THE RISE OF A PROPHETIC GENERATION

Those living today are what could be considered a “prophetic generation.” This term can be accurately used to identify a generation of people alive during the season when Bible prophecies are being fulfilled. When Christ was born, his “prophetic generation” included the parents of John the Baptist, Elizabeth and Zacharias; Mary, his mother; Joseph, her husband; and Simeon, an aged rabbi, accompanied by an older woman named Anna (Luke 1-2). The angel Gabriel was commissioned to reveal the births of John and Christ, and the Holy Spirit was active with the “filling” of Zacharias, Elizabeth and even John the Baptist who was six months old in his mother’s womb (See Luke 1). Those living at the time of the Exodus, the family of Noah, and the Jews returning from Babylonian captivity were all prophetic generations. Each lived through events and saw prophetic expectations fulfilled. Biblically, “signs” or “signs and wonders” accompany prophetic seasons, along with visitations from angels coupled with manifestations and revelations from the Holy Spirit. If we list only major prophecies that have been fulfilled in the past 80 plus years and counting, the list would include:

• The 7 year Holocaust: The vision of Ezekiel’s Dry Bones (Ezekiel 37)
• Israel Restored as a Nation: (Isaiah 66:8)
• Jerusalem Reunited as the Capital of Israel: (Psalms 102)
• The Jews returning to Israel from Gentile Nations: (Jeremiah 16)
• Israel’s Deserts Blossoming to Produce Food: (Isaiah 35)
• Jerusalem Expanding in All Directions: (Psalms 102:16)

BORN FOR THIS TIME

When Israel was reborn as a nation in 1948, the American church went into an immediate declaration of the soon return of Christ. Factually speaking, they were right to do so because it was a major fulfillment of Bible prophecy; however, believers in their generation never witnessed the numerous signs that followed in more recent times. Many of the believers in the early Full-Gospel churches did not have the education or understanding to comprehend the more detailed preaching and teaching that emerged in the latter years. Many saints such as the mountain saints were simple men and women who loved a basic Gospel message taught under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. The symbolism of the beasts, dragons and horns was confusing to them generally speaking. That generation was tagged the “healing revival generation,” characterized by a seven-year healing revival on the brink of Israel’s restoration (1948-1956). After the reunification of Jerusalem in 1967, some tagged that group the “restoration generation,” as the noted “Charismatic Renewal” began the same year (1967) and continued into the 1970s. With such prophetic activity unfolding globally, this generation is the “prophetic generation,” or the “Joel 2 generation.” Some have even labeled them the “Joshua generation.,” or a generation where spiritual fathers and sons unite to initiate a last days revival (Malachi 4:4-5).

In each Generation, God births specific people for those times that flow with the direction of the Holy Spirit and fulfill God’s purpose for that season. Just as the orphaned girl, Esther, was positioned at the right place at the right time with the right people to initiate a plan exposing the plot of Haman (thus rescuing Jews in 127 provinces), each of us living today have a specific “God assignment” connected with the prophetic purpose of our lives during this season. Have you ever considered that God’s prophetic fulfillment is partially contingent upon us? Without a Noah, there would never have been an Ark. Without a Moses, there would have never been an Exodus or a Tabernacle. Without a David, Goliath would have prevailed. Without the wisdom and obedience of Solomon, the glorious Temple of God would have remained a fantasy in David’s mind. Without a man, God will not – but without God, man cannot: meaning human vessels are used at the right places and times to enact God’s purposes, which can often fulfill specific prophecies.

WHAT IS YOUR PART IN THIS ASSIGNMENT?

God connects people together, sometimes linking them with ministries. Most believers (unless they are young and single) have a career, family, financial obligations and are unable to travel extensively to minister. Some are called to ministry and dedicate their time, energy and life studying, praying, teaching and traveling. Men cannot hear without a preacher, but the preacher must be sent …

“How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things! (Romans 10:14-15).

Each believer, however, can participate in some manner in the work of the Kingdom. One can volunteer in a ministry, assist in a local church, direct intercession and the altar teams, begin a youth or children’s ministry, use your musical gift, support missions or evangelism, minister in prisons or nursing homes, or even become a giver to send the Gospel to the nations. Christ taught that he would recognize and reward those who visited the sick and prisoners, even rewarding those who give a glass of water to the thirsty (Matthew 10:42). Thus, faithfulness in the “little things” is what God is looking for in this prophetic generation (Matthew 25:21-23). Every action a believer takes to (in some way) minister to a person or people, or further the Gospel message to either a lost person or many lost and unsaved people, does not go unnoticed by God. He is watching and will reward such at the bema seat (Judgment Seat of Christ) described by the apostle Paul …

“Wherefore we labour, that, whether present or absent, we may be accepted of him. For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men; but we are made manifest unto God; and I trust also are made manifest in your consciences” (2 Corinthians 5:9-11).

