A new age has started! It is a time of waiting on the Lord, of drawing the anointing of the Lord for more than just blessings or spiritual experiences. God has opened the door for us to have a real walk with Him. As we walk with Him we must close ranks and walk arm in arm, praying much over the trials we face. Otherwise, some will be lost because they will not be able to stand up under the persecutions and pressures. The one thing that will come forth will be the Kingdom of God. The Christian world will reject the Kingdom just as much as the Jews rejected the Church. It never seemed to be an issue before; but now, anything that brings forth the Kingdom of God will become an issue.
Something good is happening in the family of God. There is such tenderness and love in their relating together that a close relationship is coming forth. People are not just being cemented together; they are being “welded” together. There is much prayer, much faith, and a spirit of sacrifice. This divine order will reach a level that has never been seen before. There will be submission to the divine authority, but with it there will be an eliminating of the division of hierarchy and laity that has existed in the Babylonian systems. The true authority of Christ will not cease to be manifested, and it will cut through everything as we are submissive to the Lord and to one another as bond servants. The greatest thing is the revelation of the Lordship of Christ; He is Lord and we stand in awe of Him.
Seek for that awesome presence of the Lord; and with humility, determine not to pull your brother down, but rather to walk humbly as a bond servant before him. People tend to carry on the traditional class distinctions: “This is Reverend So-and-So, and this is one of the members.” But now, what an emphasis God is bringing to the little people! Leaders are going to be tested the hardest—they must have no other motivation than the tender care for the little flock. God brings forth a leader to serve and to be a part of the little flock in everything.
Instead of looking for an important place of service, look for ways to serve. Learn how to relate to one another; learn how to reach out to see a brother met by God. Without any ambition or self-seeking, set yourself to see the Kingdom of God come forth. The first disciples argued about who was going to be the greatest in the Kingdom; but after the fire of God fell at Pentecost, there was no more self-seeking. Their motivations changed. It is not the same among most Christians today. No doubt God is unhappy with the way many people today have received an experience in the Holy Spirit and spoken in tongues, only to emphasize it and make a big movement out of it. They still work out their own programs—there still is not the humility, nor the bonding together of the Body of Christ, nor the bringing forth of the Kingdom which God wants in our hearts.
The way that God is moving today can only be understood by a revelation to your heart through a Word from God. People who have not received that revelation of a Word from God will stumble at everything He brings forth. They will criticize and twist the restored truths. They will bring persecution against believers who take faith to walk in them.
The Pentecost experience of today is not only a Pentecost of tongues, but also of ears. Believe not only for the anointing upon your tongue, but for the anointing also upon your ears to hear. When Peter went down to the house of Cornelius, the people were prepared. They had heard from God. Cornelius knew the voice of God; and when he received the Word, he gathered all his relatives and friends into his house. They waited there, knowing that someone was coming to give them words of God to tell them what they should do (Acts 10). Did Peter intend to preach up to a certain point and then, with a snap of his fingers, expect to see the Spirit of God fall upon them and have them all start speaking in tongues? Do you think he had planned that? Or do you think he was really surprised when it happened? What created the miracle when those Gentiles received the Holy Spirit? It was the miracle of the anointed ears.
There were other times when the Word was spoken with a different effect. On the day of Pentecost when Peter spoke under the anointing and they all spoke in tongues, what did some of the crowd say? “They are drunk with new wine!” Others said, “We are hearing the marvelous praises of God!” A few felt that God was really speaking. The reaction of the crowd on the day of Pentecost was different from the meeting of Cornelius’ family and friends. It was their ears that made the difference. Peter spoke without any intent to create a miracle. Out of obedience he went to the house of Cornelius to speak a Word from the Lord. But the thing that made the difference was the anointed ear to hear that Word.
When we have anointed tongues and anointed ears, we will see the greater works come forth. When we break through with our ears open to hear the Word of the Lord, totally and completely, miracles will rip up old ways and bring changes such as have never been seen before. How we need the Lord to anoint our ears to hear the Word of the Lord, and to hear it with all our heart.
One of the most precious people named in the book of Acts is Mary, the mother of the Lord. The first chapter names her as one of the 120 who had gathered together to wait on the Lord. Along with the 120, Mary received the Holy Spirit; she listened and spoke in that wonderful manifestation also. Stop and think of all who heard them. Many people who came and listened, said, “They are drunk.” Others were moved by what they heard. Mary gives us the example of what God is doing in this day. In Luke 1:35 we read that the angel came to Mary and told her what was going to happen, saying, “The power of the Most High is going to overshadow you, and that which will be born of you will be the Son of God.” She heard it and opened up her heart. At other times she heard things which she pondered and treasured in her heart. Sometimes they were hard things.
