The
Spirit and The Word Agree
The ministry of Jesus to His Church is through the power of the WORD and the SPIRIT. The Word and the Spirit agree. If we pursue both we need not fear falling into legalism or delusion. The Word confirms the Spirit. The Spirit confirms the Word. The Spirit and the Word agree.
By Chris McDonald
TEXT: 1 John 5:7-9 - For there are three that bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three are one. [8] And there are three that bear witness in earth, the spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one. [9] If we receive the witness of men, the witness of God is greater: for this is the witness of God which he hath testified of his Son.
The New Testament church in the book of Acts was a church that depended on the power of the Word and the power of the Spirit.
Acts 11:24-29
- For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord. [25] Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul: [26] And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church,
and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
[27] And in these days came prophets from Jerusalem unto Antioch. [28] And there stood up one of them named Agabus, and signified by the spirit that there should be great dearth throughout all the world: which came to pass in the days of Claudius Caesar. [29] Then the disciples, every man according to his ability, determined to send relief unto the brethren which dwelt in Judaea:
Notice the organization here of the early church at Antioch
where they were first called Christians. Barnabas and Saul TAUGHT MUCH PEOPLE.
What did they teach the people? They taught the people the WORD. The Lord added
to the church daily by the power of the Word. When the Word of God increased,
the church increased:
Acts 6:7 - And the word of God increased; and the number of the disciples multiplied in Jerusalem greatly; and a great company of the priests were obedient to the faith.
Notice, when the word of God increased, the number of
disciples MULTIPLIED. It uses the word "a great number," which
indicates the church grew rapidly in accordance with the way the WORD grew. The
Word of God works! Praise God. We don't need another formula. We don't need
another movement. We don't need another crusade. We need to walk in the WORD.
The same passage then says after the teaching the word, PROPHETS came from Jerusalem and prophesied about a drought that was coming throughout the entire world. The power of the Spirit gave the church the practical means to know how to APPLY the Word they had been taught. That's what the Spirit's job is for the church. You can read the word and not know how to apply it and it becomes death. The letter KILLS!
You cannot take a passage and apply that passage to every situation. For instance, the Bible says, "Fathers, don't provoke your children to wrath." Well, the question here is simple. How do we as fathers not provoke our children to wrath. The answer is the HOLY SPIRIT. We know what the Word says, but we must depend on the Holy Spirit to tell us HOW to not provoke our children to wrath. The bottom line in this is that the Spirit will not deal with each Father the same way. We have different family set ups. We have different personalities. The Holy Spirit's work in our lives in individual and personal even though the exhortation of the Word is universal. That's why embracing the WORD and the SPIRIT is so important.
The Word of God is absolute truth but it is not exhaustive truth. There are a lot of things the Word is silent on because the Lord wants us to depend on HIM and HIS SPIRIT to foster a relationship with HIM and through Him to others.
The other end of this is we cannot depend on the Spirit to originate truth. That
is how you end up in fanaticism and delusion. That is how men start thinking
they are "God" and start declaring themselves higher than the
authority of the Scriptures and the Body. The Spirit was sent to LEAD US INTO
TRUTH, which is JESUS. He was sent to testify of Jesus. Jesus is the TRUTH.
Jesus is the WORD. Jesus is the SUMMATION of ALL THINGS in God. The only way we
will know the summation of all things in Christ is through the Spirit and the
Word. The Spirit and the Word agree.
Now I want to share a story with you I first heard of 3
years ago from a tape by Jack Deere and I read in his book "Surprised by
the Voice of God," that illustrates just how important it is we pursue
the power of both the Word and the Spirit. It is one of the most riveting
stories of deliverance you'll ever read but it underscores just how far off the
21rst Century church has come from the days when the CHURCH depended on both the
WORD AND THE SPIRIT.
In 1965 Jean Raborg was living the American dream. She had done everything right. She had been raised in a Christian home. Her mother had been the organist at Morningside Presbyterian Church in Phoenix, Arizona. She had married her college sweetheart, John, whom she had met at Arizona State University. Now they were living in San Diego, California. They had two wonderful children, a daughter Janelle who was nine years old and a son John who was six. She was a popular home economics teacher in Kearny Mesa High School. She loved being a teacher, and she loved her students. The students could feel Jean's love and acceptance, and often came to her with their problems. It was common for Jean to pray for her students and even pray WITH THEM. In 1965 a public school teacher could still pray with her students without fear of losing her job.
Jean's husband John had a promising career selling life insurance. He had already won some award, and they had begun prospering financially. With their combined incomes, they were able to buy a lovely home on a hill in a suburb north of San Diego. They bought new furniture, and with Jean's decorating abilities their home looked like one of those show places out of Home and Garden. What more could any young couple want - a beautiful home, fulfilling jobs, a wonderful marriage, sweet children, and all of this in the midst of financial security? In addition to all of this there was a vital spiritual dimension to Jean's life. She was more than just a nominal Christian. She had loved Jesus will all her heart since she was 14. When she was 19, she had an encounter with God that caused her to believe in the gifts of the Spirit. She believed God who could do miracles. She and John had joined a church that believed in supernatural ministry. In spite of their work schedules they were heavily involved in their church work. Jean really had it all. She had a wonderful family. She had never know depression or sorrow. She had prosperity and she had intimacy with God. She had a perfect life.
