In the Old Testament we read about Samuel’s school of prophets at Shiloh. Once again God is raising up prophets whom He is anointing and teaching to move as a functioning company of people. To take part in this, we must sense the destiny and the commission that God has today, because the time to function is upon us. We can learn important truths about moving in God from the following passage of Scripture. It gives us a fascinating story of what happened while Samuel and David and all the other prophets were prophesying at the time when Saul’s messengers were sent to kill David.
I Samuel 19:18–24: Now David fled and escaped and came to Samuel at Ramah, and told him all that Saul had done to him. And he and Samuel went and stayed in Naioth. And it was told Saul, saying, “Behold, David is at Naioth in Ramah.” Then Saul sent messengers to take David, but when they saw the company of the prophets prophesying, with Samuel standing and presiding over them, the Spirit of God came upon the messengers of Saul; and they also prophesied. And when it was told Saul, he sent other messengers, and they also prophesied. So Saul sent messengers again the third time, and they also prophesied.
Then he himself went to Ramah, and came as far as the large well that is in Secu; and he asked and said, “Where are Samuel and David?” And someone said, “Behold, they are at Naioth in Ramah.” And he proceeded there to Naioth in Ramah; and the Spirit of God came upon him also, so that he went along prophesying continually until he came to Naioth in Ramah. (Saul began prophesying before he reached the prophets. The closer he came, the more he entered into the expanded sphere of great spiritual influence that was reaching over the countryside.) And he also stripped off his clothes, and he too prophesied before Samuel and lay down naked all that day and all that night. Therefore they say, “Is Saul also among the prophets?”
The sons of the prophets were not given to nudism. Saul no doubt took off his clothing because he had come to commit murder and was wearing his armor. He could no longer remain in the garb of a warrior or an assassin, and so he threw it all aside. Verse 20 says that Samuel was standing and presiding over the prophets who came there. They were all functioning. They were all prophesying. They were generating a great field force of the Spirit, so that any man was actually moved and changed by it.
Samuel had a fantastic way of ministering. When Saul was still a young man looking for straying donkeys, Samuel told him to stand still while he gave him the Word of the Lord. Then he told him to meet and prophesy with the other prophets and he would be changed into another man (I Samuel 10:6). The force of their prophecies can hardly be underestimated. The prophesyings of Samuel and the endowment that rested upon the other prophets had such tremendous force that outsiders were moved and could not resist it. Anyone who came into their presence was moved to discard any rebellion in his heart. Oh, that we might see that happen again!
This could take place in the church service today! The service could come forth with force and power. By our seeking the face of the Lord first, He could reveal to the prophets who should move and minister the Word of the Lord. Most of the ministering would come from those whom God had indicated should move, but this would not prevent others from participating as God moved. We should come to the service and stand in readiness, prepared in heart and in spirit after having prayed well. Then the Lord will direct who is to start moving and speaking the Word. The Spirit of the Lord may then lead a few of the brothers, whose hearts are prepared, to prophesy the Word of the Lord. They should endeavor not to expound, not to preach, but rather to believe God and move into the high plane of actually speaking the living Word of the Lord. After this, the meeting could flow with others moving and still remain a service that is regulated by the Spirit.
The prophets should always speak first. After the first prophet speaks, a second prophet could indicate, with some kind of signal, that the Lord has revealed something to him. Then he can enter in and prophesy the Word of the Lord, making room also for the other prophets to speak, as this Scripture says, “You may all prophesy one by one” (I Corinthians 14:31). We please the Lord when we determine to move in the Spirit in a meeting. It may not be the kind of meeting that people will understand at first, but it will be very effective.
What should be the purpose and the function of services? In this hour, services should not function primarily for the preaching of sermons, but rather for speaking the Word of the Lord. The prophets should function in the house of the Lord. For some reason this expression in the service has been more restricted until now, even though this Scripture says, “Let the prophets speak two or three” (I Corinthians 14:29). In our services we must see this portion of the service restored. God will restore this function to the worship service as the apostolic groundwork is laid and commissions are given and the anointing is conveyed for the prophets to speak.
Let us believe the Lord and be a company of people who will prepare our hearts and come to a service ready to prophesy the Word of the Lord. Let us lie on our faces until we have the anointing of the Lord to come and speak His Word. The apostolic teaching that God has been bringing to the end-time remnant will be increasingly important as the day of the prophetic company comes forth. The days of this prophetic company must see a family spirit prevailing in the house of God so that we genuinely care for one another and love one another. The people of God must become a prophetic community led by the Spirit of the Lord. Just as the pillar of fire led the children of Israel, so must the anointing of the Lord be upon the prophets to lead us through these end-time days of wilderness. We must project ourselves into the days of the Kingdom and become the prophetic community that God has ordained we should be.