“But why dost thou judge thy brother? or why dost thou set at nought thy brother? for we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Romans 14:10-12).

One thing needs to be made clear concerning the bema seat (or Judgment Seat of Christ). This judgment is only for saved, born again believers to decide whether rewards will be given or rewards will be lost. Many mistakenly believe that this judgment will decide whether one will go to Hell or Heaven. Not so. Unsaved people will not appear here, but will appear at a place called the Great White Throne Judgment after being resurrected out of Hell after death and then cast into the lake of fire (Revelation 20:11-15). The saved, born again believer needs to never fear being cast away into damnation at the Bema judgment Seat of Christ.

No matter how seemingly insignificant it may feel to the doer, it is a big thing in the eyes of the Lord. Often, believers can and will feel a nudge from the Holy Spirit to do a certain thing and many times, God will give you little nuggets and hints along the way that you are performing his will in what he called you to do as I myself have experienced.

We are a prophetic people whose time has come. Just as with Esther, if we do not step into the gap and minister to the world, another will be raised up to enact his purposes. I refuse to be left out of God’s final assignment, simply sitting back in the comfort zone while Hell still burns.

I hope you will seek out your cause and pursue God’s purpose in this prophetic generation. You were born to live at this time. It was Jesus himself that admonished us to lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven …

“Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

These treasures, or rewards, do not get awarded to us automatically when we get to Heaven. Both the Apostle Paul and Jesus himself reveal to us that they are earned as a result of us serving in the furtherance of the message of the kingdom in some form or fashion. Jesus said to “lay up for ourselves treasures in Heaven.” This reveals a deliberate and conscious action of doing. In the case of the Apostle Paul, he confirmed what Jesus taught regarding the rewards that have to be earned by the action of doing:

“Now he that planteth and he that watereth are one: and every man shall receive his own reward according to his own labour. For we are labourers together with God: ye are God’s husbandry, ye are God’s building. According to the grace of God which is given unto me, as a wise masterbuilder, I have laid the foundation, and another buildeth thereon. But let every man take heed how he buildeth thereupon. For other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:8-15).

However, if you have never received Christ as personal savior to begin with, works for the kingdom of God are not your most dire need at the present and immediate moment. The above admonitions are for already saved believers who are already in the family of God. You are playing with fire quite literally and are gambling with your eternal soul should death rush in upon you. It is very accurate to say that you are in dire eternal trouble and you do not know when your allotted time on Earth will be over. When it comes, you can have the confidence that you will be ready. If this describes you, I urge you to keep reading below.

THE ONLY WAY TO HEAVEN AND YOU

In order to accept the offer of God’s grace and his salvation, you must take the crucial three steps of …

1. Agreeing – A belief and agreeing with God in all that he says in his word, the Bible, about the fact that you are separated from God, as every man and woman on the face of the earth are before accepting his salvation.  The Bible reveals that all are separated from him in a spiritual state of death, or said another way that the Bible reveals it, in a state of sin, that will result in damnation in the afterlife.  Agreeing with God in your heart that you are in need of his salvation.  The Bible reveals that God looks upon the heart of a man or woman, and thus, responds accordingly to the person who comes to him for salvation in recognition of his inability to save himself.  The Bible makes these facts very clear – “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).  “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).  The Bible describes these three kinds of death:

• physical death (the state experienced when life leaves our bodies).

• spiritual death (spiritual separation from God caused by our state of spiritual death inherited from the first man Adam – the state of sin that results in our daily outward acts of sin, whether deliberate or not, whether omissive or not; and finally …

• the second death (the fixed state entered into by the individual who dies physically while he or she is dead spiritually). This state is entered into after the death of the body which results in punishment in the afterlife until the event of the Great White Throne Judgment occurs wherein the damned are resurrected from Hades, or Hell, and are judged according to their works and finally destroyed and cease to exist after being cast into the Lake of Fire. Revelation 14 refers to this tragic end of the unsaved as the “Second Death” (verse 14). It is this state of suffering entered into after physical death and then final destruction at the Great White Throne Judgment in particular which is the horrible result of receiving the wages of sin (unforgiven due to unbelief and rejection of Christ). The Lord Jesus Christ frequently described such a death as being irrevocable in a destiny which he called Hell.  He described Hell as a literal place of judgment (Matthew 13:42); a place of everlasting fire (Matthew 18:8); a place of torment (Luke 16:24,28); a place of weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50); a place of remorse (Mark 9:44-48); of bitter memory (Luke 16:25), and a place originally prepared for the Devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41).  In fact, Jesus more often warned about Hell than he spoke about Heaven.