There was only one small problem in her perfect life. Jean was a perfectionist. She didn't know how bad her perfectionism was, and before 1965, it hadn't really caused her too much trouble. But now she found herself with more responsibility than she had ever had before. She was teaching 150 students every day. The more she loved those students, the more she took on their problems and their stresses. She put everything she had into her teaching. Also, the new house was not turning out to be the blessing that she had thought it would be. It was larger and required more effort to keep it clean than the smaller house they had before. There was the added worry about the new furniture - a worry that a nine-year old girl and six-year old boy couldn't really share.
Jean began to come home drained physically and emotionally drained. It seemed that her own children were beginning to require more from her than she could give. In order to meet her own children's emotional needs, she frequently had to let the house go, and this bothered her. It seemed like it was all she could go to get a meal on the table for John and her children and then clear away the mess afterwards. For the first time in her life, Jean began to have a problem sleeping. This didn't make any sense to her because she was so tired when she finally got to bed at night. But now it took her longer to go to sleep, and her sleep was fitful. When she woke up in the morning, she seemed almost as tired as she was when she went to bed. Jean began to long for the weekends, not because she could rest, but because this gave her time to get her house in perfect order. And then there was their church, Jean and John were committed to their church. It was difficult for her to say no to the needs there. So instead of allowing herself to be refreshed on the weekends, she usually began Monday even more worn out than she was on Friday.
As Jean approached exhaustion, she began to realize she could not handle all of her responsibilities. She began to feel like she was drowning - slowly, but surely and losing contact with reality and life. This type pressure was unknown to Jean ever in her life. She started talking to John about the pressure she was feeling, but then she thought, How could I worry John when he is already so overworked? She thought about telling someone at church, but a VOICE went off in her mind telling her that no one should ever know that SHE CAN'T REALLY HANDLE THINGS - that she should just keep going and everything would be alright. She didn't know where this last impression came from, but she decided to obey it. She talked to no one about her exhaustion and the mounting stress that was drowning her. She decided to keep going. For the first time in her Christian life, she stopped having what she called "her time alone with Jesus."
Descent into Madness
By February of 1965, Jean became desperate. She went to her family doctor, and the nurse led her into on of the examining rooms. In a few minutes Dr. Bowers came in. "Hi Jean, What brings your here today?" the kind physician asked. Jean begins to sob to the doctor and explains to Dr. Bowers that she just feels like she is on a merry-go-round and is almost ready to drop. Dr. Bowers diagnosed Jean with pure exhaustion. He told her she would have to make some changes and get some rest. "You are not using the wisdom God has given you, Jean" he said. He gave her some medicine that would help protect her immune system and give her a little more energy. She began to feel better, but she ignored the doctor's advice about the priorities because all her life Jean had managed to make thing work despite all her duties.
The summer of 1965 came and Jean and John planned to go on a vacation John had won through his company. The night before they left she felt a sharp pain under her arm. Putting her hand under her left arm, she felt a large hard lump. She collapsed into a chair. A black despair fell over her. She thought of her best friend, Ann, who had died form cancer when she was 28 years old and had left two beautiful little children behind. It had all begun when Ann found a lump just like this one. Out of the darkness that enveloped Jean, a voice whispered, "You have lost weight, you are tired, you have a lump under you arm, and you have all the other symptoms Ann had. You have what Ann had, and it is just a matter of time before you join her." Jean had never known the kind of fear she was feeling now. It was paralyzing. She felt her legs going numb. She couldn't walk. the icy hand of fear gripped her heart and squeezed it so that the hope of the Holy Spirit oozed out of her heart and was lying in a pool on the floor beside her. Jean became powerless to reclaim it.
The voice told Jean she couldn't tell anyone. "Don't tell John and ruin what few months you have left. And just forget about telling God about this because He's punishing you for your inability to control things that have gotten out of control." Jean thought this was a judgment on her for failing in her responsibility as a wife, a mother, a teacher, and a Christian. No, it was over. There was nothing left except to waste like Ann had done.
The vacation was a disaster. All Jean could think was, "I am dying, I am leaving these two beautiful children and my precious husband. I am leaving my beautiful home on the hill, and I won't be here to teach next fall." She kept touching the lump, which seemed to grow every day. As it grew Jean became thinner and thinner, slept less and less. By the time she got back to San Francisco she was no longer functioning as a human being.