Are you ready to see such a change? Actually, it is not that great a change. It is mostly a fresh focus on what the Lord has been teaching. Now is the time that the prophetic service be not theory only, but it be practiced among the brethren. We not only hear teaching concerning divine order, but we also put it into practice; so also prophesying the Word of the Lord must actually be put into practice.
To build up your faith for prophesying, read the first chapter of Jeremiah, and take note of the novice whom God sent forth to prophesy. If you are a novice and feel that you are not ready to prophesy, inasmuch as you think that you should have a certain ability, a certain qualification, a certain level to attain to, you are absolutely wrong. In contrast to a teacher’s need of credentials before he can teach, you do not need a sense of self-sufficiency before you ever begin to prophesy. As a youngster, Jeremiah was called by God to become a prophet in the land. He was commissioned at a time when God was saying, “No excuses, no excuses!”
Let us read here of Jeremiah’s commission: Now the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said, “Alas, Lord God! Behold, I do not know how to speak, because I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me, “Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ because everywhere I send you, you shall go, and all that I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you to deliver you,” declares the Lord. Then the Lord stretched out His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me, “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth. See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, to pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to build and to plant.” Jeremiah 1:4–10.
Then the Lord asked Jeremiah, “What do you see?” He proceeded to give him visions, and He explained what they meant. They were simple things, such as God would give to a child, to someone who was but a youth. Do not say that you cannot prophesy! You are as qualified as Jeremiah was. Jeremiah’s only qualification was that God had touched his mouth.
Let us be a people whose mouths God has touched. It is our responsibility to avoid walking far from the Lord; instead, we must be pressing in close to Him. From our mouths come most of our offenses. From our mouths the silliness comes forth. The trivia from our mouths becomes the order of the day. We become addicted to trivia instead of speaking the Word of the Lord. We use speech for a thousand little, light, frothy expressions instead of dedicating our mouths to be the oracles of God to speak His Word.
Isaiah’s calling and commissioning was similar to that of Jeremiah’s. Isaiah 6:1–10: In the year of King Uzziah’s death, I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple. Seraphim stood above Him, each having six wings; with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called out to another and said, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the whole earth is full of His glory.” And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke. Then I said, “Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.”
Then one of the seraphim flew to me, with a burning coal in his hand which he had taken from the altar with tongs. And he touched my mouth with it and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; and your iniquity is taken away, and your sin is forgiven.” Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then I said, “Here am I. Send me!” And He said, “Go, and tell this people: ‘Keep on listening, but do not perceive; keep on looking, but do not understand.’ Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and repent and be healed.”
The Word of God actually sealed people’s disobedience and rebellion to them in order that they would be brought to the point of judgment. God’s words to Isaiah about Israel seem somewhat sadistic: “Go and prophesy to this people until they have no ears to hear. They are insensitive, and cannot receive anything, and so I will judge them.” This may not seem fair of God; however, two functions are involved in prophesying. The Word of God comes like a burning fire which will not only melt wax, but will also harden clay. The reaction depends on the heart of the individual. When God told Isaiah what to do to the people, He was simply telling him to speak the Word. If their hearts had been open to God, that Word would have worked blessing to them. Because their hearts were not open to God, it hardened them and completed their rejection and disobedience so that God could bring a full end to their disobedience.
God seems to be bound by His own sense of righteousness and justice. He does not seem to judge lukewarmness. He warned the Laodicean church, “I would that you were cold or hot. All I can do is spew you out of My mouth. I want nothing to do with you for the present. If you were hot, I could bless you. If you were cold, I could judge you” (Revelation 3:15–16).
Today God is bringing the living Word by which people will not be able to remain lukewarm. They will become hot or cold, so that He can deal with them. In His sense of justice and judgment, He waits until you go one way or the other. He starts sending a strong Word to you, and if you lean toward rebellion, then you will be hardened. If you lean toward submission, then you will be blessed, and your heart will be more easily entreated. Take heed how you hear the Word of the Lord, “Whoever has, to him will more be given; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away” (Matthew 13:12). When you hear the Word of the Lord, it will either make you or break you.
The Lord hardened the heart of Pharaoh each time that Moses spoke God’s Word to him. At first he would seem to respond, but his ultimate reaction in every case was the hardening of his heart. God did not sovereignly deal with Pharaoh without giving him a chance. God sent His Word through Moses time and time again, and under the pressures of judgment it seemed as if Pharaoh might respond; but when he thought it over, the rejection in his heart rose up and he turned violently against the Word. God is sending us a living Word in these days. Let our hearts not become hardened. God will do something special for us if our hearts are open to hear the Word. God will create a miracle within us. He will work something new within us.
Let us read the rest of Isaiah’s first commission from the Lord: Then I said, “Lord, how long?” And He answered, “Until cities are devastated and without inhabitant, houses are without people, and the land is utterly desolate, the Lord has removed men far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. Yet there will be a tenth portion in it, and it will again be subject to burning, like a terebinth or an oak whose stump remains when it is felled. The holy seed is its stump.” Isaiah 6:11–13. Even then God was saying that there would be a remnant.
