘Rhema’, the spoken words of Jesus.
Putting it in simple words, if we desire the words of our mouth to carry God's power manifesting in 'signs' to save, heal, deliver and impact lives, then our mouths must belong to Him. Remember, Jesus never said or did anything unless the Father spoke to Him first. (John 8:28; 14:24; 5:19).
Matthew 14:28-29
“Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”
“Come,” He said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. So please do not walk on water based on the written word of God but wait for the Rhema word from God telling you to do so.
God is Spirit, therefore, He must be worshiped in spirit (John 4:24). God's Word is also spirit, and we must receive His Word in our human spirit, for the word to be effective and powerful when it is released.
Therefore, for our human spirit to be strong and sensitive to His leading (Romans 8:14), our human spirit must be continually strengthened and empowered by the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 3:16-19). True ministers of the Word are so hard to find.
There are two kinds of sins before God: the sins of commission, where we commit an act in rebellion against God by doing something that we should not do as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 6:10. The sins of presumption could also fall under this as we commit and act without first hearing from God or doing something out of self-will supposing that God will be pleased with it and that He will approve of it as mentioned in Psalm 19:13 and 2 Peter 2:10. The other kind is the sins of Omission - we knowingly commit not to do something that we ought to do as mentioned in Malachi 3:8; James 4:17 and 1 Timothy 5:8.
Let us press on to finish the work God has entrusted to us as His Church. Let us not be like the Church in Sardis in Revelation 3, where their deeds were found unfinished when the Lord comes. Let us take heed of Revelation 3:3, “Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent. But if you do not wake up, I will come like a thief, and you will not know at what time I will come to you.”
Let us ARISE to do His will as the Prophet Isaiah proclaimed:
Isaiah 60:1-3 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.
Paul K P Ang
Arsenal of Fire Global
March 5, 2019
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