Sometime that summer Jean started crying and couldn't stop. John couldn't understand it, and she couldn't tell him. Jean was having a breakdown, but since she had never known anyone who had had a breakdown, she didn't realize what was happening. Somehow she made it to the end of the summer. Her principal told her she had been made head of the Home Economics department. Instead of causing her to celebrate, the news pushed her to the verge of hysteria. Jean started teaching that fall but was an emotional wreck. Every time the students left the room, she broke into tears. After a couple of weeks trying to teach, she went back to see Dr. Bowers. When she tried to tell him what was wrong all she could do is cry. Finally she raised her arm and said, "what is this?" After examining her Dr. Bowers said, 'Jean why didn't you come in here after you first found this?" After an examination Dr. Bowers determined the growth was not cancer or even a malignant tumor - it was just a swollen lymph gland and suggested minor surgery to take care of it. Instead of receiving the news in joy, Jean assumed both the husband and the doctor were hiding the real facts from her. The voice told Jean that John and Dr. Bowers had conspired not to tell her right away about her cancer because she was so depressed and had been crying so much. In spite of the doctor's assurances, she was more convinced than ever that she had cancer and that the doctor was lying to her to keep her calm until the surgery.
Jean had been so confident and competent that she had never learned to ask for help. This situation had spread to Jean's soul and no one could seem to stop the descent into oblivion she was taking. That night she began to pound on the bedroom walls at the house and cry hysterically. John had never seen Jean act like this. When he didn't get her to stop, he slammed the front door in anger and escaped to his office. The next day John took Jean to Dr. Bowers again who recommended a 2-week rest from school. After the 2-week rest one of her students in her class asked her where a certain ingredient was. She stared at the student for a minute, and then a blank look came over her face. Slowly the words, "I don't know, I don't know," came out of her mouth. it was a though something had switched off inside her and everything she had known as an adult seemed to leave her. She became like a child. She heard herself saying, "I am leaving this room, and I do not think I will ever come back." Without any warning, she began screaming hysterically and ran for the door. One of the teachers across the hall saw her bolting from the classroom and ran out to intercept her. She threw her arms around Jean, who was sobbing. "It's all over, it's all over." The colleague, Jane, calmed her down and got her into the car. She took her to Dr. Bowers, who immediately called a psychiatrist and made an appointment. By the time John got to the psychiatrist's office two hours later, Jean had still not able to talk to the psychiatrist. All she could do was sit in his office and cry hysterically. The psychiatrist found that only drugs could calm Jean. He started her on tranquilizers.
Jean could not believe that she, a born-again, Spirit-filled Christian, had to take tranquilizers. She slid into an abyss of hopelessness. She never went back to the classroom and ceased functioning. It got to the point that all she did was sit around the house and cry all day. John had to even comb her hair, then get the children ready for school and go to work. After all this then the suicidal stuff started. She began attempting to take her own life on several occasions including one day when she tried to jump out of John's car on a busy San Diego Freeway. He was barely able to restrain her. The doctor put her on thorazine. John took her to work to keep her from harming herself. But Jean could not feel John's love, and the drug didn't really dull her pain. She felt enveloped by a suffocating darkness. She felt mentally, emotionally and physically dead. Thoughts of suicide were always on her mind.
While all this was happening Jean's parents, Carl and Jesse Williams were in anguish over their daughter's illness and descent into insanity. Carl was the international treasurer of the Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship. He traveled with Demos Shakarian, its president and had occasion to meet a number of well-known Christian evangelists. He and Jesse had taken Jean to all sorts of crusades and Christian meetings in order to have pastors and evangelists pray for her healing. Many of the most famous healing evangelists of the 1950s and 1960s prayed for Jean to be healed during this time, but nothing happened. She grew worse. By February 1966 Jean have a complete breakdown and simply stopped functioning as an adult. John did everything for her. Janelle, now 11, had become the mother of the house. After losing everything and basically being cut off from their church, friends and family, John pleaded with Jean to go back to the psychiatrist. She had stopped taking her medication and vowed never to see another doctor again. In spite of these protests, on Jean Raborg 36th birthday she found herself in the office of Dr. Jim Dickson and in front of the Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital.
The building was not what she imagined. She found it physically beautiful. She thought, "perhaps I can get some help here after all." Her and John signed the admitting forms and began to walk down a long corridor. The warmth Jean felt in the lobby disappeared. They came to a stark metal door that had one small window in it. They walked through the door, and when it slammed shut, it automatically locked. Jean was on one side with a nurse, and she saw John on the other side through the little window. At this moment Jean Raborg realized it would be a long time before she would see her husband and family again. She called out for John and he was gone. She called out for God and he didn't seem to be there either. She stood there, stunned. The windows were barred, the room small. She was alone. She was given more thorazine, and she slipped off into mental oblivion.
