For every one of the young people in this move of God, there are another thousand somewhere whom God has marked to walk with us. Right now they may be on some kind of drug trip and really lost; but they belong to the Lord. They are among those whom the Lord knew before the foundation of the world. The Lord has said, “You will find those who have the mark of the Spirit on them, who belong to this end-time walk.”
The old methods of evangelism are no longer effective. An individual is reached for God, not because someone has just the right word or the right answer, but because someone is anointed to go and speak the Word of the Lord, and thereby make it happen. Miracles are created in those whom God has ordained the miracles should be created in. It is a beautiful combination of the sovereign will of God and a fantastic initiative of aggressive faith that God is bringing forth in us.
Perhaps you have never believed in “instant” anything, but now we are beginning to believe in “instant saints.” For so long we have felt that time was a necessary factor in the development of saints. We were under the impression that one had to be an old man before he could even approach the glorious position of victory in Christ and the sainthood that God wants us to aspire to. We have felt that the gifts of the Spirit could come instantly, but that the fruit of the Spirit required a long time because fruit has to grow. However, it now appears that this is only the teaching of man, not the teaching of the Lord. God can make a man over instantly. To the extent that he opens his heart to a revelation of the Lord, to the extent that he exposes himself to God, to that extent he can be changed instantly and completely. As you open your heart to God and expose yourself to Him, you have the secret and the key of all change.
Paul revealed this principle in 2 Corinthians 3:18: But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit. In this passage Paul was referring to the time when the patriarch Moses went up to the mountain with a prayer on his heart: “Lord, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory.” When the Lord caused His glory to pass by, … Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with Him. Exodus 34:29. Moses came down from the mountain unaware of what had transpired, unaware that his face was shining like the sun. When people saw him, they fled because they were unable to look upon him. Moses had to put a veil over his face while he talked with the people; but in the Tabernacle when he talked with the Lord, he took the veil off. That is what we are doing now.
You are changed because you are exposed to God. To the extent that God is revealed to your heart, to that extent you are transformed into His likeness. Every person who reads the Word and has a revelation of the Lord will find that he acquires some quality of the Lord, because the Lord transmits Himself to us.
Things are transmitted in the spirit realm as well as on every other level. This is a basic spiritual law. If you communicate with that which is evil, there is a transmitting of that evil to your own heart. Be not deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners. 1 Corinthians 15:33. That is why you are told to be in the world, but not of it. Do not even communicate with it, because the evil will be transmitted to your own heart. The same basic principle of transmission operates positively also. When we have a revelation of the Lord and open our hearts to Him, as Moses did, we are transformed at that very moment. The skin of our face will shine even though we are not particularly aware of it.
In the third chapter of 2 Corinthians we read that the glory which Moses had was to fade away, but we have a glory that is permanent and will not fade away. As we are exposed to the Lord Jesus Christ, a transformation takes place, and this is the basic key of all change. Let God reveal Himself to you, and you communicate with Him.
Every time the Lord reaches you through the Word, through ministry, or in any way at all, you are being exposed to God. I believe in instant saints because I know how it happens. It does not happen because people slowly but surely decide they are going to change. Paul rebuked the Galatians: “Having begun in the Spirit, do you now think you will be made perfect in the flesh?” (Galatians 3:3). They had started out as beautiful Christians, but then they were told that they had to be circumcised, and keep the Sabbath day and the new moon and other legalistic rules. The Galatians came under an oppression because they were laboring under legalism. Paul told them, “I marvel that you are so quickly removed from the grace of God” (Galatians 1:6). “Where is the blessedness that you spoke of? Where is all the joy?” (Galatians 4:15).
You will not change by your own effort, though it is also very necessary. Have faith to believe that God will meet you, and open your spirit to believe that God will transform you. How many times have people been inspired to zealously search for more of God, only to have the days and weeks pass and find that it was not as they planned or thought it would be? They were disappointed and disillusioned. For you there does not need to be anything less than everything you are believing for—and more besides.
Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2. The greatest change to take place will occur in millions of people in this generation, when the Lord Jesus Christ Himself returns. That return is imminent:… with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God; and the dead in Christ shall rise first. 1 Thessalonians 4:16.
In 1 Corinthians 15:52 we are told that this mortality will put on immortality in the twinkling of an eye, and we will all be changed. This refers to the coming of the Lord. The greatest change ever to take place since the worlds were thrown into space, or breath was given to any form of life, will take place when human beings are suddenly transformed to be like Him. That change will take place because a principle is operating:… we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. 1 John 3:2.
If the Lord Jesus Christ suddenly appeared at this moment and you were exposed to all that He is, everything of mortality would be swept away and you would come forth just exactly like Him. This principle will operate at the first resurrection and at the coming of the Lord. However, you must understand that this principle has been working through all the ages. When Moses said, “Lord, I beseech Thee, show me Thy glory,” he was talking about the same principle. He came down from the mountain with his face shining like the sun. To the extent that the Lord revealed Himself to Moses, to that extent Moses was changed. However, that was not the time for permanent change; that came with Jesus Christ. When He came, people were transformed. To the extent that they knew Him and recognized Him, to that extent something happened to them.
A woman who had been hemorrhaging for twelve years touched the hem of Christ’s garment and was healed. Jesus asked, “Who touched Me?” One individual in a large crowd of people had a revelation of Him. She knew who He was and what He could do. When she touched Him, the change took place instantly. This instant change can happen to anyone. It is not necessary to do some great, noble deed. You do not have to slash your wrists and shed your blood for Jesus. The change does not happen because of something you can do. It happens as your spirit opens up mystically and there is a revelation of the Lord to your heart and you begin to see Him. It is doubtful whether anyone can remain in God’s end-time walk unless he has a sustaining revelation of the Lord. When you see Him, you begin to change immediately. Because you change, everything else around you will have to change.
There is an old saying that you cannot lift yourself by your own bootstraps. God is trying to tell you the same thing. Praying, reading the Word, and faithfully working for the Lord will not change you in themselves. What you do in those areas will count only if you see the Lord in the Word you read, if you are open to the Lord in the prayer you pray, if your work is accomplished with an openness to the Lord, and is not just an exercise of some zeal within yourself.
Do you want to change? Do you want to rise into something different from anything you have ever known in your life? Do you want to leave the old nature behind and eliminate those negative qualities of your disposition and personality? You do not break through to God by praying, praying, praying, and then having God suddenly appear on the scene waving a magic wand and saying, “Now you are a different person.”
Romans 12:1–2 gives us the formula for change. I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.
By the mercies of God we present ourselves to the Lord, believing for change. How does that change take place? By not being conformed to this world, but by being transformed. The Greek word for “transformed” has an English derivative: “metamorphosis.” It means a complete change of the form of life into something absolutely different, into a whole new being. What actually opens our minds to the Lord is His revelation to us and our exposure to Him. We can be transformed if we believe that an instant miracle is taking place. If you come to a service doubting, you will leave with very little; but if you come, believing that the Lord will meet you, you will be met. You may not see a great vision of glory and wonder, but you will experience an inner glow as the Lord becomes very real to you and something in your spirit responds to Him.
As a young man, Joshua was chosen to be one of the attendants of Moses. After Moses had been up on the mountain with the Lord, the glory of the Lord came down. Joshua remained in the Tabernacle because the glory was there. There is no record of God telling Joshua anything, but he wanted to be where the Lord was. When the glory cloud came down on the Tabernacle and Moses talked with the Lord, Joshua was always there in the background, exposing himself to it all. The other men who were taking care of the various duties and pursuits probably criticized Joshua because he did nothing but stand in the presence of the Lord.
