God has given His people the gifts of the Spirit, but the gifts are only as effective as the dedication of the people to give and to receive. A man who prophesies, and who is dedicated to convey and impart in his prophesying, gives a great deal. However, the rest of the congregation must be dedicated to receive it, and they have to know how to receive and how to relate to the one who is speaking. Invariably, we weaken the word that God intends to flow to us and from us by the fact that we still evaluate the channels too much based on a human relationship. What we think about an individual on a human level tends to influence the way we receive what he has to give. We fail to realize that God can perform miracles through the mouths of babes (Matthew 21:16). We are not yet listening for the word of God, nor are we receiving the word as we should.
In Paul’s epistles, he wrote to one church that had received him as an angel of God. Concerning another church, he wrote, “When you received the word, you received it as the word of God, as God speaking to you” (I Thessalonians 2:13). We talk about the living Word, but there is still much we must learn about the word that is coming. In a unique way, the Lord has hidden and tucked in humble human delivery that which is really God Himself speaking to you, a living Word coming from God. God has chosen channels through whom He is going to speak to us. When we begin to grasp this, we will receive much more in each service and in personal ministry. The human mind continually analyzes the word and decides whether to accept or reject it. God must give us hearing ears, so that we filter in the words that God is speaking to our hearts.
The tenth chapter of Matthew contains teaching directed to the Lord’s twelve disciples, when He told them how they were to react to those who received them and to those who did not receive them. Although God was doing a very deep and personal thing in their lives, the disciples did not allow themselves to evaluate what they said. They never hesitated, nor did they feel that no one would want to listen to their word. They went forth with a word from God, and it did not make any difference that they were ignorant and unlearned men; they were to be received as God.
“And into whatever city or village you enter, inquire who is worthy in it; and abide there until you go away. And as you enter the house, give it your greeting. And if the house is worthy, let your greeting of peace come upon it; but if it is not worthy, let your greeting of peace return to you. And whoever does not receive you, nor heed your words, as you go out of that house or that city, shake off the dust of your feet. Truly I say to you, it will be more tolerable for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah in the day of judgment, than for that city.” Matthew 10:11–15. Just shake the dust off your feet. If they will not hear your words, that is what you must do. You must have faith that God has sent you. If you are sent of God, and you know that you are speaking the words of the Lord, that is all you need to be concerned about.
“He who receives you receives Me, and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward. And whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly I say to you he shall not lose his reward.” Matthew 10:40–42. These Scriptures are speaking about some basic principles that we need to know.
This principle of reward and blessing is based upon receiving. If an apostle were to pass out five-dollar bills to a group of people, there would be a difference in what each person received, because there would be a difference in the way that he received. Some would say, “That man gave me five dollars”; others, “God has given me five dollars”; and still others would say, “I received five dollars from an apostle.” That five dollars would take on a completely different evaluation by the way that it was received.
When a word comes, what is your reaction? Do you think, “That was quite a word; I never thought of that,” as you accept it mentally? Or do you react the way Paul describes in I Thessalonians 2:13: “The word which you received of us, you received not as a word of man, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectually works in you that believe.” The man who believes finds that the word becomes God’s word to him because he receives it as God’s word. To him, God is speaking. But even though it is the word of God, another may get very little out of it, because he receives it as a sermon that some man has manufactured; he does not receive it as the word from God. There is a very definite difference.
Many times we can become confused, and even though we gather to receive the word of God, we can slip back into a human evaluation of both the messenger and the message. Too often we do not look for God to give us that sharp discernment and awareness that says, “I am here to hear God speak.” We need the element of faith that hears one little sister’s psalm and exclaims, “God speaks!” It responds to another brother’s prophecy, “God speaks!” and to an apostolic word: “God is speaking!” The man who receives the word this way finds that by faith he is actually receiving it into his spirit. And it works! Jesus said to the disciples: “He who receives you receives Me; and he who receives Me receives Him who sent Me. And he who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward.” This is the way that we are to receive God’s word.
I believe in impartation with all my heart, but I believe also that there are many people who have the message, the gifts, and the blessings beamed to them, and yet they never really receive them fully, because they do not open their hearts to what is coming. They are not listening for God to speak to them. Others are listening, and when they hear it, it seems as if a little bell starts ringing inside and instantly they know that it is the Lord speaking. It can happen any place or any time. Many who are walking along with the Lord suddenly find that He puts an anointing on them and begins to speak through them. They may think that what they said was only something inspiring; and many times they do not realize that God was speaking through them loud and clear. Remember that whoever in the name of a disciple gives to one of these little ones even a cup of cold water to drink, truly, he shall not lose his reward.
