Hi all,
Last week I shared 2 examples of how the Word and Spirit must be in agreement, for it is the Spirit that actually does the work. Let’s pick it up there.
Hebrews 1: 1-3 is my favorite passage in the whole Bible.
“God (Father) in times past spoke in many ways and many parts to the fathers through prophets. But in these last days He has spoken to us in His Son, whom He (Father) appointed heir of all things, and by whom also, He (Father) made the ages.”
“Who (the Son) is the brightness of His (Father’s) glory, the impressed image of His (Father’s) being (nature, character), and Who upholds all things by the Word of His (Father’s) power. When He had by Himself purged our sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty (Father) on high.”
When learning this, the Lord pointed out to me: “Notice, I uphold all things by the word of the Father’s power. I AM; the Word of the Father’s power. He has the power, I AM the Word of that power.”
A real-life example might be a father who owns a business, and he brings his son up to be 2nd in charge of the business. But the father still runs it. The father then sends his son to a convention, authorizing him to conduct business in the Father’s name.
The son is doing the business, but he is functioning in the father’s power. The son then, is the word of the father’s power, the father’s will. He is the image of the father’s character, and upholds his father’s will by his word – but it is the father’s power that runs the company.
This exchange changed everything for me.
In a moment of time I went from thinking the power was in the Word, (but confused as to why it didn’t always work), to understanding it is the Word of the Father’s power. That unless the Father (Spirit) and Son (Word) are working together to do the Father’s will, nothing will happen no matter how many times I command in the name of Jesus.
It gave me great relief concerning the ‘name it claim it’ stream of the faith, that morphed into the general charismatic practice of ‘speaking life/healing/blessing over’ and ‘declare and decree’ stream of the faith.
As that sunk in for a few moments, my mind’s gears spinning full speed as what He said resonated in my spirit but it took a minute for my head to sort it out, the Lord then referred me to Matthew 6:7 to underscore His point, and I was surprised by His directness. That verse says:
“And when you pray don’t use vain repetitions like the pagans (unbelievers) do. They think they will be heard by their much speaking.” I felt within myself ever so briefly, like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar, because I had been guilty of that very think – the ‘positive confession’, the weekly congregational recitation of a page of positive confessions and declarations, and so on. “Sorry Lord” “It’s okay.”
The Greek word translated ‘vain repetitions’ is ‘battalogesete’, and means ”speaking without thinking, mechanically repeating words (Vine’s), using empty words.” We have an example in I Kings 18:26 when Elijah confronted the prophets of Baal. “Then they called out the name of Baal from morning until noon…” in a repetitive, formula-based effort to try to get Baal to move on their behalf.
He said many of His people have fallen into this, on the one hand He seemed saddened and disappointed so many had done so, while at the same time: “But I do what I can for them, for often their hearts are right, they are just ignorant of the ways of the Father. You must teach them His ways.”
That changed my life as I said, like a weight off my shoulders, lifting the feeling I had betrayed and dishonored all I thought I knew about faith. I realized what He was teaching me resonated, and was what I always knew, somehow, down in my spirit. My head was just trained wrong.
I often now say, “Revelation is something you already (or always) knew, but never realized.”
That’s when something resonates in your spirit, you feel that excitement of the witness of the Spirit with your spirit, even if your head is spinning as it rearranges previous understandings.
The Word of God, the ink on the page I’m talking about, has no power by itself. There are many ministers, pastors, and reverends in hell because they knew the page but not the Person who IS the Word. It is from the Person who is the Word that the ink on the page is derived.
Noah received a revelation about the flood – that was grace.
Faith was his response. He built a boat. Abraham, Sarah, Moses, Joshua – all listed in Hebrews 11 ‘the hall of faith’, and every one of them first received a revelation from the Father – via the Holy Spirit – and faith was their response. Abraham and Sarah made a baby, Moses returned to Egypt, Joshua circled the city – each one having first received the grace, the revelation, to do so. Faith was their response to the revelation.
Paul and Barnabas
In Acts 13: 46-47 Paul and Barnabas face great opposition by unbelieving Jews, while many Gentiles listening to them (non-Jews) believed. Paul told them they were stopping efforts to speak to the Jews, “For this is what the Lord commanded us: “I have set you as a light to the Gentiles, that you should bring salvation to the ends of the earth.”
Paul quoted Isaiah 49:6 which has multiple meanings for Isaiah, Israel and the Messiah. Yet Paul said that verse was used by the Lord to direct their ministry to the Gentiles. Paul didn’t just flip through Isaiah and wherever his eyes landed decide to ‘stand on’ that verse. NO! He said the Lord spoke to them that it was for them too. The Spirit revealed it to them, and then they moved on that revelation.
Faith feels like peace.
Why is that? Because faith is a response to a revelation (grace) from heaven. There is peace in a revelation from heaven, and faith is born of that, so faith feels like peace.
Think back in your walk with the Lord. Have you had a revelation about something? That you knew before you were hired you had that job? That you had a peace about renting this place to live, or about going to that school? When it has ‘worked’ for you, you had that peace. When it didn’t work, is when you tried to force ‘faith’ by speaking and declaring and forcing things to work.
James 3: 17-18 is true, the wisdom of the Lord is pure and peaceful. That’s what faith feels like, because it is based on a revelation (grace) from the Father and Lord.
Next week, living by personal revelation from the Holy Spirit. Until then, blessings,
John Fenn