No matter what kind of therapy they tried on Jean, she didn't respond. She spent her waking hours in a daze. She began to want to sleep all the time. At four in the afternoon she would go to her bed and curl up in a fetal position. In the mornings, a nurse had to make her get out of bed. A few times she seemed to come back from the darkness and pretend she was feeling better. On these occasions they would let her go home for a visit and she would just wonder through her house from one bed to another, trying to sleep, but finding no rest. Her doctor would not allow sleeping pills and soon as she got home from the clinic she would always wind back up in the psychiatric ward. John kept hoping Jean would regain her sanity, but everyone else knew that she was not coming back home. Their children had given up hope. Her parents had given up hope. And Jean herself had given up hope a long time ago. Jean knew she would never leave her prison again. The last trip the clinic brought a suggestion from the doctor for Jean to stay indefinitely. As Jean sat on her bed crying, doped up on thorazine, drowning into this abyss, that same voice that had come to her in the very beginning of this descent came to her again and said, "How could a Christian who loves God and believes in His supernatural power end up so far away from him and in an insane asylum?" Then the voice offered Jean the answer: "You have committed the unpardonable sin. You have blasphemed the Holy Spirit. You can never be forgiven. This is your judgment." Jean believed that voice and basically sank even further to the bottom of her mental pit never to return again.
In October 1968 Carl and Jesse Williams traveled to San Bernardino California to hear a healing evangelist named Paul Cain. On the last night of the meeting Jesse stoop up and asked Paul if he would pray for her daughter, who was locked away in a mental institution. Paul agreed and prayed for Jean. After the meeting Paul asked the Williams where their daughter had been institutionalized. They told Paul that the hospital was somewhere in the San Diego area, but they did not know its name or precise location. John had refused to tell Jean's parents where she had been institutionalized. Although his relationship with Jean's parents had been extremely strained, he didn't do this out of meanness, but rather out of despair. Every attempt by the Williams through the healing evangelists had not helped, they had only aggravated the situation. Promises of healing that did not materialize just caused Jean to lose even more hope and strengthened her view that God had truly forsaken her.
In the end both the institution and John agreed that Jean would be better off if she was totally isolated. John had cut off all contact between Jean and the outside world, except with himself. Paul told the Williams that he would continue to pray for their daughter.
Paul walked out of the meeting at midnight and went to his car. After two continuous weeks of meetings he was dead tired. Of top of that he had a severe sinus infection. Paul thought it was ironic that the Lord had used him to heal various people over the last two weeks while he himself had remained sick. He put the key in the ignition, but before he turned it he prayed one more time for Jean Raborg. As he prayed, he began to feel the compassion of Jesus for Jean. What started as a simple prayer became a torrent of words and emotions as he petitioned the Lord to deliver Jean from her madness. He wept as he felt the heart of Christ for her. As he was weeping, he looked up to heaven and the night sky turned into a giant television screen. On the screen, he saw jean in the psychiatrist's hospital and he saw the things about her life before she went to the hospital. Then God spoke. It wasn't audible, but it couldn't have been any clearer than if it had been audible. These sentences formed in Paul's mind: If you will go to San Diego and pray for this woman, she will instantly healed to my glory. And I will use this testimony to the end of her life to encourage women with hope.
The next morning Paul drove to San Diego. He felt impressed to pull of the freeway at a certain exit in San Diego. He walked up to a pay phone without knowing Jean Raborg was two blocks away from the Mesa Vista Psychiatric clinic. The Williams had given Paul Jean Raborg's office number and home phone. He called John's office and no one answered. He called the home and got Janelle the daughter. He asks her for the number and is told, "I'm sorry sir, but I cannot give you the name of the hospital. No one is allowed to see my mother but my dad."
"Janelle," Paul said, "I don't want you to disobey your father, but I would like you to stay on the phone for just a minute longer. You see the Lord sent me here to help your mother. I am going to pray now. Please stay on the line." Paul prayed, and in a few seconds he saw the giant television screen again. This time he saw a San Diego newspaper with a headline that said, "Mesa Vista." "Janelle, I believe the Lord has shown me your mother is at Mesa Vista. I just need you to confirm this for me. Does that name mean anything to you?" "That's it sir! that's it, my mom is at the Mesa Vista Psychiatric Hospital." Paul thanked Janelle and said "Honey, I know this has been a weary road for you and your family. You have had to be strong while your mother has been so sick. I want you to know that God is going to heal your mother and she will be home in THREE DAYS. And when she comes back she will be back to normal and full of joy. Goodbye."
Paul walks through the Mesa Vista Clinic and finds the receptionist. "Hello, my name is Paul Cain. I am a minister and I'm here to see Jean Raborg." The receptionist turned to look up Jean's room number. Next to Jean's name were the orders, "TO SEE NO ONE BUT HER HUSBAND- ESPECIALLY CLERGY!" The receptionist looks at the chart, turns around puts it back in the folder and said, "Come right this way Mr. Cain she's right back here." Paul walked straight through the nurses' station and asked for Jean. She was in occupational therapy now - sealing envelopes. When Jean sees Paul she screams "Dear God, who is that man? He looks just like an angel. I see your glory coming from him. Oh, I wish someone like that would come see me." Paul went to Jean and said "Jean, my name is Paul Cain. You don't know me, but I know you. What I am going to say to you is going to be difficult for you to understand. Jesus has sent me because he loves you and because he is going to heal you. I am going to pray for you today, and he will heal you, and you will be home in three days."