Before the apostolic company can function effectually, the brothers must learn how to relate to each other and how to receive one another’s word. Often they speak too hastily. They do not take time to look to the Lord and get the word from the Lord first.
And taking a child, He (the Lord) stood him in the midst of them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them, “Whoever receives one child like this in My name is receiving Me; and whoever receives Me is not receiving Me, but Him who sent Me.” Mark 9:36, 37. If you will believe it, you can take God Himself in your arms when you minister to the little children. He identifies Himself with the little children that much. As God is raising this end-time walk in the Spirit into its place, we really will be moving in what God wants when we know how to relate to the children. There are mothers and fathers who are standing in the way of their own blessing because they do not treat their little children as they would treat the Lord. You may think that this is impossible, for you can spank them and you could not spank the Lord; but this is different. Remember—your pastor recognizes the Lord in you, too; and that is why he “spanks” you and chastens you and disciplines you. It helps to bring forth the anointing of the Lord in you.
One way that a pastor can impede the spiritual growth of his people is to see their faults and proceed to correct them, without seeing the Christ that is coming forth in them, without seeing how they are identified with the Lord. Those in authority must wait before the Lord with fear and trembling for every one of the hundreds of words and decisions that come in the course of a week throughout the Body of Christ. They must reverence what God is doing in His sheep. They cannot just pass some individual off as one who is always having problems. They must see by faith what the Lord is saying, “Receive that one and you receive Me,” lest one day He will say, “You failed to feed Me, to visit Me when I was in prison, to clothe me when I was naked. Inasmuch as you did not do it to the least of these My brethren, you did not do it to Me” (Matthew 25:45).
This is a whole new concept in our thinking. It is not a philosophy; it is a reality in the spirit realm. God is identifying Himself with us so much because He is actually coming forth in us. Do you believe that the Lord is coming forth in you? Do you believe that in every way you are going to be conformed to the image of God’s Son, because the Son is coming forth in you?
There are practical steps to move into this. Listen to the word and identify the word that God is giving as His word. The word is effective if you receive it as God’s word. Listen to the tapes with a new faith. The next time you come for a blessing and hands are laid upon you, do not bypass the human channel. I Corinthians 3 and 4 recount that Paul was trying to help the saints, because in their carnality some rejected one ministry and accepted another.
Paul writes in Romans 12:3: For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith. Do not get puffed up and have the wrong evaluation of yourself. Recognize that you are only a channel. Also recognize that the one in authority over you is a channel. Do not deify him or put him on a pedestal. Recognize that the dedication that God has wrought in him has made him a channel of His very word and His will. You may not think that he is the best channel. You may think that God could probably find someone who could speak better and who knew more. He probably could, but that is beside the point. An apostle is your channel.
The word “apostle” means one who is sent. Apostello is a form of the verb “I send.” An apostle is one who is sent. Many times it is translated “messenger” in the New Testament. These ones are channels, sent to speak to you. About himself, Paul said, “I magnify my office” (Romans 11:13), because he was seeing the importance of what he had. He had the proper evaluation of himself—that in himself he was nothing, for he said, “I know that in me, in my flesh, dwells no good thing” (Romans 7:18); also, “We are not sufficient of ourselves to think anything as of ourselves, but our sufficiency is of God” (II Corinthians 3:5).
If God has raised up channels, and if you believe that they are channels, then let your heart be receptive to their word as being the word from God and accept that ministry as God speaking to your heart. Even though it may come out with a slight element of confusion, if you feel your way along and if you keep listening, suddenly you will realize that God has spoken a word to you through that channel. A man does not need a great oratory style in order to minister the word of God. He may appear to be very inadequate as he stutters along, speaking his prophecy, but anyone with discernment will recognize that he is speaking a word from God.
This is one lesson we all must learn well. Many times a prophet who effectively spoke a word over you in the past will seem to drift away. Even if God discards the channel as being unworthy, the word he gave you when he was a consecrated, dedicated channel is still valid if you listened to it then. If your pastor, or someone who has spoken to you the word of God for many years, should get completely out of the flow to such an extent that the Lord had to discard him completely, that still does not alter the fact that he spoke the word of God to you during all the previous years. The evaluation of that word remains the same.
Have good discernment in your heart as you listen to God speak. Do not think of man above that which is written, but think humbly and soberly as God has dealt to each man a measure of faith (Romans 12:3). The ministry speaking the word has been dealt a measure of faith to speak a word from God. Glorify God on that behalf. Have respect for the ministry that is over you. Be submissive to it. It is only a human channel that God has raised up, but listen for that word from God. When you hear it, then receive it as the word of God, and it will effectively work within your life.
