God's Messenger
by Anna Robinson-Worley
Have you ever heard that old saying "Don't shoot the Messenger"? God has relied upon those chosen few throughout history to get his message across to people. God didn't always use messengers. In the beginning he spoke directly with man. For example, He spoke to Job and his friends in "the whirlwind" (Job 38). Then God spoke to Moses in "burning bush" (Exodus 3). Then we see the Prophets beginning to dominate the scene. These Prophets often appeared on the scene suddenly and without warning. They would face a guilty monarch by introducing themselves by saying "Thus saith the Lord." They would then proceed to deliver God's message. Always condemning sin but at the same time endeavoring to lead the people towards repentance and revival. Most of the time, the Prophet's presence was unappreciated because it would disturb the status quo. If any Prophet at any time had accepted things the way he found them, he would have failed in his mission. This includes even our own Savior, Jesus. Had he accepted the established and accepted religious system there would have been no redemption at Calvary.
When Jesus opened the book in the synagogue and selected the passage to read, He chose that portion that describes His mission: "He has sent me to preach the Gospel to the poor, to heal the broken hearted, to preach deliverance to the captives and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised and to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." This should be our mission as God's messengers today. To Preach, to Heal, to Deliver, to give Liberty. We should be preaching words of grace and not condemnation. We should comfort those who are crushed in their spirits beneath the tempter's foot and deliver them from their bondage. This is the year of the Lord. The door of liberty and love is open to all. As we do this the gates of captivity swing open and the sound of freedom's song is heard in the soul's of those who were once lost but now are found.
There are multitudes of church people who have been thrown into confusion and are now wandering. The doctrines, the efforts and systems that would draw these people and the church into a worldly, humanistic institution is wrong. Our religious situation in our churches are at an all time low. Idolatry is rampant, the rich are living in luxury while the poor are oppressed. There is widespread immorality and our judicial and governmental systems are corrupt. It is in this hour and for these causes that the Prophet of God is needed. Into our hands is given this solemn responsibility of leading men and women to God. We are at the same time commissioned to build His church. Of all days since the beginning of time, our day needs strong messengers. Prophets who are Called, Authoritative, Spirit Directed, and Anointed. Never in the history of man has the prophetic ministry been needed more than in this apocalyptic age. You were chosen for such a time as this my friend! No man or woman can will himself into the prophet's office. It is not a product of self will. This is a sacred calling. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations.” Then I said: “Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.” But the Lord said to me: Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, And whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not be afraid of their faces, For I am with you to deliver you,” says the Lord. Then the Lord put forth His hand and touched my mouth, and the Lord said to me: “Behold, I have put My words in your mouth." Jeremiah 1:5-9
Godless leadership has caused a tide of evil to go across our land. The religious and civil foundations of our government have come under attack and are beginning to crumble. Those in authority have allowed personal interests to overshadow justice. Lust and wickedness are being permitted to rise without precedence in an unholy alliance with the devil.
God can no longer, for the sake of our nations and for the sake of souls, hold His peace! This tide of evil can go no higher! Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint, but blessed is he who keeps the law. Proverbs 29:18
As God's messenger you are chosen to call the people to repentance and be a bold uncompromising witness. You must declare God's word to both the rulers and to the people under the rulers. " Yet the LORD warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying, “Turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the Law that I commanded your fathers, and that I sent to you by my servants the prophets.” 2 Kings 17:13 The Lord will use you in a mighty way but take heed because just as the Prophets who have gone before you were persecuted they will not want to hear what you are saying. " Which of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? And they killed those who announced beforehand the coming of the Righteous One, whom you have now betrayed and murdered, you who received the law as delivered by angels and did not keep it." Acts 7:52-53
“Therefore prepare yourself and arise, And speak to them all that I command you. Do not be dismayed before their faces, lest I dismay you before them. For behold, I have made you this day a fortified city and an iron pillar, And bronze walls against the whole land—Against the kings of Judah, Against its princes, Against its priests, And against the people of the land. They will fight against you, But they shall not prevail against you. For I am with you,” says the Lord, “to deliver you.” Jeremiah 1:17-19
Peter describes the role of a true Prophet when he said "no prophecy of scripture arose from an individual’s interpretation of the truth. No prophecy came because a man wanted it to: men of God spoke because they were inspired by the Holy Spirit." 2 Peter 1:19-21 Men and Women speak from God, being moved by the Holy Spirit. The word moved is the same word in Acts translated as "drive." They are driven by the Holy Spirit out of the depts of divinity and their words are God impelled, and God controlled.
The devils, demons, winds and waves, even death obeyed Jesus's voice and yet He did not claim that this authority rested on himself. He stressed the importance of his identification with the Father. His explained that His words were in divine unison with the Father, "I am in the Father and the Father in me, I and the Father are one." "I speak that which I have seen with my Father." When every fiber of our being is consumed by His resurrection power and HE lives inside our hearts we can speak with authority what God has given us to speak and every sickness, infirmity and human nature must respond.
In a time of need the Holy Spirit will teach you what you should say. Being driven by the Holy Spirit you will speak from God. Credentials and Diplomas are not valid proof of authority when your ministry brings you to a confrontation with the enemy. In all instances authority must be based on the Word of God and your own participation in it. Jesus didn't rest His claim to authority on Himself. He said, "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me."
Divine love must always undergird your ministry. Your feelings must never eclipse the compassion for the souls of the lost. The lament of the great soul of Jesus Christ was poured forth in love and compassion "when he saw the multitudes He was moved with compassion on them because they fainted and were scattered as sheep having no shepherd." Matt 9:36 He was the world's greatest Prophet, say the shepherdless crowds, the needy, the confused, hard-driven multitudes. They were the sick and the blind mingling with the tormented and harassed. The unanswered mystery of life had given way to burdensome fear of death. Jesus saw the tortured heart behind the hollow laughter. He could feel for the broken heart of the bereaved.
The Prophet that would minister only with words of authority and correction is not the true Prophet. His office is established only as he, like Jesus, becomes involved, totally involved, in the needs of the people. No Prophet can heal the needs of those that he himself does not feel. If you are to minister effectively to those around you the you must put yourself in their place and see the world through their eyes. Then and only then can you heal and deliver.
The full strength of the Prophet did not lie in just the knowledge of the truth, but in the power of God to activate the knowledge that he or she held. The strength of the New Testament church did not lie in the possession of the truth alone, but in the possession of the Holy Spirit that made the truth pierce the conscience and set the captives free. You cannot lead a spiritual breakthrough nor the successful assault upon the gates of hell until you know that the Spirit of the Lord is upon you.
To be in the Spirit is a carefully disciplined walk. The Spirit does not always shout at us with the voice of thunder. The Spirit whispers and tugs gently at our hearts and minds. Only when we enter our quiet place can we hear His voice. If you walk in the Spirit you will be led by the Spirit.