Finally the day came when God had something to say to Joshua, and he was still standing there, listening. “Joshua, Moses is dead; now I will establish you as I did Moses. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you.” Joshua accepted that commission, “Yes, Lord.” He continued repeating God’s words, meditating on them day and night. Finally the time came when he could instruct the moon to stand still; he could summon armies of hornets to help him fight. When the time came, walls fell down, rivers parted, and thirty-two nations greater than Israel were defeated. Joshua was courageous. He was faithful to obey the Lord. He was one of the greatest men of faith. What great miracles he performed! What made Joshua different from the other young men of his day? He loved the Lord and he exposed himself to God. That was the key to his change.
The key that will help you is worship. You cannot ever worship the Lord too much or too wholeheartedly. Open your heart and expose yourself to the Lord. Little by little you will change. What do you care if people think you are an idiot because you go to church and stand worshiping the Lord? The important thing is that you will become more like the Lord, changed into the same image, from glory to glory. This move of God is a communication of love between you and the Lord. Open your heart as you worship and praise Him.
People’s attitudes need to be changed so that they can understand what faith really is, what it is to believe God. First, you must realize that faith is an activity and not merely a mental assent to a truth. Even the demons believe and tremble. You must have a faith greater than theirs or you will not make it. A simple philosophical assent to a truth will not work for you. Faith is an activity, an action.
We say of someone who has faith that he walks with God. Isn’t walking an activity? This move of God is actually a way of life. In the book of Acts they spoke of it as “the Way.” For them, too, it was an activity, a way of life. Our walk with God must be taken into our business, our school, into everything we do.
Faith is an action, and you can learn how to step it up. Whenever the Lord wanted to produce faith, He tried to give the individual an action to perform. He found a blind man, sitting by the roadside, calling out, “Alms, alms, alms for the poor.” When Jesus saw that he wanted to be healed, He spit on the ground, reached down, and mixed some of the dirt with His saliva to form some clay. As He placed this on the eyes of the blind man, He said, “Go wash in the pool of Siloam” (a reservoir that King Solomon had built). That was not a simple assignment, for a blind man to stumble along the streets, bumping into things, in order to reach this reservoir at the other end of town. When he finally came to the pool and washed his eyes, they were opened. Faith is an action.
On another occasion Jesus met a man with a withered hand. He said, “Stretch out your hand.” The man could have said, “If I could stretch out my hand, do you think I would be in this condition?” But he did not. He took one look at the Lord and something was communicated, as he exposed himself to the power of God. He reached his hand out to the Lord and it was healed. Faith is an action!
We have seen enough of the Lord’s moving and heard enough of the living Word. Now we must stretch out to Him and act on it. That is faith. You approach Him, sometimes with just a word, “Lord, I’m a believer,” and it happens right there.
Often the Lord required only a little action for something to happen. People knew just enough about the Lord to expose themselves to Him. To the extent that we expose ourselves to God, to the extent that we love Him and open our hearts to Him and then act upon His Word, to that extent we will he changed. This is the path of instant saints. Do you want a ministry? Do you want your life to count? What about your secret fear that somewhere down the line you will waver or fail and the flesh will take over? That will happen only if you take your eyes off the Lord. Are you secretly afraid of failing in the grace of God? It does not have to happen. Learn to walk with an awareness of the Lord because grace comes from Him. He will change you. He will deal with your problem as you expose it to Him.
Perhaps you are concerned because your circumstances continue to harass you. Remember—the Lord is more concerned about you changing than He is about the circumstances changing. If He were to change the circumstances before He changed you, He might lose you. Are you so tormented by the restrictions on your life and the circumstances around you that you do not know which way to go? That is the best thing that ever happened to you. It is in your containment and restrictions that you will open your heart and seek God. If you were a free agent, able to run about and do anything you wanted, you probably would not even serve God. Do not look for the world around you to change. When the change has been worked within you, it will transmit change to everything around you.
Sometimes insecurity overwhelms a young person and brings him into a state of melancholy. He does not love himself or anyone else. Do not be so absorbed with yourself and given to so much introspection that you no longer look to the Lord. You should be sensitive before God, searching your heart honestly and with integrity; but that by itself will lead you nowhere. It must go hand in hand with a great openness to the Lord. As you expose yourself to Him, He will deal with the deep need. This does not mean that you should refuse to look within. Know yourself and your need. Know that you must change, and know also how that change comes to pass: through Jesus Christ the Lord and His grace. Learn how to open your heart to God and communicate with Him; then the flood will come down from the Lord.
The historical books of the Bible are usually presented as being not quite accurate, but very quaint. If you read the Word only for its historical or literary content—as you marvel at the drama presented in the book of Job and the beautiful poetry of the Psalms, as you see the Song of Solomon only as an exquisite example of a love poem of the Orient, and the books of Esther and Ruth as masterpieces of short stories—then you have missed the point completely. The Bible was not written so that you could merely enjoy those aspects of it; it was written for you to find the Lord Jesus Christ. Our main objective in everything—prayer, worship, reading the Word—is a revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The story is told about a little girl who received a very complicated jigsaw puzzle from her father. He spread all the pieces out on a table and said, “Now let’s see how quickly you can assemble this puzzle.” Within an hour she had it completed. Her father was surprised, and when he asked her to explain how she did it so quickly, she told him, “I noticed that there was another picture on the back of the puzzle—a picture of a man’s face—which was less complicated than the other picture. So I assembled the pieces of that picture and then turned over the cookie sheet on which I had worked it, and my puzzle was complete.”
The Bible contains many mysteries, but you must look for the Man it is talking about, the One it is revealing. Cry like the Greeks of old, “We would see Jesus; we would see Jesus!” You will see Him when He is revealed to you in all of His goodness. Do not look at the mechanics of a story; look beyond it and see the unseen hand of God working. After a while you will be completely in tune with Him and not even aware of it until someone asks, “What has happened to you?” In a sense, the skin of your face shone as you talked with Him through His Word. When He is very close and very real to you, then you change.
Faith reaches out in an activity, It reads, it looks, it clutches the hem of His garment and declares, “Here I am, Lord.” Faith exposes itself to the Lord and abides in the Tabernacle, never departing from it. Faith looks for something to happen. When the reproof comes, it recoils under the blow and says, “Thank You, Lord.” There must be an openness to accept the reproof and criticism that the Lord brings. Sometimes young people rise up in indignation and rebellion when they are reproved by their parents. They should be reminded of the Scripture in Proverbs 15:5: A fool despiseth his father’s correction.… Then they will have to decide whether or not they want to be called a fool. The same thing is true where God is concerned. Are you going to be a fool who is trying to retain that little veneer of pride and sensitivity that says, “Who am I to take that kind of instruction?” Or are you going to be a wise son and open up to the Lord and let Him be everything to you?
We do not want to wait for the last trump to see the Lord. Just be aware of His presence and practice it. As you open your heart to Him and develop an awareness of Him, He may sometimes seem so close to you that you wonder why you cannot see Him with your eyes. He is there for every one of you. All the problems and difficult situations that you face come because you drift away from that awareness. Be like Joshua. Abide in the presence of the Lord, where the glory is.
One of the Bible expositors has given us an important key concerning the reading of the Scriptures. He believed that the greatest Scripture in the New Testament was the one quoted by the Lord Jesus: “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every Word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” He explained, “Every day I read the Word, but not just to read a chapter or two chapters or a verse or two. Prayerfully I open my heart to God and I read until God speaks a Word to my heart. It is not the cold print that means anything, but the fact that I hear from God, that God speaks to me. Then I know that I do not live by bread alone, but I live by a Word that comes from God.”
If you believe that and follow it, you will never open the Bible to read it without listening for God to speak. When you do, something will always be revealed to your heart that makes Him very precious. And you will walk away from that Word a changed person.