Concerning the Testimony of Jesus
Introduction
Greetings to the reader, this is a prophetic article that relays the contents of some impressions received by the author and others on the final morning of 3 days of prayer, fasting and repentance for the state of the church in Perth. These 3 days, supported by several city wide mission and prayer networks, arose out of a conviction that God was seeking to bring the church more deeply in line with his will.
Scripture references are included in the text below in the order they were prayed through in the meeting. The initials DT refer to Diana Thomas, WH is Wayne Harnett and the first person singular refers to John Yates. (My apologies for omissions, as much of this is from memory.)
The Focus of our Praying
We began praying intentionally for a specific revelation for Perth, “Lord reveal the secrets of your heart!” (DT). We believed there was biblical precedent for such a prayer in terms of the letters to the seven churches in the book of Revelation. In each case, the communication through the human messenger (the apostle John, Rev 1:9) concerning the testimony of Jesus (Rev 1:1- 2) was directed to an “angel of the church” (Rev 2:1, 8, 12, 18; 3:1, 7, 14). It is assumed that “the angel” is to be understood, as is usual in Revelation (5:2; 7:2; 8:3 etc.), as a heavenly messenger.
It seems that the prophetic revelation to humanity will in some way be enacted by an angelic being that has authority over the spiritual realm of a city. (In a similar fashion, see Daniel 10:10 -11:1). More generally, we stood on the promise, “Surely the Lord God does nothing, without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.” (Am 3:7).
I was reminded of my impression of the crowds on Melbourne Cup Day spilling out from Ascot Racecourse (1 Nov) – “it was like Sodom and Gomorrah on the streets of Perth – men carting women suggestively back to motel rooms, drunken people staggering across the road, half naked females, public propositioning… the grief in the heart of God over the state of the city and the lack of urgency in the church was overwhelming.”
If God did not enact his judgement on these cities without speaking to Abraham (Gen 18:16- 33) as a prophet (Gen 20:7); then it must be the case that he will not act in Perth without telling his church of his purposes. He consulted Abraham because he chose him (Gen 18:19), and we as the church are the chosen people of God in this city (1 Pet 2:9).
We continued to seek God on the basis of the appearance of Jesus in Revelation 2- 3 and asked, “give us ears to hear what Spirit is saying to churches”. (Even though Jesus spoke a specific message to each church, it was to be listened to and communicated to all the rest.) We were praying for a word from Jesus to the church inPerththat would also be a communication to the church throughout the throughout the world
The Face and Presence of God
One of our number (DT) prayed from Exodus 33:15- 16 ““If your presence will not go, do not carry us up from here. 16 For how shall it be known that I have found favor in your sight, I and your people, unless you go with us? In this way, we shall be distinct, I and your people, from every people on the face of the earth.””
She related how yesterday someone had a picture of Jesus with his face turned away from us, as she prayed now she could sense his face turning towards us.
Throughout most of the scriptures, “presence” is a way of translating the literal word for “face”.
We prayed through Acts 3:17- 21, a text whose word on refreshing from the presence of the Lord that has often been important in past revivals.
17” “And now, friends, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 In this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, that his Messiah would suffer. 19 Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, 20 so that times of refreshing may come from the presence (Greek = “face”) of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, 21 who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets.””
From this point we began to sense God was speaking to us, more than us speaking to him.
God is not Ashamed
We were drawn to texts in Hebrews to do with God not being ashamed of his people.
“10 It was fitting that God, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the pioneer of their salvation perfect through sufferings. 11 For the one who sanctifies and those who are sanctified all have one Father, For this reason Jesus is not ashamed to call them brothers and sisters, 12 saying,“I will proclaim your name to my brothers and sisters,in the midst of the congregation I will praise you.”13 And again, “I will put my trust in him.” And again,“Here am I and the children whom God has given me.””(Heb2:10- 13)
“16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; indeed, he has prepared a city for them.” (Heb 11:16)
Another (DT) prayed about the mercy and compassion of God for Perth as a “great city”, like Nineveh when warned of judgement in the days of Jonah. Jonah complained, “I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love, and ready to relent from punishing”, then God replied, 11 “And should I not be concerned about Nineveh, that great city, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand persons who do not know their right hand from their left, and also many animals?”
I began to pick up the theme of shame as it moved through scripture. “24 Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh. 25 And the man and his wife were both naked, and were not ashamed.” (Gen 2:24- 25). In the union of Adam and Eve in the beginning there was no shame.
“7 Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made loin coverings for themselves.8 They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden at the time of the evening breeze, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10 He said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked; and I hid myself.”” (Gen 3:7- 10). Sin brought shame between the first couple and with god. They vainly tried to cover up their spiritual nakedness with a physical covering.
Ultimately, the story about Adam and Eve is about Christ and the church. 25 “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, 26 in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, 27 so as to present the church to himself in splendour, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind—yes, so that she may be holy and without blemish…31 “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a great mystery, and I am applying it to Christ and the church.”(Eph 5:26- 27, 31- 32)
Despite the prayer emphasis of many intercessors for a future cleansing of the church, scripture emphasizes the powerful past cleansing we have as the body of Christ. “9 Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, 10 thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And this is what some of you used to be. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.”(1 Cor 6:9- 11).
I prayed into the fact that we all know from personal experience that every one of the sins Paul says Christians have been cleansed from exist today in the church in this city.