The greatest miracle in the history of the world was God speaking to a Virgin who said, “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” Notice this phrase: according to thy word. We are born of the incorruptible seed by the Word of God that lives and abides forever (I Peter 1:23). We open up our hearts as the Bride of Christ. Christ is to be glorified in us by the same pattern we have seen in the Virgin Mary. We open up our hearts and say, “Be it done unto me, Lord, exactly according to Thy will. From down deep within my heart, according to Thy Word, let it come forth.”
If we open our hearts to what God is speaking to us, then we are ready for that creative manifestation of the Lord deep within us to come forth. We will never know life as it was yesterday. We will never know it again—never again. Impasses are being broken, but they are not being broken by praying about certain problems or needs. Somehow everything is based on the relationship of our own hearts opening up to the creativity of the Word of God.
When God lifted up Ezekiel, like a little kitten by the nape of the neck, and set him down in a valley full of bones, He started talking to him about those bones and what could happen. Ezekiel was not really excited about it, nor did he have any tremendous surge of faith. He was without that motivation and initiative until the moment when God told him what to do, and he did it. God said, “Prophesy over these bones, and say to them, ‘O dry bones, hear! hear! hear! the Word of the Lord! Hear that Word! Hear it! Hear it! Hear it!’ ” First, the miracle was created to hear the Word of the Lord.
It is necessary to speak the Word of the Lord, but the results come by hearing the Word of the Lord. Then the miracle comes. People say, “How are they going to believe unless someone takes the Word to them?” That is true; and yet Romans 10:17 says, So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. There has to be a hearing of it. We must open up our hearts to hear what God is saying. Our minds have been dulled, and so the conditioned responses of deadness and dullness within us must be ended.
Jesus worked the mightiest works and spoke the greatest words of wisdom during His ministry on earth. Even His own countrymen were astonished at the wisdom with which He spoke to them. And yet among them He could not accomplish much or perform any miracles, except to heal a few people. Why? Was it a day when He could not speak the Word? No, Christ was the living Word! Every Word that He spoke was living. The issue was not in the speaking. The issue was in the unbelief in the people’s hearts. Because of their unbelief there was no ear to hear (Mark 6:1–5).
Something must be done for the people who have no ears to hear. The works of God today will be increased a thousand percent when people are helped to have their ears opened to a Word from God, to hear what He is saying. We must not miss the importance of this truth. It is not enough to come to church—you must bring your ears with you. In the parable about the Word that was sown, Jesus told how the same Word was sown everywhere, but its receptivity was based upon how people would hear it. Some would hear with a shallowness, others with an openness to bear fruit even a hundredfold (Matthew 13:23). Let us go after that hundredfold fruitfulness. Fruitfulness is not as dependent upon the quality or the depth of the Word that is heard, as it is upon the depth of your hearing that Word.
During wartime, ash-can depth bombs were thrown out of battleships. If they exploded near the surface, not much damage was accomplished. With timers on them, they went down to the depths before exploding. You can apply this timing principle to the underlying harassments that have been plaguing you. First turn loose the depth charges, the Word that God speaks. Hear it; listen to it and let it go down in your heart as Mary did when she said, “Be it done unto me according to thy word.” Ponder it until it explodes into what God really wants it to be.
In the realm of spirit, you hear, because you will to hear. Luke 8:18 says, Take heed therefore how ye hear: for whosoever hath, to him shall be given; and whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he thinketh he hath. Take heed how you hear. If you are determined to hear, then the miracle of faith will create it in you. Determine to be a voice and an oracle of the Lord in this hour. Be determined to walk humbly before the Lord. Humble yourself before God. Be determined to hear His Word and to speak forth His Word.
In speaking about the Israelites who died in the wilderness, Hebrews 4:2 says that the Word spoken did not profit them because it was not united with faith. Then verse 7 says, Today if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. We know that God is speaking in the earth. That is not the issue. God is speaking, but we must open up our hearts to hear it. The minute we start hearing, there will be a miracle. We will be turned loose. We will be turned loose the minute that we start saying, “I hear it, Lord! I respond to it!” And to whatever degree we hear it, we will embrace it to walk in it. Limited deliverance will give way to perfect deliverance. Many of the spiritual battles take place because we are sensitive to the realm of spirit, but are not really listening to what God is saying. If we listen to what God is saying, much of the satanic assault will be overcome, because the conflict in this hour is a war over His Word. Take a step to throw off spiritual deafness, to throw off indifference, to throw off confusion. Open your heart to the voice of God and take another step. Take another step!
