In the book of Exodus, God spoke these words to the Israelites: “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of slavery. You shall have no other gods before Me. You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.” Exodus 20:2–6. We are to worship the Lord and have no idols before Him.
It was distinctive among the Hebrew people that they did not produce many artists or sculptors. The creation of a likeness became abhorrent to them. They went through many sufferings because of their idolatry. Whenever they made idols, God dealt with them in His jealousy. It was very important that they not make some human concept of Him. When they did, they wound up with many gods.
Keep the previous Scripture in mind because it is tied in a fabulous way to Matthew 16:13–17: Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He began asking His disciples, saying, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; some, Elijah; and others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.” And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.”
The Jews in Jesus’ day were to do the same as they were commanded to do in Moses’ day. The Word to Israel was, “ ‘Thou shalt have no other gods before Me. Thou shalt not make any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth.’ You shall not do it today. It should not be in your thinking to do so. You are to have one concept of God.”
Deuteronomy 6:4–5 tells us, “Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one!” (How many lords? How many gods? One!) “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.” Israel made the mistake of creating many images, and God dealt with them severely. Maybe they never opened their hearts to the fact that the Lord God was one.
In the New Testament we see the same problem. The Son of God, the matchless one, God Himself, came in flesh and said, “Who do you say that I am?” Once again, the Jews who were looking for an image answered, “I see you are like Jeremiah. You are like Elijah, or one of the prophets.” They had many concepts of Christ, but they could not know Him. They could not know His power, and they could not follow Him because they did not have a revelation of Him.
The Lord asked the disciples, “Who do you say that I am?” The answer came from Peter, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God.” Jesus responded, saying, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because you finally have a revelation, a true revelation of the one Lord. Flesh and blood did not reveal it to you.” Though flesh and blood may have been an agency, and may still be an agency, to bring a revelation of the Lord, yet there must be a divine revelation to your spirit.
The Lord spoke to us many years ago that only a revelation from Him would sustain us. In Acts 26:19 we read that Paul stood before his judges and said, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.” The vision sustained him. He was obedient to the Lord because he had had a true revelation. When Paul asked, “Who art Thou, Lord?” He revealed Himself by saying, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5). Concepts and ideas are not enough; we must walk by a revelation of the Lord. A real revelation of the real Lord, as He really is, opens a door to the oneness that the Body of Christ must have. A body of many members cannot become one if they are following many different concepts and ideas. Each member must have a real revelation of the Lord!
What happened to Peter? He had a revelation of Jesus from the Father. He was not following a facsimile of Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, or one of the prophets. He was following the Lord as He had been truly revealed by the Father to his heart. Therefore Jesus gave Peter the keys of the Kingdom, saying, “And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven.” Then He warned the disciples that they should tell no one that He was the Christ. Matthew 16:18–20.
What did Jesus mean “that they should tell no one that He was the Christ”? I regret the times I have talked to a skeptic about the Lordship of Jesus Christ. No one seems to come into a real walk or a oneness with the Lord unless he receives a revelation to his heart. We can preach the Word by the power of the Spirit, but somehow we must have that inner flash of illumination and inspiration that says, “He is the Lord!” The revelation that Jesus is the Lord cannot be received from the many different concepts that are preached.
People who drink from many different religious fountains wind up with many concepts, all in conflict. Confusion and powerlessness rests upon them, because the keys are given to those who have a real revelation of the Lord. For a number of years we have preached one message. We have only one teaching: Jesus Christ is the Lord! Without a revelation of Him being Lord over your life, you could follow the scriptural teachings of divine order and the many concepts and ideas of today’s restoration, but they will not be enough! You will stalemate!
You will hit an impasse, unless you understand the fourth chapter of Ephesians. The Lord is restoring apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers; and the climate in which they move and the objective which they produce are described in the first verses of this fourth chapter. We must understand the climate in which they create this fantastic oneness of the Body which is described in verses 15 and 16: But speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in all aspects into Him, who is the head, even Christ, from whom the whole body, being fitted and held together by that which every joint supplies, according to the proper working of each individual part, causes the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love.
We do not function as individuals apart from one another, but as individuals who are in the oneness of a Body. We are fastened into this revelation of the Lord as the Head. He is the Head. He is the Lord! In the churches and among the ministries, we must exalt Him as Lord. The ministries are given to bring that mystical moment when He breaks through and the Body receives a revelation of Him by the Spirit.
Paul began Ephesians chapter 4 saying, I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord … He did not say, “I, the apostle, have come to tell you about apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers! I, who also am an apostle, have come to tell you the whole story.” No, Paul worded this right: “I, a prisoner of the Lord.” His heart had been taken captive. He was not talking about imprisonment in the Roman dungeons. He was talking about how his heart had been wholly captivated by the Lord. He had come into a relationship: I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, entreat you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing forbearance to one another in love, being diligent (Paul speaks about kindness and gentleness, and then he hits them concerning the intense diligence) to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace (every striving, every yearning). There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord (here is the emphasis: one Lord), one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all. Ephesians 4:1–6.
Without these first verses fulfilled, there is no climate in which the foundational ministries can bring forth the Body into that glorious oneness to “grow up in all aspects into Him, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:15, 13). The growth of the Body is not the growth of individual members who are bisected, one from another. It is the growth of the Body that functions because it is one Body with one Head—one Lord! Nothing will work for us, in His end-time restoration, without this oneness.
If you like to compare doctrines and teachings, you may end up with some kind of hash that will destroy you. It may all be true, yet it may be without the basic revelation of oneness with the Lord and oneness with the Body. This is the key of your functioning, of that supernatural growth which will come forth, of the living thing that God will do through you.
The apostolic objective is to bring scattered, immature individuals “to the measure of the stature of Christ.” How is this done? Preach Him as Lord, and the Spirit will move, in some unique way beyond the mystery of preaching, and the people will receive a revelation of the Lordship of Christ.
The basic problem is that most of the people in churches have not yet had a revelation of the Lord. This is possible, because we read in John 14:8–9 that Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me? He who has seen Me has seen the Father.” The oneness was there, and Jesus was laying out that truth to Philip: “After all this time, though your heart has been moved, and you have been following Me, you still lack the revelation of who I am!” How can you be one with someone when you do not know who they are? How can you be one with someone when you do not even know who you are?
When people who do not have a revelation of the Lord hit tests and trials, they will be shaken very deeply. They may seek the Lord, but without a revelation of Him they will not be sustained. However, if you have that revelation you will go forth with the keys of the Kingdom; and the “gates of hell will not prevail against you” (Matthew 16:18–19). You will say, as Paul said at the end of his race, “I fought a good fight, I finished the course, I kept the faith” (II Timothy 4:7). “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision. I had the vision of the Lord.”
The vision of the Lord and the Word of the Lord are inseparable. Paul spoke about our coming into that glorious unity of the Body. He spoke about “one Lord, one faith, one God and Father of all.” Why did Paul say we must “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace”? It is not because we have differences; we can differ over everything. Our unity is based upon a common revelation of the Lord. We can differ on everything, and that will not matter. Our differences will matter only when we do not have a common revelation. A common revelation of the Lord is causing the gradual coming together of unity within the Body. We have had a common, single Word that has exalted Jesus Christ as Lord and has opened the door to a revelation of Him. We can have many different patterns and projects without encountering any problems. However, our worship, our intercession, and our works will fail if we are not sustained together by a common revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord. It is not enough that we go through the motions of worship and service.
When I first was met by the Lord, these prophecies in Isaiah became real to me: “Other lords have had dominion over us, but the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day” (Isaiah 26:13; 2:11). How eager I was to leave everything of a denominational structure. Anything which called for an allegiance that was not to the Lord, anything which put me under a system where the Lord was not moving, was thrown down. When I walked away from all of that, many of my brethren, who tried to come into a walk with God at the same time, continued to cling to their denominational ties and their old friends because they missed the old fellowship. They became troubled in spirit and dropped off, one by one. But I broke free when the revelation came of Christ as Lord. I broke so free that the next day I began to move in the gifts of the Spirit and under the anointing of the Lord!
Many of God’s people are holding back because they do not have a revelation of the one who delivered them. They have not really seen the pillar of fire. They still turn back and yearn after the fleshpots of Egypt. They are still tied to other things. Break loose from them! Cry from your heart, “God, be revealed to me! Be revealed to me today! Lead me, Lord; I want out of the confusion!” The day of the miraculous, the day of the restoration, the day of the Kingdom, begins in your heart! You will flow into a oneness with the Lord when you do not have a conflicting image of Him, like some idolatrous, limited concept of “sweet, dear Jesus.” Remember, He is coming as Lord of lords and King of kings! Do you have a true concept of Him? Do you have any idea of what He is doing in the earth, and how He is ready to “tread out the winepress of the fierceness of His wrath”? (Revelation 19:15.) Do you realize how He is bringing His Body together? If you have some little private concept of God that is not real or does not even exist, you have made an image in your mind of something that is not true. Break down that idol. Get a revelation of the Lord, as He really is!
The revelation of the Lord will bring a revelation of each other. There can be no oneness when you do not know each other. There cannot be any revelation of the Lord without it coming forth also as a revelation of your brethren. When people have problems with me, I keep praying, “Lord, reveal Yourself to them.” Soon they say that they had a real meeting with the Lord. Then they want to fellowship or just talk with me. Their problem with me clears up when it clears up with the Lord. The confusion within the Body of Christ often comes because we are confused in our walk with the Lord. When “we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another” (I John 1:7).
Paul was longing for greater revelation in Philippians 3:10: “That I may know Him.” He did not know Him completely yet. He met Him on the road to Damascus, but he was striving for that completeness and depth of worship in the presence of the Lord. Why are we worshiping if we have no revelation of the Lord? What are we worshiping if there is no awareness of Him? We should cry, “O Spirit of the living God, reveal to me the Lord whom I serve. Reveal to me the Christ for whom I am willing to die! I am willing to lay all my life, the whole of my being, on the line!”
Why preach discipleship? Jesus walked by and said, “Follow Me.” With a revelation, people leave all and follow. If we preach to people to sacrifice and we teach them how to come into discipleship, but it is not born out of a revelation of the Lord, we will create something empty. They will only go through the motions without the blessing. All that we do should be born out of a Living Word and revelation from the Lord, or we will not be sustained. We will faint and grow weary in heart. We will drop by the wayside if He is not real to us.
Some married couples say, “All we need is to love one another more.” But how can you love someone you do not know? Some say that love is blind; but actually true love has insight. A person may stand by and say, “I don’t see what those two see in each other”; but of course, he is the one who is blind. They see something within each other and are drawn together by a common revelation to their hearts. They know each other, and they are willing to spend their lives together. Isn’t this the way it is with the Lord? The Lord God is one Lord, and you are to love Him with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength (Deuteronomy 6:4–5).
The Lord our God is one Lord; and this is emphasized in Ephesians chapter 4. This point should be the emphasis in many sermons. There should be a strong emphasis on the revelation of the Lord. Many times people come into the church service, but we should also pray over them that they have a revelation of the Lord. They should not sit in the church services for any length of time without coming to know Him. If the Living Word is really spoken in the services, that Word will reveal Him and change them.
If we believe in the day of restoration, we must believe that the Living Word which is coming today is an exaltation of the Lord. Whoever’s mouth speaks this Word, God will use it to reveal Himself if we are true to exalt the Lord in this Word that He is bringing. This move which God is bringing forth in the earth is different than anything that has come; it is based upon revelation. Other movements have degenerated into some evangelistic pattern with a superpowered salesmanship usually evidenced by financial exploitation. They reach people’s emotions and minds to bring them into a certain conformity to become a part and a member of the movement.
The Lord does not want you to join something. He wants you to hear a Word that will fuse you, weld you, and set you in His Body as it pleases Him. He wants you to become a living, vital, individual functioning part, but, nevertheless, one united Body. However, this will not come until we all see this one need: in our worship we must have a revelation of the Lord and a real awareness of Him; and in our intercession we must have an awareness and a revelation of Him. In our giving, and in all of our work, we must have a revelation of the Lord and an awareness of Him.
The days of the Parousia have come; and God is raising up foundational ministries again to speak a Living Word which will reveal Him to the people whom He has chosen. He is saying to us, “Blessed art thou—flesh and blood did not reveal it to you.” In the final analysis, it does not make any difference who the flesh and blood is, if that is the choice that God uses. We know He has raised up ministries to speak His Word. One may be a humble fisherman, another a farmer, or a tax collector; but somehow as they stumble along, a Living Word comes to your heart and you come to know Him, who is life eternal (I John 5:20).
