THE KINGDOM OF GOD AND THE PROPHETIC WORD

JOHN THE BAPTIST EXPLODED ON THE SCENE IN HIS DAY SAYING, REPENT YE FOR THE KINGOM OF HEAVEN IS AT HAND:::::

John the Baptist exploded on the scene in his day saying, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” in fulfillment of Isaiah's prophesy as "The voice of one crying in the wilderness, 'Make ready the way of the Lord, make His paths straight!'” Jesus appeared on the heels of the Baptist saying, "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." We hear much about The Kingdom of God today and many of our praise and worship songs are filled with the theme of the Kingdom; and rightly so for the Kingdom of God truly is “at hand.” When something is at hand it can be taken hold of because it is within reach. So today the Kingdom of God is at hand. John the Baptist was the forerunner preparing the way for Jesus to come as the expression of The Kingdom of God upon the earth. Jesus was the manifestation on earth of God ruling and reigning in a mature son who was totally surrendered to the will and purposes of God; in doing that He demonstrated the glory and the power of God to a lost creation. That is what the Kingdom of God is; it is God's power, dominion, rule and reign in the earth and the universe. It is God's Order. Jesus received kingdom authority because of His obedience, learned from the things He suffered. Jesus demonstrated the glory and the power of God as a pattern for the many-membered body of sons of God who will be revealed to do the same in a greater dimension. The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is once again raising up a prophetic generation like unto John the Baptist.

Now, 2000 years later the second installment, if you will, of John the Baptist's prophetic ministry is upon us. Malachi 4:5-6 says, "Behold, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and terrible day of the LORD. And he will restore the hearts of the fathers to {their} children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the land with a curse." That day is upon us and we are privileged to live in a prophetic time and be a part of a prophetic generation. We are experiencing the prophetic word or the manifestation of the gift of prophesy in our gatherings; this ministry of the Holy Spirit is intensifying in corporate gatherings, small groups and prophetic team ministry. All this signals the coming of the kingdom of God that is the rule of God, the reign of God. The prophetic ministry is the forerunner announcing that the kingdom of God is at hand! There is a “new world order” that is coming and it is the Kingdom of God, it is God's Order! The kingdom of God (God's order) must come to this world; it must come to this earth! The kingdom of God coming to the earth begins with the kingdom of God coming to us as individuals, families, congregations, regions, nations -- you get the picture. We must come to a place that we surrender completely to the will of God and it is no longer we who are reigning and ruling over any sphere of our lives.

So how do the kingdom of God and the prophetic word interact? It is always exciting to see what happens when people receive a prophetic word. There is ecstasy, blessing, and excitement. We can probably all remember the first time that someone spoke a prophetic word over our life. It is also exciting to hear prophetic words spoken over our local churches. But, if you have been around the prophetic ministry for any length of time at all, you may have discovered that the initial excitement of receiving a prophetic word often evolves into hopeful expectancy, wishful thinking, hope deferred and sickness of heart, resulting in nagging frustration. When we get to that point we begin to question the prophetic word and often the prophetic ministry. [“Are you the one to come or do we wait for another?] This frustration comes as a result, in part, over not understanding the sovereignty of God over the prophetic word. God watches over His word to perform it and His word will not return to Him void, but will accomplish that for which it was sent forth. The problem comes when our immaturity discerns that the prophetic word will be accomplished by us, for us, and according to our way, and most of all our time which is “right away.” When prophetic words spoken over us haven't been fulfilled by our timetable and our way and for our purpose, it is time to take a hard look at why they were given in the first place.

Why are prophetic words given anyway? Scripture tells us they are given for “edification and encouragement and comfort.” We have all experienced the comfort of the Holy Spirit upon receiving a prophetic word. The prophetic word has come at those times that we needed the encouragement of God to speak His love and care over us. We were built up, renewed in strength and ready to face life with confidence and hope. Thank God for the prophetic ministry; it operates as the Spirit wills and it is always timely. Identification is another reason the prophetic words come--to give us God’s identity (who we really are as God sees us) and to identify God's destiny and purpose for our life. Direction. Prophetic words come to confirm and to give direction to our lives. We must seek direction from the prophetic words in concert with the scriptures, spiritual leaders over us in the Lord, prayer and fasting and the inward witness of the Spirit. Decisions should never be made based on prophetic words alone. It is important to know the Word of God and have knowledge of His ways in order to properly judge prophetic words.