The love and the relationship of unity in the Body of Christ does not take place because we all see eye to eye in perfect understanding over every issue. It happens because we see eye to eye in another way—with our hearts open. That eliminates divisions and keeps people from being lost by the wayside. A lot of people are turned away from walking with God because they do not have an ear to hear what He is speaking. Instead of condemning them, pray for the loosing of their ears to hear.
The book of Revelation is based on hearing the words of the Lord. Over and over we read, “He who has an ear, let him hear” (Revelation 13:9). Whenever Christ spoke a Word, its effectiveness was based upon the hearers’ faith. The greatest faith mentioned by Christ during His ministry as He walked upon the earth was that of the centurion who said, “Just speak the word and my servant shall be healed.” Jesus marveled and said, “I have not found so great a faith in Israel”(Matthew 8:8, 10).
Speak the Word! Speak the Word! Speak the Word! In this end time, people will come in masses to the apostolic ministries and say, “Speak to us the Word of the Lord.” They will not be like the Israelites at the foot of Mount Sinai, who could not bear the Word and asked Moses to tell them what it was all about. Today the hungry will say, “God speak it! We are determined to hear it, even if it is devastating to us. It may cause us to die a thousand deaths, but it will bring us forth into the resurrection life of Christ.” Hebrews 11:3 tells us that through faith we understand that the ages were prepared by the Word of God. By one Word—one Word, one Word alone, yes, one Word—God can do great things when the Spirit hovers over a heart and that heart is determined to believe.
When God says, “Let there be,” there is. When you have an open heart with the Spirit hovering over it, and you determine by the Spirit of the Lord to hear what God is saying, then you have the catalyst of creativity. Creation comes when the Spirit hovers over the abyss, and God says, “Let there be light, let there be order, let it come forth.” You and I are not going to go out in the world and set the Kingdom in order. We are not smart enough. There are not enough of us. We do not have enough money. We do not have enough of anything. But even if we had everything it would not be enough. The Kingdom will come forth because we believe, because we hear what the Spirit is saying. We must hear what He is saying. When the Spirit says, “Come,” then he who hears says, “Come” (Revelation 22:17).
Sometimes God brings a fellow along who speaks His Word, but the people become all upset about him. He is like Paul, who wrote approximately one-third of the New Testament; “his bodily presence is nothing and his speech is contemptible” (II Corinthians 10:10). As he speaks, the people think, “He can’t talk—God sure made a mistake!” Any man who speaks the Word of the Lord may be like Paul, who said, “The Word which you heard from us, you received it not as a word of man, but as it is in truth the Word of God, which effectually works also in you who believe” (I Thessalonians 2:13). The Word that Paul spoke to the Thessalonians was effective. It was creative. It accomplished the miracle because the people received it beyond his stammering little faults. Paul did not come to them with any excellency of speech. His speech was contemptible. He spoke a Word, and the people who had an ear to hear it were created! One day we will learn to hear, and that day has come!
Believe for the anointing on tongue and ears—not only a tongue to speak by the Spirit, but ears to hear by the Spirit. Claim this prophecy of Christ from Isaiah 50:4–5a: The Lord God has given Me the tongue of disciples, that I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning. He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple. The Lord God has opened My ear. Believe for it!
One tape of the living Word of the Lord—just one-could change the world, if it were really listened to. We may have the idea that there is a famine in the land for speaking the Word of the Lord, but it is actually a famine for hearing the Word (Amos 8:11). Let us claim to be hearers of the Word, and not only hearers, but doers of the Word. Many people are looking everywhere for a Word from the Lord; yet, strangely, they would not hear it if it were spoken to them. In Matthew 13 Jesus spoke in parables to the multitudes about the Kingdom of heaven, knowing that their ears were dull of hearing, and they could not hear it.
Maybe you have many words of the Lord in your heart that have never been digested. The Word of the Lord is like an explosive dynamite that could blow loose every impasse. All you have to do is hear it, open your heart to it, respond to it, and let the miracle come into being. You can reach a level of perception of hearing God’s voice. Barriers can be broken where the enemy has you blocked off by confusion, distraction, and problems. Take Christ’s authority over them and be loosed. Be free. Hear His Word!