In the Gospel of John, the deep underlying theme is the Word. John 1:1: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. There is also a constant emphasis on the works of God. Rarely is the term “work” used for a human effort that has no divine or spiritual aspect to it. John was speaking about living, spiritual works that are wrought in God. When you trace that theme, you find it throughout the Gospel of John, more so than in any other Gospel or Epistle.
As you look into a few references in the Gospel of John, something can take hold of you; something can get into your heart that was in the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ, in that He knew He had a destiny. By every word He spoke and everything He did He was going to reveal the Father and bring all of the action and power of the Father into the world. He was continually tuned to this one purpose: whatever He did was going to be wrought of God. This is important to realize when you start entering into a lot of activity. You can become a person of projects rather than one who is working in God.
When a work is being wrought in God, it is bitterly contested by the enemy. Whenever someone is moving or working in the Lord, the enemy tries to hinder him. Works that are wrought by the flesh are not opposed by Satan. They are not a challenge to him. There are many good religious projects; but the devil does not care, one way or the other, whether they succeed or fail. They are already damned; they are already cursed because they are wrought by the flesh. It is not the motivation, but the origin of the project that determines its final results. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. John 3:6.
The opposition that you feel comes because your works are being wrought in God. Therefore Satan opposes them. If your works were wrought by the flesh, he would help you. God intervenes to destroy a work of the flesh if it is a challenge to Him. Satan intervenes to try to hinder or destroy a work of God. Weigh this truth. If you build a tower of Babel, the devil will not battle you; he will help you. In fact, when God had cursed Babel, Satan still came back in the same area and started a Babylon. The same is true today. Satan will try to build a Babylon in the area of Babel, but God is the one who confuses the work of Babel where men work to reach up to God (Genesis 11:9). That is a human effort to prevail and do the job. What is born of the flesh is flesh. It has to be wrought in the Spirit, or it is not important. Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6b.
If your spirit is suffering from a satanic assault, when you have been working or interceding, then you know that you are on the right track. The enemy does not fight anything that is not being wrought in God. God does not fight anything that is being wrought in Himself, but He fights what is coming forth in the flesh, to ultimately bring it to confusion. I Corinthians 3:12–13 says that every man’s work will be tried by fire to reveal what sort it is: either gold, silver, and precious stones, or wood, hay, and stubble. The day of the Lord will declare it. The fire of God comes to find out if it is a work that man has produced or that God has produced. The wood, hay, and stubble which man can grow and harvest himself symbolize man’s efforts which can be burned up. The gold, silver, and precious stones are symbolical of what God has created to endure. Gold, silver, and precious stones torment fools and devil-possessed people, because the devil and all of his followers recognize that the only enduring thing is what God has created. The works that you work must be works that God is working through you. Then they will be gold, silver, and precious stones—the treasures that will stand for eternity.
God puts the fire of judgment and of testing upon the activities of a man to see if they are born of something other than God, such as human motivation, a human plan, or a human desire for an identity or significance to make his life more important. This is like a little bee saying, “I’m not an ant, I’m not a nothing, I must do something important”; then struggling to build a house of straw that the fires of time will destroy. Your works must be worked in God. If you are going to stand, you must move in the works that God has before ordained for you to walk in (Ephesians 2:10). He has ordained that you should go and bring forth fruit and that your fruit should remain (John 15:16). God had that planned for your life. Your fruit will remain and what you do will last for eternity.
For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship (what God created), created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10. In other words, God has a plan for you. He created you to be an instrument of creation. He created you to be a creative instrument to go forth and fulfill part of His eternal plan—to bring forth works which He ordained that you should walk in. We could illustrate this by visualizing the world as being filled with very lethal and potent situations. Every ingredient is present except one—the one that will make the formula explosive, creative, devastating, uplifting, and exhilarating. All of these situations have been created by God, but nothing happens in any one of them. Then God creates you, and you become the missing ingredient to the formula. Wherever you walk, you walk with that faith in God. You touch what God has turned loose in a Word, and that completes the formula. Then you reach another situation; and because you are there with the anointing and you are led by the Lord, you bring forth the works of God. Wherever you go, you are walking in the works which God before ordained for you to walk in.
The greater works, the exploits, the end-time events that God has said we will walk in are all beautiful miracles, but God has prepared them only up to a certain point. They will never come to pass through any sovereign action of God. They will come to pass because a people are prepared by God to walk in good works, to walk in the greater works, to walk in the exploits, to create and do what God has said.
