Prophetic Ministry Arise out of the Ashes

“The Witness”

12 November 2007

A Prophetic Ministry Arise out of the Ashes...

To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified. Isa 61:3

Prophetic Ministry Stolen…

I have struggled with the Lord for over one year to find His will and purpose for my life. I have been part of a deliverance ministry for over 5 years. They asked me to become a leader and mentor, but I wanted to know the Lord Jesus’ will and timing for my life.

After one year of inquiring from the Lord about accepting the position, I needed to give feedback to this ministry of what I sensed the Lord Jesus Christ was saying regarding this ministry. At the end of last year, 12th of November 2007, I prayed about this decision in order to find the Lord Jesus’ will and plans. When I prayed the Lord would continue to say the same thing all through out that year: His ways were not my ways! I could not understand what the Lord Jesus Christ’s will for my life was.

It was during that time that the Lord spoke to my wife in a dream. In her dream my car was stolen out of our garage. I was very concerned when the Lord gave my wife this dream. It was during this time that I started to

inquire of the Lord Jesus why the Holy Spirit would tell my wife that the plan and purposes for my life had been stolen. It was in this same week that the Lord gave me a dream. In my dream I was in a traditional church and saw how a well known prophet sat and listened to a traditional teacher. As I woke up I asked the Lord the interpretation of this dream? Then the word of the Lord came to me saying: “As out of his place, as this prophet is, in sitting under the preaching of this traditional preacher, so out of your place are you!”

From this dream I understood that it was not the Lord’s calling for my life, but that it was only a time of preparation for that which He had called me to. After I came to this conclusion, in that same week, my wife had another dream, which was similar to the first one, but this time she saw those who stole the car while they were in the process of stealing it. Then I knew that the Lord Jesus confirmed that I had understood Him correctly, and that He did not want me to continue with this ministry.

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Then the Lord reminded me of a scripture which He had given me and another brother, when we joined that ministry, 5 years ago: “Then the prophets, Haggai the prophet, and Zechariah the son of Iddo, prophesied unto the Jews that were in Judah and Jerusalem in the name of the God of Israel, even unto them. Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them. (Ezra 5:1-2) KJV Then I understood that we were called by God on the 9th of May 2001, to be two prophets, who would help build the walls of the house of the Lord, the bride of our Lord Jesus, our Messiah.

The warfare Bride without Eyes…

I decided to obey the Lord Jesus Christ, but I had one more camp to attend before this season in my life would be over. It was at this last camp that the Lord Jesus gave me another vision to confirm what His purpose was for my life.

In a vision, I saw a silver body, like the body of a man, which was covered with something like spotless, glittering shields.

The image was pure and spotless in brilliance. But, as I looked, I saw that this body didn’t have any eyes or a mouth. This body was standing up out of the earth. I could also not see any hands or feet. It was only a body.

Even though it had no eyes or a mouth or hands or feet it was still perfect in beauty. Then I asked the Lord what this vision meant? Then the word of the Lord came to me saying: “A spotless, warfare bride, the body of Christ, shielded in His Love, was raising up out of the earth, but it had no eyes, no mouth and no ears. She greatly lacks vision and has not yet become the mouthpiece of God as she was intended to be.” I sensed that the Lord was saying that His body had been hard

of hearing. The Lord gave the scripture according to the book of Hebrews: “again He designates a certain day, "Today," saying in David, after such a long time just as it has been said, "Today if you hear His voice, stop hardening your hearts [fig., becoming stubborn]."

[Psalm 95:7,8] (ALT) Heb 4:7 According to his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul, said: “When He ascended on high, He led captive a group of captives and gave gifts to people." [Psalm 68:18] (Eph 4:8) KJV And, He gave some [to be] apostles, and some [to be] prophets, and some [to be] evangelists, and some [to be] shepherds [or, pastors] and teachers, for the purpose of the equipping of the holy ones for [the] work of service, for [the] building up [fig., edifying] of the body of Christ, until we all arrive [fig., attain] to the unity of the faith and of the full [or, true] knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect [or, mature] man, to [the] measure [fig., extent] of [the] maturity of the fullness of Christ, so that we shall no longer be young children, being tossed about by waves and being carried about from place to place by every wind of teaching [or, doctrine], by the cunning of people, in craftiness, for the purpose of the trickery of deception. But speaking the truth in love, we shall increase to Him [in] all [things], who is the head, Christ, from whom the entire body being joined together and united by means of the supply of every joint, according to the working of the measure of each individual part, causing the growth of the body for the building up of itself in love. (Eph 4:11-16) KJV The Lord Jesus Christ went into the heavens to fill everything in every way. Then He gave this earth ‘gifts’.

He gave this earth the gifts of Apostles, prophets, evangelists, shepherds and teachers, to teach His

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people, to give them direction, vision and to teach them to hear and know the voice of the Shepherd.

A Prophetic Ministry out of the ashes…

After

this meeting I asked the leaders of this ministry to pray with me and my wife, in order to confirm the Lord’s will and calling upon our lives.

Then word of the Lord came to me saying: “My people perish because of a lack of vision!” The Lord wanted to give In a vision, I saw a vision to His sheep, who were silver body, like the like sheep with out eyes.

body of a man, which was covered with something like spotless, glittering shields.

That evening I shared all that the Lord Jesus Christ had shown us since the day He had called us. We spoke of all those signs the Lord Jesus Christ, through His Spirit, had shown since the day He called us. We also told of those things which He had taught us through many signs and wonders, which was about to come upon the earth. Then the leader and originator of this ministry confirmed that God had called me to be a witness of His Glory and to be a prophet to the nations.

After this we prayed and waited upon the Lord so that He would show us His will and plan forward.

As we looked to see what the Lord would say to us, as was written by the prophet Haggai: “I saw an eagle, with its wings spread wide, looking as if it was rising up, over the earth.” I sensed that the Lord was rising up a prophetic ministry that will prepare God’s prophets for works of service. As we waited on the Lord, the Lord showed how the prophets had to receive great healing.

The Lord wanted to bring healing for both the prophets and for the body of Christ. The Lord showed that there was great fear and stigma in the body of Christ, for the prophets and the prophetic voices. The prophetic people got hurt and were rejected by people in the body of Christ. The Lord also showed that He wanted to heal the bride of her fear of manipulation by prophetic word.

The Lord wants to teach the prophets not to put a burden on a person, but to submit the word to them.

Whether they hear or not…

The

Lord once said to Ezekiel that he must speak even if the people would not listen, as was written by Ezekiel, saying: “And they, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear, (for they are a rebellious house,) yet shall know that there hath been a prophet among them.

(Ezek 2:5) KJV People will not always listen to the word of the Lord, sent by His prophets. The prophets should not become discouraged when people do not listen to the word of the Lord given to them, but must learn to turn the other cheek, knowing that they are only messengers of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Then the word of the Lord came to me again, through the word of knowledge, saying that He wanted to make the forehead of the prophets like flint: “Behold, I have made thy face strong against their faces, and thy forehead strong against their foreheads. As an adamant, harder than flint have I made thy forehead: fear them not, neither be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house. Moreover he said unto me, Son of man, all my words that I shall speak unto thee receive in thine heart, and hear with thine ears. (Ezek 3:8-10) KJV This has been a rebellious and hard hearted people, full of fear, who will not listen to the prophets, which the Lord Jesus Christ had sent to them. I agree that many have come, who have claimed to be prophets, but inwardly they were only ferocious wolves. But as our

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Lord and Messiah has said and warned, as also all the apostles, who spoke about these days, saying that many false prophets will arise to deceive many; we have rejected all prophets and have not tested the spirits.

Many refused to listen or were not even willing to test the word of the prophets who came to warn us or lead us closer to the plans and purposes of the will of God. True and false Prophets…

Jesus told us to test these prophets or prophetic ministries as were written: “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit; neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. (Mat 7:15) KJV Even the apostle Paul said: “Quench not the Spirit.

Despise not prophesying. Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. (1Th 5:19-22) KJV Paul called all who hear a prophecy, to test or discern the word, which the prophet or brother or sister gives who prophesies. Thus, we should prove, discern or test the word of the prophet, by the Spirit of Jesus Christ in us, for the Spirit in us, with our spirit, will also confirm whether the word given by the prophet is true or not, as was written to the church in Rome: “The Spirit Himself testifies [in] our spirit, [our being] that [what is produced] is of God! (Rom 8:16) KJV

do not understand, we should not despise the prophecy, because every prophetic word is given according to the measure of faith in that person who gives the word. I have always said that the difference between a false prophet and a true prophet is humility.

Some prophets want to use their prophecies to manipulate the people to do their will. Only Jesus Christ was perfect in every way, thus no other prophet will come after Him, who will be perfect, like our Lord and God, Jesus Christ.

That does not mean that there can not be true prophets in the New Testament, who have been tested and refined by the Holy Spirit to be that ‘gift’, which the Lord Jesus Christ had called them to be.

Spiritual discernment Fitches or Cummin or Barley…

While

we waited on the Lord, the Lord Jesus reminded me of a word, which He had given me early that same week.

As I prayed in tongues I heard the interpretation of a word: “Cummin” While I waited on the Lord, one morning, in a vision, I saw a bowl of food. In my vision I saw a bowl of meat, which was covered by a delicious looking sauce or savoury. After this I decided to go and look up the meaning of the word ‘Cummin’ according to the word which was given to the prophet Jeremiah: “Give ye ear, and hear my voice; hearken, and hear my speech. Doth the ploughman plow all day to sow? Doth he open and break the clods of his ground?

If we discern that some things said are not from God only because we

When he hath made plain the face thereof, doth he not cast abroad the fitches, and scatter the cummin, and cast in the principal wheat and the appointed barley and the rie in their place?

For his God doth instruct him to

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discretion, and doth teach him.

For the fitches are not threshed with a threshing instrument, neither is a cart wheel turned about upon the cummin; but the fitches are beaten out with a staff, and the cummin with a rod. Bread corn is bruised; because he will not ever be threshing it, nor break it with the wheel of his cart, nor bruise it with his horsemen. This also cometh forth from the LORD of hosts, which is wonderful in counsel, and excellent in working. (KJV) Isa 28:23-29

would not point the people to Jesus, but to themselves.

This would cause people to idolize them and thus open themselves up to perversion. A great danger existed for prophets to fall into idolatry of the ministry, which God had given them.

After this, the Holy Spirit also revealed that He wanted to heal the prophetic voices from rejection, shame and self-righteousness. This has unfortunately always being the way that the religious leaders of the time had treated the prophets sent by God.

As I studied what cummin was, to my great amazement, I found that it was a flavouring agent, which was used for giving flavour to a sauce, making food delicious. What was the Holy Spirit trying to bring to my attention? I sensed that the Lord wants to rise up prophets who have the ability to discern what type of seed must be prepared in what type of way. God needed prophets who would know how to reach different hearts in different ways. These prophets would have great wisdom, discernment and discretion to help people find the will of God for there lives.

The Lord had allowed the prophets to be raised up through the trails and temptations of the spirit of Jezebel. Consider the word of our Lord Jesus who said: “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. (Mat 5:10-12) KJV

The body of Christ has not yet being released in its role, because it has not being able to discern what type of person would need what type of word. Jesus once said: “For I have not spoken of myself; but the Father which sent me, he gave me a commandment, what I should say, and how I should speak. (Joh 12:49) NIV

And Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets.

As we waited on the Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord showed how the prophetic voice must be purified and sharpened through the spiritual gifts of knowledge and discernment. The Lord also wanted to release the gift of faith through His prophets, which in turn would help to release the gift of signs and wonders, as was prophesied

by Daniel: “…but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits. (KJV) Dan 11:32b As we prayed to the Lord, He showed us many aspects of the basic standards of rising up His prophets. The Lord showed how there was a danger that the prophets

Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the

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damnation of hell? Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: (Mat 23:31-34) KJV Even John the Baptist was beheaded because He spoke the truth.

Jesus had promised us that He would send us prophets, wise men and even scribes, whom we would not accept, but revile and say all kinds of false things against them.

Thus, those who were truly sent by Jesus Christ will be misunderstood and misinterpreted. This was what has always happened in the past and would also happen in the future. Paul the apostle described it like this: “But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1Co 2:14) KJV When the prophet starts to reveal those things, which they have heard from the Lord, the purpose is to restore the ancient ruins of many generations, as was written by Isaiah the prophet: “And they shall build the old wastes, they shall raise up the former desolations, and they shall repair the waste cities, the desolations of many generations.” (Isa 61:4) KJV Even the prophet Malachi prophesied and said: Remember ye the law of Moses my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (Mal 4:4-6) KJV

God had promised, through His prophets, that He would send Elijah to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children. Jesus was once asked when Elijah would come, according to this prophecy, after Moses and Elijah had appeared to Him on the mountain, when Jesus answered and said: “And His disciples questioned Him, saying, "Why then do the scribes say that it is necessary [for] Elijah to come first?"

Then answering, Jesus said to them, "Elijah is indeed coming first, and he will restore all things. (Mat 17:10) KJV Thus, at the end of time, God would send his prophets to come and help restore all things and to teach people the old ways, which were lost and could not be understood, unless God had taught them.

Those who have in obedience stepped out in faith have been hurt by the church and its leaders. Great healing for the prophets was needed because of this rejection.

The prophets needed to feel loved and accepted by the body of Christ like any other part of the body of Jesus Christ.

While we waited on the Lord, the Lord showed us a vision of a golf course and I sensed that the Lord wanted to make room for the prophets to make mistakes as they attempted to accurately hear God’s voice. Just like a golfer would have to practice in getting the ball into the hole, so the prophets would have to have a save haven in which they could learn to hit the target every time.

Then in another vision the Lord showed how He wanted to give authority to the prophets to slay the strongmen, leviathan and Jezebel. Then the word of the Lord came to me according to Isaiah: “In that day the LORD with his sore and great and strong sword shall punish leviathan the piercing serpent, even leviathan that crooked serpent; and he shall slay the dragon that is in the sea.” (KJV) Isa 27:1

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The Lord wants to get His prophets in place so that they could teach His people to walk in obedience to His Spirit and His Voice. The Lord wants the prophetic voice to keep His body on the cutting edge.

As we waited on the Lord, we asked the Lord what His will was for the prophets. Then in a vision the Lord Jesus Christ showed how these two ministries, the church and the prophets, should take each others hands, forgiving and accepting one another, working together, for the preparing of the bride of Christ and the coming of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, our heavenly bridegroom.

We concluded that God had just given birth to something new. A new ministry would come up out of the ashes of rejection and shame, which would have a change in role and function. It would become a ministry which would be the eyes of the body. Later it would also become the mouth piece of God, as He anoints the mouths of the prophets, to go, to whom He sent them.

The final word came as the Lord, through the Holy Spirit confirmed that I should take a step in faith. Then the Holy Spirit said through the leader of this deliverance ministry that God was giving new revelation and was changing old thought patterns so that God purposes could come to pass.

All Glory and Praise to God who alone rises up the prophets whom He called.

From the director: The Witness

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