A passage of Scripture from Luke 9:46–48 also speaks to us concerning receiving. And an argument arose among them as to which of them might be the greatest. But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, “Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me …” If you build a school in the name of the Lord for the little children, you are doing it for Jesus Christ. Bless the teachers in the name of the Lord, and believe for them to walk as the prophets and prophetesses of the Lord; then they will get the job done.
Congregations differ in the way they receive a message. In some, the people only listen; they do not add any special amount of faith to what they are hearing. There are other people who listen with faith, believing to receive a word from God. Then the word comes at the initiative of the listener as much as by the initiative of the speaker. Someone can have faith to speak to you the word of God, but if you have faith for him to speak the word of God to you, then the word will be drawn forth with a much greater anointing. We need to train ourselves. We still do not know enough about receiving, and neither do we know much about giving. However, what we obtain from God will rotate around those two principles, because it does not come about by human abilities or by human endurance. The word of your strength will be spoken to you, and you will receive it and be made strong. You will receive the word of your perseverance, and you will be able to persevere. Another word will be spoken to you and it will place you on your feet and make you move in God.
As you listen to a word that is coming from God, you will suddenly be turned into another creature. It will happen to you because you believe it to happen. You make it happen by the way that you believe God, coupled with the way that the one who is speaking believes God. He must believe that every word he speaks to you by the anointing of the Lord is going to penetrate deep into your heart and cause you to receive it. We are going to speak the words of the Lord. Paul wrote in Colossians 3:16, 17: “Speaking to yourselves with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord. Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” He will be glorified; something will happen. Prophesy in the name of the Lord! When the people hear that flow coming, they will receive it as from the Lord.
Luke 9:48–56 gives us an insight into the actions and reactions of James and John. “… And whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for he who is least among you, this is the one who is great.” And John answered and said, “Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name; and we tried to hinder him because he does not follow along with us.” But Jesus said to him, “Do not hinder him; for he who is not against you is for you.”
And it came about, when the days were approaching for His ascension, that He resolutely set His face to go to Jerusalem; and He sent messengers on ahead of Him. And they went, and entered a village of the Samaritans, to make arrangements for Him. And they did not receive Him, because He was journeying with His face toward Jerusalem. And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, “Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them?” (The Samaritans had rejected Jesus, and that was why the disciples thought that this was so serious. By rejecting Jesus, they had rejected all that the Father had to say.) But He turned and rebuked them. And they went on to another village.
Many times people stumble over minute details. This only proves that they have not been listening to God. Occasionally a man stumbles because a reference is made to auras or to signs of the zodiac. What a tragedy! For a man to come and have God speak to his heart and then to be so disturbed over something that trivial is hard to understand. He missed the Lord’s ministry to him. He missed hearing God speak to him. God has a way of allowing enough things to happen to cause people to stumble if they will stumble, but when a revelation comes which is foundational, then the gates of hell will not prevail against it; they cannot.
Do not be too concerned over little details. A good medical book will reveal that auras are a scientific fact and that they are being used by scientists to diagnose mental disorders and illnesses—even epilepsy. As far back as 1919, a man named Killner, working in a sanitarium in London, actually created glasses by which people could study the aura. Is that something valid to stumble over? Do not stumble over something you do not understand and are prejudiced against. If you want to stumble, go ahead and stumble over the word God is speaking that you cannot receive. If you are going to reject something, reject what God is saying. Do not strain at a gnat and forget that you are swallowing a camel.
Someone with a real revelation will not leave, no matter what. Where else could he go? To an old-order church where everything is nice and ordered? A graveyard is nice and ordered too. All the stones are lying in place and nothing gets out of line. You never have to worry about confusion in a cemetery. Everything is always right where you left it. But if you kick one of those tombstones too hard, you will break your foot, because it is so set.
In a walk with God, things are alive and they are moving. People are coming in and listening to God. If someone says that he loves divine order, yet he only accepts certain truths and rejects others as stumbling blocks, then something is wrong. That man will miss it and the harlots and publicans will get into the Kingdom first.
When you receive a word from God through an apostle or some other spiritual authority, do not ponder whether or not to accept the word. Pray a great deal before you reject it. It may not seem right to you, but some day you will realize that it was right. It was God’s word to you. Do not expect the channels to be perfect. If they were all perfect channels, God would arrange it so that only the eye that could see in the spirit could see their ministry; only the ear that could hear in the spirit could hear their ministry. If their ministry can be discredited on a human level, God will allow it. Religious leaders who knew the word in Christ’s day could not receive His word, and that same thing is taking place now. But God will have a remnant that will hear His voice.