Before Paul had gotten there he had prayed for Jean to have sound mind since she had been so drugged up on thorazine. "Before I pray for you Jean I want to tell you two things that will help you understand God has really sent me here for you. The first thing Jesus told me to tell you is that you have never committed the unpardonable sin, and he knows you love him with all your heart." Jean thought she was going to burst. "Oh, I do love him, I do love him - I love Jesus with all my heart! she exclaimed."
"The Lord also told me to remind you of something that happened when you were 14 years old, Jean. You were at a summer camp in Oregon, and after a service one evening you threw a pinecone into the fire, and you asked the Lord Jesus to come into your heart, and you asked him to make you a missionary."
"Yes sir!" Yes sir! But how could you have possibly known that?" Paul took her hand and said, "Jean, I didn't know that but the Lord showed me those two things so you'll know He's really hear for you. He says he is about to make you a missionary, but not the way you thought." Paul abruptly stopped speaking. He closed his eyes for a moment and then said, "Jean, I am having a vision right now. I see a man standing in an airline uniform, and he's a pilot. He is a friend of yours, a neighbor of yours. His wife's name is Pat. What's his name?"
"His name if Allan Lindemann. He is a captain for PSA Airlines in San Diego. He lives right across the street from us in University City." Paul said, "You also have a neighbor named Marion. In the future you are going to tell Pat and Marion what the Lord has done for you, and it will change their lives. And you are going to give your testimony to the man in the airline uniform and while he is dressed in that uniform he is going to believe in Christ through your testimony, now let me pray for you"
As Paul prayed for Jean she said it felt like a giant heating pad had been put over her abdomen. Then she had a sensation of hot oil being poured over her and penetrating every fiber of her body. At the same time, she felt a cloud of oppression lift off of her. She started shouting for joy, "I'm healed, I'm healed!" Paul said "No, Jean," "you're not healed yet. When I leave there, the madness is going to try to return. God is going to put a scripture in your heart when I walk out this door. That scripture is going to seal your healing. When the evil voice returns to you, don't listen to it. Instead say, "It is written," and then quote whatever verse comes to your mind." The SPIRIT and the WORD will heal you and will keep you healed. Jean, you will be home in THREE DAYS and you will be filled with joy. Good-bye. I will be praying for you and will be in touch."
Paul walked out the door and just left. Jean picks her Bible up and tries to focus on the pages but cannot because of all the thorazine in her system. Her mind began to cloud again and she could feel that same numbness trying to come back. Just then she put her Bible down, stood up, walked out the door and as she walked an passage from the Old Testament came to her mind just as clearly as anything could be:
"FEAR THOU NOT, FOR I AM WITH THEE; BE NOT DISMAYED; FOR I AM THY GOD; I WILL STRENGTHEN THEE; YEA, I WILL HELP THEE; YEA, I WILL UPHOLD THEE WITH THE RIGHT HAND OF MY RIGHTEOUSNESS."
At that moment she felt an icy hand try to grip her heart. Each time she would just walk and down the hall screaming Isaiah 41:10. Everyone around her said, "Don't listen to her, she's crazy, she's crazy!" NO, Jean Raborg had just been healed.
The next morning, her psychiatrist, Dr. Appleford came to see her and immediately said JEAN, WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU! Why aren't you crying? Where did that smile come from? I have never seen anyone in my entire practice snap out of depression overnight." Jean told him what happened when Paul visited. Dr. Appleford said, "Jean, I'm a backslidden Presbyterian and I don't believe in miracles but what I see before my eyes is changing my mind. I am going to have you observed for a couple of days and then i will make another evaluation." On the THIRD DAY, a bright sunny October morning in 1968, Jean Raborg walked out of the mental clinic never to return again.
Everything had changed when she got home. John and her had went bankrupt. The house on the hill had gone. They lived in a small apartment now. None of their "stuff" had been able to give them joy or protect them from the enemy but now by the mercy of God John and the children had gotten back their wife and mom. The SPIRIT and the WORD of God had set Jean free.
Since they lived in a poorer section they didn't see their old friends anymore. But a few months later, she returned to a Bible study group in her old neighborhood to give her testimony of God's deliverance. Pat and Marion were profoundly impacted just as Paul Cain had prophesied. BUT JEAN NEVER GOT TO TALK TO CAPTAIN ALLAN LINDEMANN.
Soon after Jean's healing, the Raborg family moved from San Diego to Phoenix. Some 13 years after Jean's healing she was invited to come to Salt Lake City, Utah to share her testimony with a women's group. Jean flew from Phoenix to San Diego to meet her daughter Jeanelle, who going to accompany her to Salt Lake City. "Mom," said Jeanelle, "I wonder if Allan Lindemann could be flying this plane?" Jean smiled and said, "Honey, I am sure he is retired by now but to satisfy your curiousity I'll ask." Jean asked the stewardess who smiled and said, "His name is Captain Allan Lindemann."