Then, in a very intimate way, Jesus led us to a later word in the same letter that seemed to hold a key for what he wanted to say and do in releasing us from our sin. “For it is said, “The two shall be one flesh.” 17 But anyone united to the Lord becomes one spirit with him.” (1 Cor 6:17). The person in Christ is not one flesh with him, but something much deeper, one spirit.
The Great “Cover –Up”
Someone (WH) called to mind a scripture from the prophets, “10 Who among you fears the Lord and obeys the voice of his servant, who walks in darkness and has no light, yet trusts in the name of the Lord and relies upon his God? 11 But all of you are kindlers of fire, lighters of firebrands. Walk in the flame of your fire, and among the brands that you have kindled!”(Isa 50:10- 11)
I then prayed, “What is this “lighting of fires” but our titles, buildings, prosperity, consumerism, possessions, reputation… that we make so important….. “Naked but not ashamed” says the Lord” I saw a picture from the 2004 Prayer Summit, a person covered with layer upon layer of clothing. This represents all the human ways in which we seek to cover over our shame.
God seemed to be saying, “I’m stripping (my) people of their lustful sensual experience that goes on in the church and masquerades as spirituality…“You have attached your reputation and your beauty to what I have not asked you to. Your sole glory is in me, glory in the cross, and glory in the wisdom and understanding that comes from the cross.”
God is hard at work spoiling the party that most people in the church seem to be involved in. “30 He is the source of your life in Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 in order that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast inj the Lord.” (1 Cor 1:30 – 31)
God is taking his people through a tunnel of darkness as he himself went through the tunnel of darkness on the cross (Mark 15:34). To be in this tunnel of darkness is to be in the fellowship of the sufferings of Christ (Phil 3:10). People will take glory for themselves (away from God), but we have no glory in ourselves, our true glory is in the cross. God is sovereignly stripping many in this city of their false glory, he is disturbing us.
People care about their cars, their bodies, their houses, their things etc, they are being used as coverings, as layers, as objects of glory to cover the shame that only Jesus can destroy. We who are joined to the Lord are one spirit. He can no more be ashamed of us (in our union with Christ) than he can be ashamed of himself.
God is against the message that says you are attractive if you have this or that. People in churches are being held captive because of shame…the whole system of prosperity, ease, affluence, enjoyment is holding people captive through covering over shame without taking it away. This is going to change.
Things to Come
This is what God is saying:
“I have appointed this city to unmask this evil spiritual power – we are not something, we are not attractive because we have this or that or are prosperous or rich. Like the Laodicean church this makes the Lord feel sick. “15 “I know your works; you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were either cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth. 17 For you say, ‘I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing.’” (Rev 3:15- 17). (Jesus feels sick, just like I spewed warm water out of my mouth after I took a drink on a cold day in Melbourne years ago.) If we are “one spirit with the Lord” this means we can and should feel what Jesus feels – nausea. A dynamic prayer meeting came to a halt in Perth years ago when those present spontaneously felt sick in the stomach but did not know where to go with it.
We have many antidotes to feeling this spiritual sickness. Like the man I took to the airport Tuesday (6.12.05) that felt nauseous and immediately went to the chemist for a pill. We have antidotes to feeling our spiritual adultery (James 4:4) and other sins; we have many antidotes for feeling sick about our sin and the sin of our city. We have covered it all up and tried to relieve it. This will not prevail.
I sensed strongly the Lord said, “I am raising up that golden lampstand of the church in the city (Rev 1:12, 20; 2:1) that is more precious in my sight than any natural wealth, and I am causing it to shine the light of Christ so that it shines above every idolatry of affluence and prosperity. I am going to show that this light is greater than the evil spiritual power of prosperity that is gripping this city.” I felt that Jesus was saying to his angel, “Elevate the golden lampstand of the church in Perth.”
Prophetic Destiny
The true prophetic destiny of this church in this city amongst all the cities of the world is to warn against this thing. It is to carry a warning in the economy of grace so as to warn others who like us share a boom economy (to China, to India, to…) not to follow the way we have taken in the past.
God is raising up a people who are willing to go, and who I see going to the nations in the spirit of Jesus. “9 For you know the generous act of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, so that by his poverty you might become rich.”(2 Cor 8:9) “4 Let each of you look not to your own interests, but to the interests of others. 5 Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus,6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God as something to be exploited, 7 but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, being born in human likeness. And being found in human form,8 he humbled himself and became obedient to the point of death— even death on a cross.”(Phil 2:4- 8)
“I will send people into the nations and the people in the nations will marvel at the sacrifice of the people in Perth. They will say, “You’re from a Western country, you have so much wealth how can you give up so much to be with us?” And you will have authority to speak to them about Jesus.”
“The spiritual authority is in proportion to the sacrifice.” Think of the life of Jesus, think of the sufferings of Paul. “I am raising up an apostolic church that is sent to the nations to bring back the treasures of the nations hidden in darkness (Isa 45:3) that you with them might bring the glory of nations into the New Jerusalem. “24 The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it. 25 Its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there. 26 People will bring into it the glory and the honour of the nations.” (Rev 21:24- 26).
“I am about to release the revelation of the inner spiritual beauty of the church in this city and take it into its true prophetic destiny.”
The boom economy of gold, gas, iron ore, nickel, diamonds…is in God’s purposes SO THAT he might triumph over the idolatry of affluence in city and church and bring glory to himself as the lover of all men throughout the world. This will prove that even the Western church, a church in affluence, can be a church in revival.