God always prepares a remnant to carry on His work. The prophecies of God concerning the destiny of the ages are never fulfilled upon the majority. They are always fulfilled with the minority. The Scofield Bible and Clarence Larkin’s books teach that every age has ended in failure, that the people all have failed and have been judged. Without the revelation of the remnant of the Lord, people can read the Scriptures and come to that conclusion. With revelation in your heart, you will not see the flood destroying everyone. Instead, you will see a man who was so righteous before God that he was a remnant. You can focus on the remnant that built the ark and saw the job done. That age did not end in defeat; it ended in victory. Though the whole world be turned to judgment, the remnant of God, the overcomer, will arise and do His will.
Jesus asked, “When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?” (Luke 18:8.) When He looks upon His remnant, He will find sons and daughters who prophesy the Word of the Lord, who delight in His will, who know their God and do exploits. There must be that complete breakthrough.
In evaluating this age, let us not look at what happens with the majority. A small minority of people are coming forth in God, among whom there will be more holy prophets speaking the Word of God than we find in all the Scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. There will be more true apostles in our day, more men to speak the Word of the Lord than ever before; and yet all of them will be a remnant, a small minority compared to the total world population.
Today’s population in one of the United States could probably have filled the ancient world. Everything has changed accordingly. Soon there may be more people existing on the face of the earth at one time than have lived since the dawn of history. Does this prospect frighten you? It should not be alarming. What should be frightening is the thought of how devastating the judgments of the Lord will be. Don’t you want to be one of the remnant who survive? This age will not end in failure, even though the oceans will be turned to blood, even though multitudes will lose their lives. This will not mean defeat to God, for He has a remnant of sons coming forth who will loose all of creation from futility.
The greatest thing we can be is that prophetic company, a remnant of God raised up to function and do the will of the Lord.
The basic function of prophecy must have the creative emphasis. I Corinthians 14:3 tells us that prophecy comes to edify, to exhort, and to comfort. Too much of the prophecies are exhortations. People tend to use them to preach to one another. Exhorting through prophecies has been overdone; and so we need to emphasize the creativity of edifying the Body of Christ. Instead of exhorting the people about what they should be doing, let us speak the Word of the Lord. Let us say, “Be loosed! Be free! We pronounce the blessing upon you!” In the services, let there be that which creates in the people. The emphasis should shift from exhortation to the creative, edifying prophecies to lift up people. When we prophesy to comfort, let it be more than trying to take away sadness or heaviness from people. Let it be a holy divine comfort that brings a raging strength within them to rise up and flip the viper into the fire and do the will of the Lord. Let us be creative in everything we minister.
Before the services, time could best be given to worship and intercession as a preparation of heart toward the Lord with little time to exhortation. Then in the actual service there could be prophecy, the prophetic directives, the apostolic Word, and again less exhortation and more of the creative prophetic flow. After the services we could revert again to worship, to intercession, and especially to periods of appropriation of what has been proclaimed to us. Finally there could be personal ministry only to those who were unable to break through to the Lord in the service.
A service should be considered a success if there is no need for personal ministry afterward. The healthiest function of the Body is to see everyone met by the Word of God that comes forth in the service. Of course, in extreme cases there should be personal ministry to help someone out of a wrong spirit or a terrible situation of demonic oppression. However, personal ministry can become a crutch to use instead of learning to walk with God. Everyone should be taught to feed upon the Word when the table is spread. Personal ministry should be denied some people who are too lazy to show up and eat on time with the rest of the family. Those who miss the dinner should wait until the next service, if the need is not too serious. If it is serious, there should be personal ministry. There is a changing view of personal ministry. We should be willing to give it, but relegate it as an emergency measure when people are not able to enter into the greater functions of the service and receive the things that are set before them by God.
To sum it all up, before the services worship and intercession are directed Godward without the exhortations or prophecies. We can wait until the Body is all gathered together and then begin to enter in, singing our songs and drawing together in unity. Then there can be a select number of prophecies led by the prophets, with perhaps some directives. Thereby a sound foundation is laid. Finally there can be general participation as a Body. In this the people must learn how to be brief. Brevity is necessary when the general participation comes, in order that more can share. The longer the prophecy, the quicker the Spirit dies off in the service. When the prophecies are short, more people can participate and bring the warmth of life which pervades throughout the Body. After the service there can be further worship, intercession, appropriation, and ministry. Ministering that is personal should be saved until the very last if the people have not been able to take hold by themselves. This is to be considered as an emergency. At times someone may need confirmation concerning a personal directive that God has shown him independently. Let us rejoice in the wisdom that God is revealing to bring order to the church service in this hour.