Jean couldn't believe it. She sent Allen a letter message that she and Jeanelle were on the plane. The stewardess brought it back and said Allen would meet them in Salt Lake City and have coffee wtih them. Normally Allan did not fly to Salt Lake City. His usual route was San Diego to San Francisco. He was filling in for another pilot on this day. At least this was the human reason why he found himself in Salt Lake City in December 1981. The real reason he was in Salt Lake City had been decreed by God 13 years earlier in a mental institution.
At the airport restaurant, Allen asked Jean what she was doing in Salt Lake City. "I am hear to share my testimony of my healing," Jean said. "Oh yes, I remember that prophet fellow had a vision of Pat when you were healed." Jean smiled and said, "That's right Allen but he just didn't see Pat, he saw you too." "Really?" Allen asked wondering why.
"Yes, he saw me talking to you while you were in your airline uniform. This is how he knew you were an airline pilot." Allen just sat back and said, "That's amazing." "Yes it is amazing Allen. It shows you how much God loves you, and Allen and how well he knows you." From there Jean began to share the Gospel with him. Alan's eyes filled with tears. For the first time he understood Jesus took his place on the cross and paid for ALL of his sins. That day, Allan Lindemann trusted in the Lord Jesus to save him from his sins. He was born again right before Jean's eyes. "Allan, this is just like Paul said it would be in the vision he saw of you, you were wearing your uniform. You heard my testimony and the Gospel in the vision and you became born again." Allan continued to cry. Finally he said, "What you don't know Jean, is that this is the last day I will ever wear this uniform again. I am retiring today from PSA Airlines. In just a little while I am flying home to San Diego, and I will never wear this uniform again."
On the last possible day, Captain Allan Lindemann was saved. Why? Because a word from God had decreed it 13 years earlier in an insane asylum and no word from God will ever fall to the ground before it is fulfilled. Allan Lindemann was saved by the power of the WORD and the SPIRIT. Jean Raborg was saved and set free by the WORD and the SPIRIT.
A Costly Divorce
No one in the New Testament church would have regarded the above story as a unique, isolated event. They were used to seeing the power of the WORD and the Spirit work together. Somewhere along the way the church has encouraged a silent divorce between the word and the Spirit. Divorces are painful, both for the children and for the parents. One parent usually gets custody of the children, and the other only gets to visit occasionally. It breaks the hearts of the parents and the children are usually worse off because of the arrangement. Many in the church today are content to live with only one parent.
They live with the WORD, and the Spirit only has limited visiting rights. He just gets to see and touch the kids once in a while. Some of his kids don't even recognize him anymore. Some have become afraid of him and some even accuse their parent of being sent from Satan. Others in the church live with the Spirit and only allow the Word sporadic visits. The Spirit doesn't want to raise the kids without the Word. He can see how unruly they're becoming, but he won't force them to do what they must choose with their hearts.
So we have become a divided family growing up with separate parents. One set of kids is proud of their education, and the other set of kids is proud of their freedom. Both think they're better than the other. The parents are brokenhearted. Because unlike most divorces, they didn't choose this divorce. Their kids did. And the Word and the Spirit have had to both honor and endure that choice.
The question is this: How many more Jean Raborg are languishing in insane asylums, waiting for the children to bring the parents back together again?
The Spirit and the Word Agree
AGENTS
OF REVELATION
The
ultimate source of revelation in the early church was God, the Father. He is the
one who poured out the Holy Spirit and who
“anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power.” (ACTS 10:38).
Normally, however, when God chose to reveal something to one of His servants in
the book of Acts, the agents of revelation were the Holy
Spirit, Jesus or angels. The book of Acts portrays a church that lived by
revelation. Every chapter in the book records the power of the Word and the
Spirit working together in miraculous ways. It is our pattern for today.
The Holy Spirit Reveals
The
Spirit may speak directly to individuals, telling them where to go and what to
do (Acts 8:29, 10:19-20). He may
speak to a whole church, telling them how to begin a new missionary enterprise (Acts.
13:2) or forbid and hinder a missionary team when they are unwittingly
leaving the geographical will of God (Acts
16:6-7). On other occasions, the Holy Spirit may compel a person to go to a
certain destination (Acts 20:22). The
Holy Spirit may also warn a faithful servant ahead of time about the suffering
that will accompany the fulfillment of the servant’s task. (Acts
20:23). The Holy Spirit may also inspire a sermon or testimony for Jesus.
When Peter was brought before the religious leaders to give an account of the
healing of the lame man, he was “filled with the Holy Spirit.” (Acts
4:8). The filling of the Holy Spirit is the power of God speaking through
an individual. On other occasions, however, it is said that believers themselves
speak “through the Spirit” (Acts
11:28; 21:4). The guidance of the Holy Spirit may even become so dramatic
that he supernaturally transports a believer from one place to another, as in
the case of Philip (Acts 8:39.) The
leadership of the church was so sensitive to the Holy Spirit they could describe
his leading by saying, “It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us.” (Acts 15:28) Whatever the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He will always
GLORIFY CHRIST! He will point you to Jesus.
