We are truly living in serious times. We are truly living in unprecedented times. We truly stand at a crucial juncture in human history!
The question of the hour is twofold: Firstly, have we understood the times and do we know what to do, like the sons of Issachar in 1 Chronicles 12:32? Secondly, have we acted with a commensurate response as exhorted by the prophet Joel in Joel 2:1 and Joel 2:12–17?
We are way past the hour of merely making our walk with God better and becoming more effective in ministry. Casual Christianity, merely going through the motions, and meeting requirements are no longer sufficient as a believer. Developing a history in God in this season is not simply a matter of making our walk with God more enjoyable or having a cutting-edge ministry, but an absolute essential! Cultivating a history with God as an individual and as a Body of Christ is an absolute necessity to bear the weight of the coming and impending global crisis and also God’s requirement for us to partner with Him as the burning and the shining lamp (John 5:35).
In Matthew 11:7–30, Jesus, through John the Baptist’s message and lifestyle, was giving an essential call to fully embrace and enter into that which the Father was revealing for unique and unprecedented generations. He was especially pointing to the generation of His return and made two generational appeals that are required of us:
1. A prophetic call to a wholehearted and radical response that is commensurate with the coming glory of God and the impending crises.
“And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force.” (Matt. 11:12)
In Matthew 11:12, Jesus was giving clear insight into the necessary response for this hour of historic transition unto the dawning of a new era: wholeheartedness that is expressed through holy violence. What does this mean? There is a three-fold expression:
- A radical pursuit of Jesus and the fullness of His promises for our generation;
- A refusal to be denied anything less than God’s fullness and to accept any alternative other than the narrative of God;
- A removal of every hindrance and obstacle that will deter us from entering into the fullness of God.
2. A prophetic warning to not be indifferent or passive to His call to respond!
“But to what shall I liken this generation? It is like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling to their companions, and saying: ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we mourned to you, and you did not lament.’” (Matt. 11:16–17)
In Matthew 11:16–17, Jesus gave a clear prophetic warning to not be indifferent or passive in our response.
The flute and dance are symbolic of the prophetic message of the joyful Bridegroom’s wedding feast. The people of Jesus’ day did not respond to His call into the joy and delight of intimacy with Jesus by buying “oil” like the wise virgins in Matthew 25.
The song of mourning is symbolic of the sobering call to holiness and obedience. John the Baptist came preaching a prophetic message that was a call to turn away from prevailing traditions of a religious culture that was mere legalism and compromise. Yet the crowds did not repent of their spiritual condition unto an awakening to change their lifestyle.
I believe that this two-fold appeal is a generational call that has significant bearing upon the hour in which we live. As Jesus was helping His own generation make sense of the times and seasons they were living in and the appropriate response that is commensurate with what the LORD was doing, so too is the heart behind writing Rhema Now!
There is no greater hour of history in which to be alive and also to be living radically for the LORD. Yet it is a terrible hour to be weighed down with the spirit of compromise like the Laodicean Church, to be casual, indifferent and passive in our response and ultimately be found unprepared! What is coming upon the earth is cataclysmic. An obvious alarm of the LORD is sounding! Like the days of Joel, the LORD is sounding the trumpet to awaken us to the seriousness of the times unto a wholehearted response:
“Blow a trumpet in Zion, and sound an alarm in My holy mountain! Let the inhabitants of the land tremble; for the Day of the Lord is at hand.” (Joel 2:1)
A proper and appropriate response to both the logos Word and rhema Word of the LORD is our only safety. That was why Jesus concluded His appeal by saying, “but wisdom is justified by her children,” in Matthew 11:19. May we respond without delay while it is still called “today”!
Let me conclude this Rhema Now series by reiterating the word that the LORD spoke to me in December 2015:
“It will not get better! But we can grow stronger, we can burn hotter, we can shine brighter!”
Rhema Now | Full Series
Preparation for the Times (Intro)