Chapters 17 and 18 of Revelation give a detailed description of Babylon. When the Apostle John saw Babylon in vision, he was filled with great amazement. It was one of the most beautiful sights he had ever seen. Today, the spirit of Babylon is everywhere, standing tall and beautiful. We, too, may be impressed with it, until God shows us that in reality it is only wood, hay, and stubble; or, even worse, many times it is just a paper dragon. In the making of movies, almost any illusion can be produced; but when you look at it, you know it is a fake. You know that the plane did not really crash; you know that the man was not actually shot. Satan creates lies and illusions far greater, for he is the originator of all illusions. His children who manufacture them have never surpassed the ability of old Split-hoof himself. He is a master at it. When you consider Satan and you look at Babylon, you cannot help but look up and cry, “O God, what can a few little people do, meeting in a back room somewhere, reading a manual or listening to a tape of a living Word? What can that do to change the world?”
When you wonder how a situation can be changed, remember this Scripture: Is not my word like as a fire? saith the Lord; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces? Jeremiah 23:29. God had told Jeremiah, I will make my words in thy mouth fire… Jeremiah 5:14b. Jeremiah started prophesying judgment when he was just a child. Can you see that little boy looking up at big Babylon and starting to prophesy? A flash of fire, and Babylon comes down! Out of your weakness, out of that earthly vessel will come forth the one missing ingredient—an anointed Word of intercession or prophecy that is thrown into a situation which God has prepared. The result is an explosion.
Everything will explode before you, because the day for this has come; it is a day of destiny. These are the things which God has before ordained that we should walk in. Prophesy, and know that situations are going to change. Do not look at Jericho’s walls and say that they look impregnable. They are not impregnable. Stand there, blow the rams’ horns, and give a big shout! When the priests blew the rams’ horns, the Israelites gave a big shout, and then the walls came down (Joshua 6:20). They did not fall down because of the sound vibrations, but because obedience had run its full course. Patience and endurance were present; but even beyond that, there was a determination to be persistent, right up to that moment of the complete fulfillment of all divine conditions of the promise. They stood there at that moment and blew the horns; and with a shout of faith they turned something loose, the one little ingredient in the formula that caused the explosion, and the walls fell down flat. This is the way that you work the works of God.
Some Jews came to Jesus one day, and began to question Him: What shall we do, that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, This is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent. John 6:28b–29. People today would rather work for charity fund drives, or something that is spectacular. Whatever they do, they have to do it again and again because they are not solving anything. Let someone else do the dead works (Luke 9:59–60). Whatever dead works have to be done, let someone else do them. Let a dead man do the dead works. If you are a living man, do the living works. A dead man cannot create anything. But a living man can simply go along sprinkling that one little ingredient, that utterance of faith, that intercession, into a potential situation that is sitting there ready to happen. It is ready to happen, because today is the day of destiny.
Today is the day of the living Word. Prophesy it. Speak it. Believe it. Listen to it. It is a Word that is coming forth in the hour of its creative fulfillment. Believe that Word with all of your heart and stand on the promises of God. Say, as Jesus said, “My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to accomplish His work.” John 4:34b.
Nothing is more rewarding than to participate in the explosive completeness of God resulting from His Word being in your mouth. It feeds you. Who can explain how it happens? Your spirit is only fed by that which it creates. If you create something by the Word that you speak, it feeds your spirit and makes it strong.
Genesis 1:2 tells how the world was without form and void, and darkness was on the face of the deep. There was chaos and disaster, probably the judgment of some world that existed before the human race was ever brought forth. God must have thought, “It is a mess!” He sent His Spirit to brood over it until He saw that the combination was right; then He spoke the Word. The Word of God in the situation created the miracle.
Do you know that we all are a big mess? But the happy fact is that the Spirit of God has been brooding over us. Each time a living Word comes to us, we become less of a mess. The creative act of God takes place. It does not matter what our need is. If we are worshiping in the Spirit and God sends a Word, that living Word completes the formula and brings forth the living works of God in our lives. The living works of God are created right there at that moment.
Whenever you are discouraged and depressed, just worship the Lord and let His Spirit hover over you. There is always a Word of the Lord in your heart that you can speak in such a situation. Whenever the saints come dragging in to a service—discouraged, disheartened, depressed, and not knowing which way to go—just speak the Word of the Lord. Paul said, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. Colossians 3:16.
When the church comes together, in reality the problems come together. It is the gathering of a mess, a gathering of problems—everyone brings his problem. No one who walks with God is without a problem. Since the dawn of creation, anyone who has ever tried to walk with God has been hindered and battled by the enemy. It has always been that way. All of the problems come together when the church meets; but the one necessary ingredient in the formula is also there: The Word dwells in you richly. The Spirit hovers over the people, and they all begin to worship; then someone prophesies the Word of the Lord, and we hear the explosions: Bang! Bang! Bang! The formula that God created is completed. A Word falls and explodes, bringing forth the plan of God from ages past into the lives of those who are believing.