Jesus Reveals
Jesus
appears to Stephen as he is being stoned to death (Acts
7:55) and to Paul on the road to Damascus. Paul’s experience was so
foundational for the history of the early church that is told 3 times in the
book of Acts (9:3-6; 22:6-16; and 26:9-16).
Jesus also appears to Ananias and gave him specific instructions for his
ministry to Paul. (Acts 9:10). In Acts 16:14 when speaking of
Lydia it states that “the Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s
message.” This was another example of Jesus being a primary agent of
revelation in the early history of the church to a woman who was born again.
There have been NUMEROUS stories told in the 20th Century alone of people who
have been visited by Jesus himself. Jesus is more than willing to REVEAL Himself
to those who are hungry for a touch from Him. To receive this type visitation
one must have a deep hunger for God. God doesn't barge the door down. He only
comes to those who want Him to come.
Angels Reveal
Angels were famous for engineering jail breaks (Acts 5:19-20; 12:7-11). They also appeared to various servants of the Lord with specific directions, as in the case of Philip (Acts 8:26) and Cornelius (Acts 10:4-6). On Paul’s voyage to Rome, and angel came to him in the night and comforted him. (Acts 19) These activities were NOT confined to the apostles. The same things happened in the lives of Stephen, Philip, Agabus, Ananias and other unnamed individuals in the Book of Acts. As with Jesus, there are NUMEROUS accounts of angelic visitations throughout the centuries.
For some to say angelic visitations went away with the apostles is to speak
foolishly. God will reveal Himself to us in whatsoever manner He desires.
A
Time of Transition?
Some try to dismiss the
testimony of Acts by calling it a transitional book. The question is however,
what are we trying to transition to - a better form of Christianity? Where is
this better form or example? Is it the 20th Century church in
America? Or is it a transition to a type of experience where God speaks only in
the Bible? That form of Christianity is not a transition forward, but
rather backward, to the religion of the Pharisees who preferred the BOOK to the
LIVING speaking WORD OF GOD. The spoken word of God never contradicts the
written Word. The transition Jesus himself predicted was to an age of revelation
by an omniscient Spirit who would surprise God’s people by TEACHING, REMINDING, TESTIFYING, GUIDING,
SHOWING AND EMPOWERING them. If Acts represents abnormal Christianity
when compared with the present state of the church, wouldn’t we be better off
to choose the abnormal experiences of Acts? Maybe it could be that if we are not
experiencing these things, it’s OUR experience of God that is abnormal, rather
than the experience of the New Testament Christian.
The
Testimony of Jesus
The
“testimony of Jesus” is the spirit of prophecy.” JESUS is the prophetic
message of the Bible. He is the WORD OF GOD. Over 300 prophecies in the Bible
speak of Jesus Christ. Through all these, Christ likeness is the goal of every
prophetic word. The book of
Revelation is more than just a panorama or prophetic events. It’s the
fulfillment of God’s purposes and plans for the ages in Christ Jesus. That
same revelation of Jesus must first come IN
US, not just TO US. This MUST occur for us to see His Life flow THROUGH
US.
Rev 19:10 - At this I fell at his feet to worship
him. But he said to me, "Do not do it! I am a fellow servant with you and
with your brothers who hold to the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy."
Gal 1:16 -
To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood:
Jesus is
THE PROPHETIC message of Revelation. The message of Revelation was not given to
John to just scare people; it was given to impart CHRIST to the church that she
might
ABIDE IN HIM. Why? Those
who are abiding in Him at His coming will not be ashamed. True Christianity
is not just belief in truths and compliance with doctrines or disciplines; it is
a relationship with God. That relationship is based upon PASSION which produces
PURITY. The message of God no longer comes in WORDS but in the WORD, the Son of
God, Jesus. Jesus did not come to BRING truth, HE IS THE TRUTH and the Spirit
and the Word (Jesus) agree. You can embrace all the written truth about Jesus
you want but never KNOW Him. Many have embraced doctrines and believed them in
their head while never having a heart-changing experience with God. Being born
again is more than just saying the sinner’s prayer. It’s an impartation of
life from JESUS to the soul and spirit of man. When that occurs we truly become
NEW CREATIONS in Christ Jesus. That process may take years to materialize but
the final product will be a vessel of honor presented faultless before the
FATHER at the Judgment! What a thought! Glory!
I
Jn 2:28-3:35:6-9 - And now, little
children, abide in him; that, when he shall appear, we may have
confidence, and not be ashamed before him at his coming. Beloved, now are we
the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when
he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure.
5:6-9 - This is he that came by water and blood, even
Jesus Christ; not by water only, but by water and blood. And it is the Spirit
that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth. For there are three that
bear record in heaven, the Father, the Word, and the Holy Ghost: and these three
are one. 9 And there are three that bear witness in earth, the
spirit, and the water, and the blood: and these three agree in one.
