By Francis Frangipane
We have a fairly neat, pleasant little package in our minds of who we consider the Lord Jesus Christ to be. I think that our view is essentially correct, but the problem is it is incomplete. It is important to recognize that there are certain perceptions we have of the nature of Christ that must be re-evaluated as the day of the Lord draws near. There are some things we are probably not quite ready to accept.
Our understanding of who the Lord is and who He wants to be in our lives needs to expand drastically to accommodate the restoration of Christ in the church. As the Lord continues to restore His gifts, ministries and power, we need to submit ourselves afresh to that which the Spirit is speaking. It is not an easy task, because our doctrines and our concepts, by nature, are self limiting.
Let me give u an example. Read the following verse. "Ah Lord God, Thou hast made the heavens and the earth by Thy great power. Nothing is too difficult for Thee." (Jer. 32:17) Did you notice how difficult it was to read those words without simultaneously setting them to the meter of the familiar chorus, "Ah Lord God." The same way we have been conditioned to read it as a song, so we have been conditioned to view the Lord Jesus Christ a certain way.
We hear what we have been trained to hear. It is not that what we have heard is wrong, necessarily, but we are not sure it is always right. We must honestly admit we know no doctrine or revelation perfectly. Everything we know is incomplete and seen through a glass darkly. Though we know whom we have believed in, we do not know Him perfectly. God may know us perfectly, but there is so much more He seeks to reveal of Himself in the days ahead.
God is eternal life. Though He is known as the "Ancient of Days," He has no wrinkles. There is something about His presence that has the capacity to flood eternal life into everything we do. So instead of our walk growing old and stale and tired and bored, our relationship with Him expands and becomes fuller and real and powerful. If our hearts have slipped into patterns of familiarity that can calculate accurately how long church services will be, we are missing the moving of God's Spirit. There is something about Jesus that never was predictable.
Becoming Free of False Religions
In our minds, we picture a prophet of God with having white hair and a long white beard, holding in his hand the ten commandments. I knew a prophet with white hair but he had a crew-cut and when he says, "Thus says the Lord," it was with an Arkansas accent. So you may be disappointed if you have an image in your mind of what you think prophets look like.
Most of us, if we had met the first apostles, would have had a difficult time with how common they probably were. We have a movie image in our minds of apostles--good looking, fairly professional. Actually, the original twelve were uneducated individuals who simply spoke of what they saw and heard. Paul was criticized by some who said his bodily presence was contemptible. His letters are good, but his appearance was lacking. We must become quick to discard our ideas in the face of changing reality, for some among us will be raised up as apostles and prophets. We must pull down our speculations so that the images we have can be dismantled. Each of us needs a fresh revelation of what God is about to do.
Yesterday’s Manna is Over
Now it came about when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and behold, a man was standing opposite him with his sword drawn in his hand, and Joshua went to him and said to him, "Are you for us or for our adversaries?" (Joshua 5:13)
There is something about this new move of God that, when it confronts people, is going to cause many Christians to wonder if the Lord is really for us or against us. The Lord has been standing before the church with His sword drawn. Christians have wondered if God is for us or against us. The fact is, we have been a pampered, undisciplined people who have not understood the day of battle that looms before us. There is a revelation of Jesus Christ that is coming that shall reveal Jesus more truly as He is: a Holy Warrior, dressed for battle.
The next unveiling of the Lord Jesus shall in no way be less dramatic than that which was revealed to Joshua. Bear in mind that Joshua knew the Lord in a wonderful, powerful way in the wilderness tabernacle. But there was a new revelation, one that will involve going to war against giants. Likewise, the church has wandered about in the wilderness for many generations, but before Jesus returns, He will be revealed to His elect as "Captain of the host" (vs 14).
And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and bowed down, and said to Him, "What has my lord to say to His servant?"
And the captain of the Lord's host said to Joshua, "Remove your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy." And Joshua did so. (vs 14-15).
This new unveiling of the Lord is holy. Do not gainsay or criticize what God is doing. We are beginning to perceive the Lord as He is and as He will be in the days ahead. Isaiah 42:13 tells us that in the last days, "The Lord will go forth like a warrior, He will arouse His zeal like a man of war. He will utter a shout, yes, He will raise a war cry. He will prevail against His enemies." Within the ranks of the Advancing Church, Jesus is raising a war cry. Can you hear Jesus's war cry in the intercession? This new revelation of Christ is coming to our church. Our old ways will not endure what the church is about to face.
"And the manna ceased on the day after they had eaten some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna..." (vs 12) .
Manna will not satisfy you when once you eat of the produce of the land. On the day after they celebrated the Passover, on that very day, they tasted the food of Canaan and God dried up the flow of manna. There was no going back.
Some of us are still wondering, in this new revelation of the Lord, if He is for us or for our adversaries. Assuredly, I tell you He is for us, though His appearance may be frightening to us. But to those of you who are still looking for the old manna, the Lord says to you, "On the day you taste of what I am doing with My church, you will never again seek the manna of yesterday."
Get It Yourself!
One of the supreme tasks of any ministry is to lead the people out of the limitations and problems of yesterday, so they can fully embrace what the Lord is saying today. One obstacle to the success of this endeavor is the unforgiveness and self-pity that is still in many hearts. Until we let these things go, we will continually carry around in us the pain that others caused us. We will be trapped in the past. Each of us has areas where we have compromised and are held in sin by self-pity. God wants us to be free.
There was a time in the very beginning of my ministry when 4 other men and myself were to speak on a Monday night church service. We each had a five-minute message; I was third to speak. The first fellow began and, as he did, a huge bee began buzzing around the church, hitting the ceiling lights as it went. As its noise became intolerable, I began to pray against it. I bound it; asked God to remove it; cursed it; and glared at it, but it kept on disrupting the service. Frustrated, I looked up to, Heaven and said, "Lord, please get rid of this bug!" No sooner did I finish praying when this bumble bee ricocheted off the light directly above me and shot straight down into my lap. The instant it hit my trousers the Lord said, "Get it yourself!"
There are a lot of things that are keeping you from fully embracing what God is doing. You are waiting for Him to do something to get you ready, but He is saying the same thing to you that He said to me, "Get it yourself!" Stop being so sympathetic with your flesh! Stop nursing your old wounds. Put to death the deeds of the flesh--the day of the Lord is at hand, and we must be fully given to His purpose!