What shall you do that you might work the works of God? Believe, and the works of God will spring forth. Suppose you are walking along, and you see a fuse. What must you do in order that there will be an explosion? Not much—just light the little fuse. Then run! Something is going to happen!
What should you do to get a spiritual explosion? Just believe! Have faith and turn it loose! What should you do in order for something creative to come forth in your life? Exercise a living Word that God has given you. If you are filled with discouragement, do not open your mouth and talk about all your discouragements, or you will only create a greater mess. Out of the well of your heart, bring forth all of the words that God has spoken. Where His Word dwells in you richly, start speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Ephesians 5:19. The explosions will be heard all over the world. The devils who hear will tremble whenever a saint sits on a powder keg and starts playing with matches. They fear they will be blown into hell.
There has to be something in your heart that has faith. Changes come, not because you know all the answers, but because you have THE answer, and that answer is the Word of God in your heart. Where is that Word? Do you reach down and bring it up out of the abyss? No. Romans 10:8b says, The word is nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart… Believe in your heart and speak with your mouth and the deliverance will come; the salvation will come (Romans 10:7–10).
God is turned loose by the Word that you speak. James 3:6 says that your tongue is a fire, and it sets on fire the course of your life. Instead of loosing the course of nature into a forest fire that you cannot control, why not loose the power of God with an utterance of faith. Take that fire, that little flame of your tongue, and start speaking God into a situation. Speak God into it. Speak it, saying, “I am the one! Me! I am the one foreordained to walk in these good works. They are set up like tenpins for me, and God has filled my hand with bowling balls. All I have to do is speak the Word of the Lord, and the power of the enemy will come down.”
No Jericho can stand before the shout of faith. No Babylon can stand before the cry of God’s people, “Come out of her! Come out of her, My people” (Revelation 18:4)! Prophesy until the Kingdom comes. If you do not have much might, and if you are a feeble person, that does not matter: Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Zechariah 4:6b. He has put His Spirit within you. He is the one who brings forth His Word. This is what it means to walk with God. It is not just a matter of trying to learn about divine order—of a woman trying to learn submission to her husband, or of a brother trying to be submissive to some of the elders. It is not found by struggling to become a worthy vessel according to the outward appearance. No one is to worry about that. The thing you must be concerned about is that the treasure is in the earthen vessel, that you have the answer within you, that you speak the Word of the Lord, that you speak God into situations—very lethal situations which will explode by the Word you speak.
The man who is submissive to the authority in Christ can move in more authority than he realizes. He can loose money, he can loose strength, he can change circumstances. All the world is prepared by God for an explosion, and God’s people have the only box of matches. Speak that Word. Explode it into being. Everything that is just a prophecy or a vision of something to come is brought into reality by a person who has faith to speak that Word when the hour of its fulfillment has finally arrived. Start speaking the Word. Be doers of the Word (James 1:22). Stand and prophesy the Word of the Lord.
We should evaluate everything so that all our works are wrought in God (John 3:21). Everything we do should have this priority: “What does God want? What is the next step that we take?” Then we should start prophesying and moving in project after project, breaking down one fortress after another. We must be a people led by the Spirit of the Lord, or we will drift into dead works. The only way to be sons of God is to be led by the Spirit of the Lord.
Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it shall be done for you.” John 15:7. For the first time in many centuries God has a people who are abiding in Him and who have His words abiding in them. In Joel 2:32a we read, And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered. That is a general condition, but it narrows down to the very specific “whosoever” who calls. It does not happen to whosoever until there is a definite whosoever. “Whatsoever” is general in scope, but specific in application. Whatsoever does not happen until in prayer you say, “This is the ‘whatsoever’ I pray for.” Become definite. Become positive in your prophesying and praying, and it will be done unto you. Jesus said, If ye shall ask any thing in my name, I will do it. John 14:14. Tell the Lord, “This is the thing I am asking for.” Without a target, your proclamations will be dissipated. Without any specific direction, all the energy and strength will go nowhere. Zero in on the enemy. Focus in on him to destroy him. Go forth and be the ingredient which has been missing up to this day—the ingredient that is going to do specific exploits in the earth.
Christ is coming forth in a many-membered Body. He will be glorified in His saints and admired in all who believe (II Thessalonians 1:10). The initiative of the saints will bring forth the glory of Christ in the world. There must be the rod of iron that makes every knee bow (Revelation 2:27). This honor have all His saints—to bind the kings with fetters (Psalm 149:8–9). It is our heritage to be the instruments in the hand of God to see Him glorified in the earth. God shall have the glory. God is the one who is moving, and we are but the channels of God. You will have more confidence if you declare, “I am God’s channel; therefore I speak.”