Our
revelation of Jesus must be a fresh one each day. Yesterday’s revelation
cannot be stored or kept. During Israel’s wilderness wanderings, manna that
was kept overnight for the next day spoiled. If we are to receive fresh manna
from heaven, JESUS must be new to us each morning. Jesus is the WORD THAT
PROCEEDS from the mouth of God by which we must live. It is not enough to know
the historic Jesus or the Jesus who will return; we must partake of the God WHO
IS. It is good to know whom HE WAS and WHO HE WILL BE, but we cannot live by
that knowledge; we can only live by the fresh encounter we have with Him each
day. John says NOW are we the sons of God. In other words, what we are NOW is
but a mirror of what we are becoming and what we shall be! Praise the Lamb
forever. When we see Him, we shall see Him AS HE IS and WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM. It
may not look like that right now. It may look discouraging. It may look dismal.
You may be struggling to survive in your Christian walk, but look up child of
God. NOW ARE YOU THE SONS OF GOD. NOW is the Holy Spirit working inside you. NOW
is the Holy Spirit making you a fit vessel. NOW is the Holy Spirit conforming
you into the image of Jesus. NOW is the eternal Father transforming you into the
likeness of HIS Son, Jesus Christ. This is a hope we must embrace. The one’s
who have this hope PURIFIES THEMSELVES, even as HE IS PURE. In other words, we
don’t allow unconfessed sin to go unchecked without dealing with it. We don’t
harden our hearts to the Spirit’s moving. We partake of the Lord Jesus daily.
He is called the BREAD OF LIFE.
He must be our daily bread. That’s why He said in John 6 that to inherit eternal life, we must eat his flesh and drink his blood. We cannot partake of anything else. We cannot embrace the denomination we belong too expecting that denomination to get us to heaven. We cannot embrace an experience expecting it to get us to heaven. In relation to this, the church is not the pattern for the CHURCH. Jesus is the Pattern for the church. We will not be changed by looking at ourselves, but by staying focused on the GLORY OF THE LORD. When we can forget who we are and focus on who He is, we will be changed into what and who we are called to be. The Spirit and the Word AGREE. The Spirit and the Word agree.
Reformation Prophets?
In
the book of Revelation,
John was given a commission to send a prophetic message during a time of
great depression and heartache in his own life. It was during a similar time in
church history that the Lord also raised up many reformation prophets. Men spoke
with prophetic inspiration in both the Catholic and Anabaptist traditions.[7]
George
Wishart – 1543-1546 – An early Scottish reformer and a mentor of John Knox,
the founder of the Presbyterian church; Martyred on March 1, 1546 by Cardinal
David Beaton, Cardinal and Archbishop of St. Andrews, Scotland.
John
Knox – 1514-1572 – Founder of the Presbyterian Church and a great Scottish
Reformer.
John Welsh – 1570-1622 – Samuel Rutherford (1600-1661), one of the
most famous of the Scottish theologians called Welsh “that heavenly
prophetically and apostolic man of God.” Usually spent at least eight hours a
day in prayer. Prophesied the unexpected deaths of individuals the most dramatic
being while held prisoner in Edinburgh Castle before he was sent into exile at a
slave colony in America.
Robert Bruce – 1554-1631 – one of the leading Protestant churchmen in
Edinburgh; it was said that under his leadership the Scottish Reformation found
stability. Accounts of people being healed of epilepsy and insanity.
Alexander Peden – 1626-1686 – Called Prophet Peden because of the extraordinary prophetic gift God had given him. Prophesied the death of John Brown as he married Brown and his wife Isabel in 1682. Brown was murdered in 1685 on April 30
The Living Word of the Lord in These Last Days
John’s prophecy as well as
any NT prophecy is subject to the Bible’s authority. The Bible is 1/3
prophetic. Wouldn’t that tell us that one of God’s ways of talking to us in
this last hour is through prophecy? Isn’t it sad that Christ in the end of his
messages to HIS CHURCH is standing outside knocking wanting to get in? The
reason He is outside is that we have stopped listening to HIS VOICE! His voice
is the sound of many waters and when He speaks, life comes! For
centuries, God has spoke through prophecies, dreams, and visions. Some people
act like God lost his voice. God DOES speak through the scriptures, but that is
not the ONLY Avenue through which He speaks to us. He also speaks through
prophecy and the Holy Spirit.
It’s
at out times of great heartache and depression that God will REVEAL Himself to
us if we will but only listen. If you are uncomfortable with prophetic ministry
and hearing God’s voice today, you are a victim of a conspiracy. Paul warned
the church at Philippi to beware of the concision or cutting away, from the
gospel. The Gospel of Jesus is a gospel that promotes the Holy Spirit ACTIVELY
involving Himself in the affairs of the church, pointing Her to Jesus.
Phil 3:2-3 -Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the concision. 3 For we are the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh