It always starts off as a whisper. A whisper of the Spirit of God, calling out to those with an ear to hear!
The Spirit of God has began to speak to me of the pangs of labour and travail as the sound of the birthing of an epochal shift in the Church.
For decades we have been invested with the Word of God – the logos. And under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit – we have inclined ourselves to the rhema of Heaven. What that ultimately means is that we are carriers of the seed of God. We are pregnant with the Word of God.
For a time and for a season (just as in the natural with human pregnancy) we are the spiritual incubators for what God has deposited within us. This works on both levels whether personal, or corporate as the Body of Christ. But every birth is marked by the pangs of labour!
We are in that season now. It hurts! It is a painful process. Sometimes heartbreaking and gut-wrenching to watch. But it has to be endured for the joy that is set before it.
God told Eve it would happen. Rachel felt it. Jesus died for it! The Apostle and Fathers bore testimony to it. I’m talking about the birth of the Remnant Generation!
The very word ‘church’ used in the New Testament scriptures is the Greek word Ekklesia which means “the called out ones”. That begs the question – called out from what?
Bondage
In Egypt the Hebrew nation was oppressed under a heavy yoke. The Scripture describes it as cruel anguish! God was calling them out of Egypt and God sent them an archetypical deliverer in the form of Moses.
Fast forward into the time when Israel had slide back into her old ways and God sent His prophets to awaken her from her slumber. But the slumber that she was put into was a lullaby sang by a very seductive spirit – Jezebel.
Jezebel with her painted face dominated the narrative. Although not the ruler, she had effectively usurped power and controlled the King (Ahab) through her charms. Jezebel is all about control through manipulation.
But behind the painted face, behind the masquerade is a vicious, wicked spirit that is still seeking only one thing: to silence the authentic prophetic voices in a season – and replace them! She (and I use the pronoun only loosely) is still today the nemesis of the prophets and a prophetic generation!
In the story of Elijah the great prophet, we learn that his mission was to oppose this spirit. But even though he was able to call down fire from Heaven, he felt he was outmatched and outgunned. Jezebel’s singular threat to take his head and still his voice was enough to send Elijah running to Horeb – the mountain of God. The Midrash tells us that Elijah was looking for the very cleft of the rock that God put Moses into and passed over him.
Elijah realised that he had to get to a place where God would commission him and empower him to bring forth something greater than a single individual carried in order to slay the spirit of the age.
But Jezebel is not just about the control. Jezebel is about the facade. The painted face of the witch tells its own story. Much like the ancient Roman mythological god Janus, the spirit of Jezebel has two faces: One is the power of control. But the twin is the spirit of deception.
Where you find control you find deception.
Although we see Elijah running from the murderous threats of the King’s consort, it was all part of God’s plan to grant Elijah his greatest honour: to raise a double portion generation!
Prophets have always been the clarion call to the church! They have also been slaughtered by the very ones they cry out to.
Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you…
Today we witness the rise of popular prophets. Those with a sweet message and flattering words. They speak in the name of the Lord of Hosts, but truly speak only a word that pleases the crowd and promotes a reputation. The result is obvious. It’s right in front of any who wish to see it. But most are too reluctant to even consider that their idols could possibly be the stone of offence!
Elijah knew how to deal with this kind of false prophet. He slew them. The Jewish sages tell us that Elijah was a prophet who was armed with a sword! Was it not enough that this guy could call down fire from Heaven? How fearsome it must have been then to see this great prophet coming at you with a sword too!
There on Horeb, he met God not in signs and wonders but in the clarity of the silent, delicate whisper of the God of Heaven and Earth where God posed this question to His prophet:
Elijah! What are you doing here?
In other words, God was saying to Elijah, “You’re supposed to be in the face of the witch! Why have you let her stop your voice?“
And then God whispered to this great prophet his destiny. God was not rebuking Elijah like many assert. God was revealing the next course of events in the prophet’s life and ultimately granting him a great honour in releasing the next generation!
Can You Hear The Whisper?
It all starts with a delicate whisper. Like a fine gossamer thread, if you are too abrupt and too brash you might brush it away. But on the breeze of the Spirit now is the voice of the Father whispering to a generation. God is calling to the Remnant. God is birthing a Remnant Church. This is what is in the heart of the Holy Spirit.
It takes a prophet to raise a prophet. It takes a company of prophets who have not bowed their minds to the seduction of the spirit of the age to overcome and disarm it!
As if that isn’t enough to contend with – the King himself (Ahab) represents the Old Order of religious establishment and the traditions of men.
These are the two things that the Remnant Generation must face-off and stand against, and indeed slay in their lifetime so that a true church, led by the Spirit of God and matured in the pure Word of God, might rise in this hour!
Christian pop culture icons are rising fast! Their charisma and gifting grabs attention and sways opinion. But ultimately the attention seems to lead back to them rather than a fixation on Jesus. This is one of the early warning signs that something is amiss!
The very popular argument is “Oh! They are so gifted!” So what?? A gift once given is without repentance. That means once given, God does not change his mind and recall it! But what it does mean is that the source of the gift in some instances may no longer be the True Light! Think about that for a second.
Don’t be swayed by exciting gifts and glamorised signs! Cry out for depth and maturity!
Hear what the Spirit says to the Church – today
Which brings me back to the season of travail that the Church is now in. Indeed we are in the season of birthing and the pains of labour. The Remnant is being birthed! A generation that desires Truth in the Light of the Face of Jesus. A seeking generation, calling and groaning deeply to the Father!
What we find now is that the authentic prophetic voices are lamenting and grieving and crying out. This is all part of the birthing process. The Remnant carry the Double-Portion! It is the generation that will be tasked with throwing down Jezebel from her ivory tower!
Ultimately the question to be asked is one that is posed to the mature and new born alike: “Who is on the Lord’s side?”
Here’s the twist in the narrative. A religious spirit is something that we all came against and withstood decades ago. But it has given way to a spirit of charisma. It operates exactly the same way. If you aren’t flowing in the hype and experiential flow and the current acceptable tradition – then you are labelled as not flowing at all!
But God is not interested in emotional experiences. What He is very concerned about, and desires above man’s agenda, is our spiritual maturity!
The Remnant Church is Coming
I absolutely love the Church! I’m enamoured by it. It’s more than a passing crush. Zeal has consumed me. I have seen the glory of what God intends her to become and I’ve fallen for her! I’ve said it so many times and I’m going to say it a bunch more:
You cannot love Jesus if you don’t have a love for what He loves. And Jesus loves His Church!
The full mandate of the true church is found in the writing of the Apostle Paul:
…to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places, according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
Ephesians 3:10-11 (NKJV)
Can you see how the titanic battle that Elijah faced with the spiritual power of that age is exactly what the Remnant Generation must face now?
I have become increasingly aware that the authentic prophetic has a great responsibility in raising a generation of light.
We are faced with a very smart adversary. The enemy’s strategy is simple: divide and conquer. It’s not new. It’s not very creative. But it’s effective.
If you understand the scriptures and the shadows, types and seasons of God – you will no doubt sense that we are at a spiritual tipping point. Having travelled around the world carrying a prophet’s burden to raise and release a Remnant Generation, I hear a greater desire for Truth and Light. It might not be en masse (yet) – but I don’t think it’s supposed to be! It’s small. Hidden in a cave. Rallying in the wilderness.
I also see more clearly the role of the modern prophet in the current church. Yes our message must always be hope and be the extended hand of Jesus offering Grace and Light. But our voice must always be the clarion rallying call of Truth!
This is not a popularity contest. Prophets don’t get bonus points for pleasing the crowd! I certainly am not a voice of doom and gloom or a wagging, crooked finger! I extend the hand of God in fellowship to bring hope and light in the face of Jesus! But that doesn’t mean for one second that we could ever shirk the responsibility of admonishing a generation in favour of popular appeal.
