There is a oneness for us in our Lord that we have not yet entered. But we have been experiencing a time of deep spiritual healing and orientation for this coming oneness. In the Spirit the oneness is tugging at us like an undertow, or like an overwhelming tidal wave of oneness. God wants to take away our independent individuality and the individual expression of each ministry in the church. This will bring us into something different than we have had before: a oneness in which there is a continual flow of a Living Word from the Lord.
In one of the most difficult times I have ever experienced, God worked a deep deliverance in my life—in my spirit, in my circumstances, and in everything that relates to me. It seemed to be the appointed time for this to happen. Since then, God has been giving us a Word that constantly probes us (Hebrews 4:12). We know that without this Word, we would have drifted into sectarianism. Without this Word we would have built little, private kingdoms. Because of this danger, the Lord has disturbed the churches very deeply on every level. Everyone has had to make adjustments, but out of this a unity and a oneness is coming. We are ready to go ahead. After years of intercession, we are entering into the fulfillment of the oneness we have prayed for. We are ready to take the next step!
Spiritual fathers need to start fathering the Timothys. The Lord shall start bringing forth many Timothys. This is not to say that they will be perfect; but when God has worked a certain quality of spirit, which takes over within them, then it is time to send them to different churches.
Then others will be fathered from the churches as quickly as possible, so that this process of growth and oneness can continue. In this way, the unity God has brought us will not be allowed to diminish; we will not drift back into a restricted local church scene again.
The time has come for all the churches, and everything God has raised up to receive and experience a flow of all the ministries. A healing will go through the Body. The tension will ease away from the antagonism over the Timothys. Then the pastors will be demanding, “Send us some Timothys!”
There is a problem, however, which constantly presents itself to us, and we must overcome it if we are to be effective in this next step of the Kingdom evangelism. It has three aspects.
First, there are a few who think they have something from God, but actually they have nothing. Then there are some who think they have a great deal, but they have only a little. Finally, there are those who tend to back off, thinking that they have only a little, when in reality they have much more than they realize. The problem for all of us is to believe that we have all things in Christ, and then to move ahead into everything God has for us (John 16:15; Ephesians 1:3, 10; Philippians 4:13).
Kingdom evangelism is ready to break forth, ready to go! The stage is being set by God Himself. He is making everything ready. Jesus said, “Behold, I will send you to reap where you have not sown” (John 4:38). He will send us out into the world with a Living Word to hearts that are already prepared. Do not say it is four months to the harvest. Just lift up your heads (John 4:35); the harvest is already waiting. God is moving; He is proclaiming a Word of Kingdom evangelism which will turn this country upside down. We are ready to be involved!
Each year we need to start having a Ministers’ Convocation which will be closely associated with the Feast of Trumpets. This convocation will be called by the Holy Spirit to meet during the Feast of Trumpets. After this comes the Day of Atonement, and then the Feast of Tabernacles, all of which prepares our hearts for a great deal.
Inevitably, there is much prophesying during the Feast of Tabernacles. The prophesying is like a trumpet call that gives us direction. A good army usually has a trumpeter who knows how to give a signal. If his trumpet gives a certain sound, the army knows whether it is to charge or to retreat; it knows what to do (I Corinthians 14:8).
What we need now is to learn one trumpet call: “CHARGE!” That is what God has been teaching us. He has been preparing my own heart, and this preparation has meant days of deep devastation which I cannot recall ever having been exceeded. Have you been in this same position? Has God been preparing you with repentance? Have you reached the point where you have no defense left, and you are no longer even trying to defend yourself? Do you feel as though you have been put into a corner? As a result, you say, “O God, I know that whatever is happening—in me, to me, or through me—is all in Your hands.”
There has been no end to the preparation for what God is bringing. As God summons us together, He seems to do something to us which we need to understand. No doubt, areas do exist in which people have been alienated from one another by virtue of what they lacked. However, our problem in the churches is that we have been separated by what we do have, rather than by what we do not have.
People seem to flow together best when they all have about the same interests. Someone who has greater abilities than the average person usually finds it easy to separate himself from others. Consequently, if he has an exceptional talent, he may tend to draw off by himself. A genius is usually rather isolated. He tends to be captivated by his own thoughts. And even if he succeeds in putting those thoughts into words, he is still handicapped because there are so few who can fully comprehend them, including himself. Those with exceptional memories need others to whom they can communicate their knowledge.
In the Body of Christ, there should be no feeling of isolation. Instead, there should be the constant witness that we are being drawn together. Coming forth on the scene are geniuses who are becoming experts in their field. They will be exceptionally talented in their field because of the endowments they have in such areas as medicine, inventions, electronics, solar energy, music (including recorded music), and so on. Their achievements will change the world! They may be able to open up whole fields in the Kingdom.
In the past, as we watched the gifts and the ministries developing, we saw a tendency for some people to draw back. Excellence can make a person just as independent as inferiority does. But now God is pulling us all back together again. He is saying, “Come on; we all need each other very much” (Ephesians 4:16).