Do you want that oneness in the Body? You must have a oneness with the Lord. Do you want a oneness with the Lord? You must have a revelation of Him. Do you want a revelation of Him? Seek Him. Listen to the Living Word that is coming. Listen to the Word that has come. I have given my life, as many others have, for this Word. We will continue to give everything we can for one thing: to see that this Word, which God has given, continues to be spoken to the hearts of people. The only promise we have of success is that God is raising up oracles to speak His Word (I Peter 4:10–11). Unless the Word of God is spoken in the earth, this Kingdom effort will die. Unless there is a revelation of the Lord, it will die. When there is not a revelation of the Lord, the end result is another religion.
God mercifully steers us, so there are no plausible, workable means by which we can perpetuate ourselves without Him. He sees to it that no methods succeed without Him. Intercession is not something which you generate without Him, either. If you have a prophetic proclamation, be aware that you are chosen to speak in His name! Speak His Word! Bring about His will in the earth! Basically, we stand and sing; we prophesy, we pray, and we worship Him; but we must not create religious forms without a revelation of Him. The man who walks with God is the man who has this revelation of Him.
David was a prophet who went through a lot of experiences as a warrior, general, and king—some good, a few bad. But what brought David through with the blessing of the Lord upon him? Psalm 89 describes the promise of the sure mercies of David. God was saying, in effect, “No matter what happens, David, I will stay with you and with your descendants after you. If you sin, I will chasten you; but I will not forsake My covenants which I made with you.” We see why God did this; in Psalm 16:8, David said, “I have set the Lord always before me.” David had had a revelation of the Lord, even in the days of his youth. He would not be moved.
Always set the revelation of the Lord before you, and you shall be sustained through anything. You will come through the dealings of the Lord successfully if you have a real revelation of Him. If you do not have this revelation, you will withdraw or fall away, sooner or later. But if you have been blessed by the Living Word, you may be closer to that revelation than you think. God grant that you seek that deep awareness of Him.
Too many people in various churches do not know the Lord or do not see Him because they are drinking from many fountains. They read many different publications; each one has just a little different emphasis. But nothing in the earth today is as pure as this Living Word which has come; there is nothing which we should adhere to more than this Word. In it we see that He is the Lord. Because of this vision of oneness in the Lord, we will eventually be one with one another. This oneness we are looking for can come if we follow the course which God sets before us. We purpose that the Lord will reveal Himself and say of us, also, “The glory which I had with Thee, before the foundation of the world, I have given to them that they may be one, Father, as You and I are one” (John 17:5, 21).
Once we thought to advertise our church services; and so we sought the Lord, but He witnessed to us, “Only advertise My Word. Never advertise or build up the channels of it.” This is something we have tried to follow faithfully through the years. The idea has never been to exalt the channel. The idea behind the teaching has been a revelation from the Lord to exalt His Word. Because the Word is being exalted, it is called the Living Word that exalts the living Lord Jesus Christ.
In the book of Acts you rarely find that anything happened until they proclaimed the Word. Then “the Word grew and multiplied” (Acts 19:20). It began with faithful men who spoke the Word from God. As they spoke the Word, it was not altered because they continued in the apostles’ teaching (Acts 2:42). In their adherence and closeness to it, and by speaking with the same anointing, that same Word spread rapidly until a whole continent heard it in a short time.
We are expecting this Word to go to the ends of the earth. But it will not happen because we have enticing words or cleverly written books. It will happen because of the revelation which the Lord gives in the Word that reveals Himself. He will be revealed through this Word which He has given to this generation. Is it complete? No. We constantly find more of it coming. This Word is unfolding truths of the Bible that never stop challenging and changing us. Otherwise our minds would stagnate with limited conclusions and interpretations. The truth is that the Lord is actually revealing Himself through His Word which He is speaking now. When He speaks, it is a Living Word for this day, a living and deeper insight into the Scriptures, the Holy Bible.
Keep this truth in your mind, and forsake it not. There is no date on this Word. The Word which God is speaking in this generation is the springboard of the whole coming Kingdom of God. It is unique, inasmuch as it is not revealing or emphasizing experiences. It is not even revealing Jesus Christ so much as only our Savior, but as our saving Lord. He is the King of kings, the delivering Lord! This unique Word is an emphasis that has not come since the days of the early Church.
Open your heart to Him and say, “Lord, by faith You will be revealed to me beyond what I have ever seen or known. I want to know You and be filled with Your fullness. I want to be filled with Your Living Word. I want to be one with You and with every individual member of Your Body of believers everywhere!”