And ultimately – that is the role of an Ascension gifted steward of the prophetic. It’s not to simply provide titivating personal words but to call out to the people of God and prepare them!
Read the Bible. Before God sent Jesus – the prophets cried out for the repentance of Israel. They yearned for Israel to awaken from slumber and get ready for something unprecedented! John the Baptist (whom Jesus said was greatest of the prophets) had the same message.
Before God does anything new – He announces it. Why? Not so that we can have visitation – but so that we can prepare for habitation!
God is doing it again. He is about to wash the earth in a wave of glory we have never before experienced and He is sending voices out into the earth to cry out to get ready for it!
New Wineskins for a New Glory
But how can you fill old wineskins with new wine? The current model of church cannot contain the new glory that God wants to bring. If we bring the new into the old then the old wineskins will burst and both the new wine and old wineskin will be lost.
This is where the Remnant generation comes into play and why they are being birthed right now! We are the new wineskins. The carries of a latter glory!
A big issue is that while an old glory is fading away, it is still fighting to stay relevant! This is the spirit of religion that has adopted modern charisma as its masquerade.
As I have grown, I better understand the grief and anguish the prophets felt as their cries fell on deaf ears. But is it not written in the Scripture that “having ears to hear they will not hear and eyes to see – they will not see!”
In all of this chaos is a growing Remnant! They are crying out for authentic. They are tired of the razzle-dazzle, the hype, the show, the deceitful, whimsical doctrine of men driven by the ‘F-words’ – fame, fortune and fantasy. Most of all the Remnant are characterised by their disdain of selective truths. They will not bow to the pressure of the false prophets of Baal or to the spirit of Jezebel. They cling to the purity of the Word of God. They have zeal for the House of God. Indeed – they are on the Lord’s side.
A Voice Crying Out
It became Elijah’s mandate to raise this generation and release one with a double portion: Elisha!
In the modern setting – God is not using the single-man-superstar model. Elisha represents a company of prophets who are calling out to rally the Remnant that God has kept reserved that will become a truly prophetic generation who when they prophesy with one voice – Heaven will respond!
The entire Remnant Generation becomes the bondservants of the the Lord God that Joel prophesies about!
I remain convinced and impressed upon by the Holy Spirit that the vast majority of the Body of Christ remain in the comfort zone of their slumber and are really no threat to the enemy. It is tragic and heart breaking.
Some are yearning for something better but have just grown tired of the fight! Elijah pretty much felt the same way when he lamented to God that He was “all alone in this!“
Others believe that they are in revival mode! Brainwashed by a modern apostolic movement, much of the Body of Christ truly does believe that they are on the spiritual “cutting – edge”. But here’s what is really going on:
It’s a cloak of deception. A false spiritual reality. The enemy has subtly and craftily brought into our midst a counterfeit spirituality which sad to say many have bought into hook, line and sinker! It is the spirit of Babylon the “great harlot” that has seduced its way into our midst!
The Spirit of God is Hovering Over the Waters
In all of this muck and mess however – God sees the diamond, the gem, the precious jewel that is His church and His future glorious Bride! We see it right from the very beginning. The Spirit of God was (and is now) hovering over the chaos.
It is the Holy Spirit that is the “midwife” helping us to birth what we have been impregnated with. The waters will soon break!
You can by no means enter in unless you are born of the waters and born of the Spirit
And that is the most incredible part of being a steward of the prophetic! Whether to an individual or to the corporate church – its the same principle. God looks at the treasure within and speaks to it and calls it out!
The enemy wants this birth to be aborted. His entire tactical response is to stop this delivering generation from exploding into the current church age. But he will fail. Our God is greater!
There is so much to say on this topic. This is only a small excerpt from my private journal and perhaps only the beginning. Maybe I will do a teaching series on it. So stay tuned!
In other news – I’ve started a church! Check it out here.
May the zeal of God consume you, and remember:
Somewhere in the Future we all look much better than we do right now!