What we have experienced has been God calling us into a oneness. That oneness had to be created, but not just so that we could overcome hostilities and problems; it had to be created because we are at various stages in bringing forth the collective gift and ministry which we are all to have.
This is the bottom line! Plant this Word deep within your heart: We have talked Body ministry, but now we are ready to experience it fully. Every ministry is to be of value (I Corinthians 12:4–7). All are to flow together in oneness. No one is to say to his brother, “I have no need of you” (I Corinthians 12:21–26). No one is to walk independently. God is drawing us all together.
As God’s call to oneness comes, we will all be one. Many people could become isolated because of their problems; in fact, exceptional people seem to have exceptional problems. This often makes the rest of us somewhat less considerate of them than perhaps we should be. Many ministries of potentially great value are developing, and we must take steps to bring them forth for the glory of God. We will see the launching of Kingdom evangelism which will have as an integral part of its functioning this oneness of the Body. It is the oneness of the Body which will bring it forth.
What is the greatest problem we are facing at this point? The problem is three-fold. First, although God’s Word continues to come to us, we do not really know much of what He has spoken so far. There are many who have not been exposed to the foundational truths which came in the early years when this Living Word first began to unfold. Thousands of lessons have been carefully recorded; yet most of the people have heard very few of them. Some of the books are out of print and no longer available. I cannot go back and re-lay this foundation of truth. It must be brought forth again by others.
The difficulty is that most people have not really heard very much of what God has spoken to us so far. A few brothers have spoken to me about the great burden they have to get back into the old tape library and bring out the messages from the backlog. Their deep dedication to His Word is awesome; they love it so much that they want to seek out all of it. It is wonderful to see how hungry they are for God’s Word! Are you so hungry for His Word that you will take any steps necessary to search it out?
The function of the ministers’ training center will be to bring forth the Living Word—everything God has been speaking for this generation—so that it will burn in the hearts of the prophets (Jeremiah 20:9; Luke 24:32). This is how our school of Prophets will get the Living Word back into the churches! The school will help to supply the foundational Word to hearts which are hungry for the Word of God. Then the other truths God has for us can be added. First of all, however, we must have a good idea of what God has been speaking.
Secondly, I wonder about our capacity to hear what the Lord is saying right now. I wonder how many of the Words and the truths being revealed are truly given the right emphasis. And even when the Word is given the right emphasis, do all the people really hear? Do they hear the heart of it—or do they hear just a portion of it?
The problem that bothers me the most is this: In spite of all that has come in the past and all that is presently unfolding, the days ahead will require of us much greater discernment and spiritual perception. We will really need ears to hear what the Spirit is saying to the churches (Revelation 2:29). The most important Words, and in a sense the most critical, are yet to be spoken. God is laying a great calling before us—to be that prophetic company which goes forward in the Lord. It is time for us to hear and act upon the Word which comes to us.
The tenth chapter of Numbers tells the purpose of the trumpets. “And when you go to war in your land against the adversary who attacks you, then you shall sound an alarm with the trumpets” (in other words, you will have a period of deep intercession), “that you may be remembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies.” Numbers 10:9.
I Corinthians 14:8 compares the prophetic flow to the blowing of a trumpet. Have you experienced times in intercession when you were intense and became so loud in your expression that it was as though you were sounding an alarm with trumpets? Of course, you can either blast out loudly, or you can put a mute on the trumpet. But whether the trumpet is loud or soft, it must give a certain sound. Your main purpose in intercession is not that people will hear you, but that you will “be remembered before the Lord your God, and be saved from your enemies.
“Also in the day of your gladness and in your appointed feasts, and on the first days of your months, you shall blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings.” Have you been reduced to cinders? During the past year or two have you found yourself on the altar of the Lord and under His fire? Then it is time to blow a trumpet over the burnt offering! “Blow the trumpets over your burnt offerings, and over the sacrifices of your peace offerings; and they shall be as a reminder of you before your God.” (Note this: the trumpets shall be a reminder of you before your God.) “I am the Lord your God.” Numbers 10:10.
First of all, be sure that God is focused on you. Do you believe that God sees you? Of course He sees you! Nevertheless, you must take a step of faith which will bring to you a fresh awareness of His focus on you, His purpose for your life, and His goal for all the churches.
Success is not the objective. The objective is to be wholly used by God for that which He has raised us up to be. We want to be a voice of the Lord, speaking His Living Word. That is the purpose for which we came forth. Any human fulfillment will be incidental to this goal. We seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness. We do not worry about what we will eat, where we will live, or other matters of secondary importance; after those things the Gentiles seek (Matthew 6:31–33). You are not to seek after those. You are to give yourself to one purpose: Come before the Lord and say, “Lord, look on me! Remember me!”
Does God forget? No; but most of His attributes and most of His abilities lie dormant until faith stirs them up. It was when the Israelites cried out in the land of Egypt that the Lord heard their cries. Then He remembered what He had said to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and He sent Moses to deliver them (Exodus 3:6–8).
Will God remember us? There is always a way for God to remember. But it is also true that He has indelibly linked together what He is and what He does with the initiative of our faith. Because of this, we need to remind Him! Let us be those who are the Lord’s remembrancers, who cry unto Him day and night and do not let Him forget any Word that He has spoken (Isaiah 62:6–7).
Will God forget? No, He will not forget; but He will remember much better if you provoke Him to respond. Your initiative stirs God into action; it causes Him to make bare His arm (Isaiah 52:10) and remember all of His covenants and all of His promises (Exodus 6:5–8). This is why we blow the trumpet.
When we blow the trumpet, we are saying, “Lord, we do this so that You will remember us!” I do not think that God has forgotten anything from the ages past, but when the wells of His memory are stirred, then God remembers His promises. Rather than insisting upon hearing a fresh new Word, let us have the trumpets blowing! Let us remind God again what He has already said. We like to have new Words and new trumpet calls, but we also need something that stirs us until God speaks again through His many-membered Body, and the heart of the Father remembers us. Does He love you? Of course He does. But when you cry to Him, He loves you still more. Then His love becomes more evident. God manifests what you believe and what you see in Him (Psalm 18:26).
In Leviticus 23:23–24, we see again that the blowing of trumpets is a reminder: Again the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying, ‘In the seventh month on the first of the month, you shall have a rest (a Sabbath rest), a reminder by blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation.’ ”
Although we observe the Feast of Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and the Feast of Tabernacles, we do not keep these with the rituals of the Old Testament. Since we first began to keep these feasts, it is amazing how many peoples, churches, and groups throughout the country have joined in to keep them also. It is not that we have told them what to do. Rather, this has been a demand of the Holy Spirit, a common witness to more and more people, that these three feasts of the seventh month have significance for us. They are events; they are experiences. They are signs of a dispensational opening. They are an open door to a new era which God is bringing to us.
I believe we are getting ready for the Gospel of the Kingdom to go to the ends of the earth for a witness to all people (Matthew 24:14). I believe our emphasis is swinging toward the end-time message and outreach. We are deeply concerned about the great harvest to come forth. God waits for the precious fruit of the earth. He has long patience for it until it receives the early and the latter rain (James 5:7; Joel 2:23). If the Lord is delaying His coming, it is for one reason: He wants to gather the harvest which He anticipates. Out in the world there are many people like you who will show forth the praise of His name (Isaiah 43:21).
Do you remember what the Lord has said about you? Prophesy it again. Prophesy it to yourself, for when you prophesy to yourself, you are reminding the Lord. Then the Lord will say, “Oh, I see that he remembers what I said about him. I will have to help him a little more so that he will see the prophecies come to pass. What I said I would become in him as a vessel, that I will do!”
What will be happening to us? I do not know what the days ahead will be like, but I encourage you not to be ambitious about them. No one will have much of a name or receive much praise (I Chronicles 29:11–12; Isaiah 42:8; Jeremiah 9:23–24). No one will touch the gold or the glory. Although the gold and the glory will be greater in the latter house than in the former (Haggai 2:9), no one will receive any of that for himself. All we desire is to glorify God for the privilege we have of magnifying Him and bringing forth His Kingdom. Many battles will be fought, but we will win them in the Lord. And when we have won them, no one will hang a medal on us. We will not know or even care how the battles were won; instead, we will be very happy that the victory came and the Lord’s arm was made bare (Isaiah 52:10).
Is it possible that the days of ambition and the days of personality emphasis, which we have battled, are really coming to a close? Is it possible for us to reach into such faith for each other that we are willing to lay down everything in order to flow together? All of this is happening!
Someone may come concerning a brother, wondering what I think about him and his problems. “There is no problem”. Because the Lord had been meeting my heart, my answer could reflect the faith and love God put in my heart for my brethren. Because of that faith and love, simply calling to mind a brother’s name brings the desire to do for him whatever he needs—whether it is to bless him, chasten him, rebuke him, or assure him that I would lay my life down for him. Any problems he has are beside the point.
When we have faith and believe for each other, and we voice our faith together, then anything we do wrong is suddenly reversed, and it is done right. But without that faith, even the things we do right seem to abort. We are learning that our love and our faith for each other must be great enough to bind one another over to the greatest possible fulfillment of God’s will for us.
From the very beginning, the prophecies have spoken of the greater works. The launching of the greater works is here. I believe we are reaching into a dedication we have not seen before—a dedication to do the greater works and the exploits, and to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom (John 14:12). Proclaim it into being! We are ready for the Gospel of the Kingdom to go to the ends of the earth for a witness to all people! (Matthew 24:14.) Let us flow into it.