Clarification. Often the prophetic word comes to bring clarity to our lives in various areas such as ministry, home, purpose and destiny. Prophetic words usually build on one another adding additional information each time. Confirmation. When we are seeking the Lord concerning certain things and we feel He seems to be speaking to us through the Bible and circumstances, the prophetic word comes to confirm what we have already heard, so that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word will be established (confirmed).

The focus of this message, however, is on an often-overlooked reason why the prophetic word comes, and that is to train and prepare us for reigning with God as participants in the kingdom of God. Understanding that there is a training process that is necessary to bring us to maturity so that we can reign and rule with God is absolutely essential in the fulfillment of prophetic words. When a prophetic word is spoken over us, it initiates this training process that many times brings bondage, persecution, heartbreak and tribulation. The purpose of these trials is to refine us and prepare us for reigning and ruling. We all want to reign and rule with Christ, but we sometimes forget the path we must walk to get there. Anybody still want to reign and rule with God? Isn't that what the kingdom of God is about? Making ready a way for God's rule and reign in our lives, our families, our congregations and our world. Wouldn't you at least like to rule over some problems, habits and attitudes that sometime become very nagging and keep us from following the Lord wholly? It would be wonderful to rule over circumstances rather than allowing them to rule over us!

Well, God has that and much, much more in store for us, more than we can see at this time. God is looking for us, calling us to this “high calling” to be participants with him on His throne. So the prophetic word comes to alert us of the call of God, but also to initiate or release the refining process in preparation for the more excellent ministry of kings and priest in His kingdom. Prophetic words are also given so that we can wage a good warfare -- that is, fight the good fight of faith. Now, when we say wage a good warfare, fight a good fight, we immediately conjure up images of fighting the devil and his demons. I don't believe God has called us to fight the devil or to fight demons. Jesus has totally defeated the devil and his kingdom. To wage a good warfare or the good fight of faith is to BELIEVE that Jesus is Lord and the devil has been defeated. We have been given power over all the power of the enemy and the authority to enforce the victory of the Lord Jesus Christ!

It is the good fight of FAITH! That is the fight we're called to join. The fight of faith. Believing you are all God says you are and can do all He says you can do! You can spend all your time fighting a defeated foe or simply resist him and spend all your time resting in the presence of the sovereign Lord knowing He will fulfill His word concerning you. God has not called you to fight the devil; He has called you to fight the good fight of faith. Prophetic words are a declaration of who we are and are becoming; not what we have experienced or what the senses tell us. God sees what we do not see. I Tim. 1:18-20 says, Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Responding properly to the prophetic word enables you to fight the good fight of faith. Rejecting or holding in low esteem the words spoken over us is despising prophecy and will lead to a shipwreck of our faith. Some are afraid of prophetic words and don't want to receive them. One reason they don't want to receive them is because their lives will be disrupted. I once heard someone refer to the prophetic word as “rude prophecies” he was right in a sense for God sometimes gives us a “rude awakening” when we refuse to surrender to the will of God. Although prophetic words are encouraging they can also be disruptive. This is Divine interruption and it comes to uproot things that are not right and to set into order those things that are out of order in our lives that's a good disruption! Sometimes we're too comfortable and too set in our own ways, satisfied with our self effort and don't want to be bothered with God's ways and specific purposes for our lives so we dismiss the prophetic word as “rude prophecies.” Though a prophetic word may appear to be rude, it may well be God giving you a "Rule" awakening. Some have rejected these and have shipwrecked. The prophetic word as it relates to the kingdom of God is that your faith would not be shipwrecked, but that you would catch the full force of the Spirit in your sails of faith and proceed to your destiny of reigning and ruling with Christ and in so doing realize every word spoken over you.

Psalms 105: 17 says, He sent a man before them, even Joseph, who was sold for a servant.” Remember the story of Joseph? He received a powerful prophetic word about how he was going to reign and rule (kingdom of God) even over his parents and brothers. In his excitement He shared it with them and they sold him down the river so to speak. This might be an important lesson-there may be certain people you don't want to share your word with. Anyway, this word that Joseph received initiated the process of training him to come to the throne and he found himself in bondage. Verse 18 says, “ Whose feet they hurt with fetters: he was laid in iron.” This went on for many years as verse 19 says, ”Until the time that his word came: the word of the LORD tried him.” When a prophetic word is given, it will be fulfilled, but until it is fulfilled, until you go from point A to point B in fulfillment, IT WILL BE TRIED. God is responsible for the word coming to pass and in His sovereignty will! choose the best path to bring it about even though it will lead to the death of self effort as He prepares us to reign and rule with Him. This revelation is as important as receiving the prophetic word to begin with.