God only ever has ‘Plan A’. There is no ‘Plan B’. Each of us has a destiny, conferred and agreed before the foundation of the world, and with that destiny come both the creative ability and the authority to fulfil it. God has made it really simple for us. We can either step up, say ‘yes’ to His plan and fulfil our destiny, or hesitate, hold back, say ‘no’ and miss it.
Three generations
God is calling a generation in our days. In fact, He is speaking to three generations and calling them to fulfil their destiny.
- A Joshua generation, who will see the Promised Land, enter into it as forerunners and draw others in with them.
- A generation of harvesters, a billion of them, as prophesied (in 1975, a generation ago – and let us not miss the significance of that) by Bob Jones. These will reap the final harvest, which will be far more numerous, and to do so they will need to be operating in the fullness of Jesus’ greater works (John 14:12).
- The Moses generation, who have seen and experienced God’s deliverance and His miraculous provision. Faced with the giants and the walled cities, they have a choice to make. It is not too late for them, not yet.
The church today is in transition from one place to another, or at least, a part of it is. And we all have a choice to make. Two-and-a-half tribes of Israel chose to stay on the near side of the Jordan, chose not to enjoy the benefits of God’s provision for them, and more or less completely disappeared from history.
The generation who entered the Promised Land were offered exactly the same choice their fathers had rejected forty years before, with exactly the same obstacles to overcome, but this generation said ‘yes’ to God rather than ‘no’. Still, the process of taking the land was not easy. The cities had to be conquered (using God’s strategy, not theirs); the giants and the nations had to be dispossessed. Even though we choose to say ‘yes’ to Him, we will still have to fight for our inheritance, and we will have to be overcomers if we are to fulfil our destiny.
“This is me, and this is not”
Some will choose not to enter. We will honour them for the path they have trodden in the forefront of the purposes of God, some of them for decades. But if they are not prepared to take that final step, then we know that in God’s Prophetic Timetable there is a time for judgment to come to the house of God. Judgment is as simple as Him drawing a line, and saying “This is me, and this is not. Which will you choose?”
The church generally has a very poor reputation with the world. We may laugh at comedy shows like ‘The Vicar of Dibley’ and ‘Father Ted’, but they are an accurate reflection of how the world sees us. When I first taught this series in 2012, God told me that in three years He would be coming to overturn the tables of the moneychangers in His temple. Coming to us individually as the temple of the Holy Spirit, certainly. But also coming to the church, wherever it is not a true representation of Him.
Authentic works of the kingdom
We may think that here at Freedom our reputation with the world (at least locally) is somewhat different. We are engaging with and meeting the needs of people in our community, and of course there are many other churches of whom the same is true. But we cannot afford to be complacent. It is not enough. We must not settle. We must go in, inherit our destiny and take our Promised Land.
There is a whole generation of young people to be won for Christ. They will not respond to the same boring experience of church they have already rejected. And not just young people – the Joshua Generation and the harvesters will be of all ages. Nothing less than an authentic demonstration of the works of the kingdom will draw them in.
Cleansing the temple
I am going to once again shake all things.
I am going to turn over the moneychangers’ tables in My temple.
I am going to drive out the thieves and robbers from My temple.
I am preparing the whip right now to expose the attitudes and motives of your lives.
I am going to expose in My temple the church those who are using it for their own purposes.
There will be many exposed for who and what they are.
My temple will once again be known as the Father’s house; a place of habitation.
My temple will be known as a House of Prayer
Where My words of truth will set My people free.
And through free men
The world will be set free from the chaos, confusion and dominion of darkness it is in.
My desire is to reveal sons to the world; true sons living in the truth.
True temples where rivers of My presence and power are flowing to fulfil My purposes.
I am preparing the whip now,
So be ready for motives that are selfish and self-centred to be revealed.
Know for sure that My temple will be known as a true house of prayer.
(See Matt 21:12-13, John 2:12-22).
Jesus is plaiting a whip, and all those who are trading for their own purposes are going to be turned out. That three-year period will be finished early in 2015, when it will also be 40 years since Bob Jones’ prophecy. This is a serious business.
Visions
We have had a vision of a canopy being stretched over us, and eagles flying out, carrying the four corners of it into the far distance.
In another vision there was a portal opening, and angels coming through in great numbers. They were carrying cords attached to stakes, and dropping them at people’s feet. Some ignored the stakes completely, some knocked them into the ground where they stood, but others picked them up and took them as far as they could, until the ropes were pulled tight, and drove them in there.
The message is clear, and how we respond is of critical importance. These are exciting days. We have the opportunity to be part of a generation who will make history. This is a definitive choice, and our defining moment.
“Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve… but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” (Joshua 24:15).