It is not God’s will or desire that any person should be consigned to perish in Hell (2 Peter 3:9), but rather that all should come to repentance of unbelief toward him and believe on him for the salvation of the individual’s soul.  But God’s justice requires that the “soul who sins” (remains in it’s state of death or state of sin) is the one who will die a second time after a long period of torment (Ezekiel 18:4).  So, agree with God, admitting that you are unable to save yourself and in a state of sin under God’s just condemnation for that sin and that you are in need of his salvation.

2. Believing – Then, believe that God does not want you to perish eternally in the torment of Hell because of your sin.  Believe that God loves you so much that he provided a way whereby he could still be a just, holy and righteous God, and yet pardon you.  Believe that God did not just overlook sin, but that he sent his only begotten son, the Lord Jesus Christ, to provide salvation by personally paying the penalty for sin.  Believe that Jesus Christ, whose life, death, burial and resurrection is the best-attested fact of antiquity, did come to earth to live, die, rise again and ascend to Heaven in order to provide justification and salvation for all who trust him.  Believe that he, and he alone, can save you because he has fully satisfied the just demands of God.  Believe that you can’t become righteous in God’s sight by your own effort.  Believe that he wants to save you and that he will save you.  The Bible provides a solid basis for such belief …

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance (2 Peter 3:9).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved” (John 3:16-17). 

“But God demonstrates his love toward us in this:  while we were yet sinners,  Christ died for us (Romans 5:8). 

God presented him (Jesus Christ) as a sacrifice of atonement through faith in his blood.  He did this to demonstrate his justice because in his forbearance he had left the sins committed beforehand unpunished – he did it to demonstrate his justice at the present time, so as to be just and the one who justifies the man or woman who has faith in Jesus (Romans 3:25-26). 

“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand; By which also ye are saved, if ye keep in memory what I preached unto you, unless ye have believed in vain.  For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;  And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures … ” (1 Corinthians 15:1-4). 

“Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). 

“Jesus answered, “Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6).  “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).

“All that the Father giveth me shall come to me; and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out [drive away]” (John 6:37).

“Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20).

3. Calling – It is not enough to agree with God, admit your need, and believe that Christ can and will save you.  You must act upon those facts. God’s requirement is that you repent of your unbelief toward him and actively call upon him for the salvation of your soul based on the fact that you cannot save yourself. It is unbelief in particular that damns the soul to its horrible fate …

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God” (John 3:18).

You must be willing to completely turn from your own efforts to save yourself or from any other hope.  You must come to Christ, calling upon him for salvation and counting on the fact that he will do what he has promised.  This means simply taking the gift of pardon and eternal life which he offers.  Merely believing about Jesus Christ without coming to him makes as much sense and is as effective as believing that a medication can successfully treat a fatal disease, but failing to take it.  Yet again, the Bible emphatically and authoritatively provides the basis for such statements.

The word translated “believe” here means to “rest one’s entire weight and trust on the object or person in which the belief is placed.”  It requires action in keeping with the intellectual assent of that belief.

“For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:13).

” … but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

The logical question you may be asking at this point is:  “how do I come to Christ and call upon him?”  The answer is that “calling upon the Lord” is just another term for praying, or talking to God.  To talk to God is not a complicated process, dependent upon some special rituals.  God has invited people to approach him through his Son in simple, straightforward terms.  In fact, Jesus approved of the dishonest, despised tax collector who simply prayed, “God be merciful to me, a sinner.”  While the exact words of your prayer to God are not of vital importance (since God sees and knows the attitude of your heart), the following is the kind of prayer that you could pray in calling upon God for salvation …

“Dear Lord Jesus:  I realize that I need you.  I admit that I have sinned and that I deserve your just, eternal punishment for that sin.  But I am sorry for my sin and I am turning to you and asking for forgiveness.  I believe that you died and rose again to pay sin’s penalty on my behalf.  I come to you and open my heart to you.  I ask you to come into my life, forgive me for all of my sin and make me your child.  I invite you to take control of my life and to cause me to be the kind of person you would have me to be.  I thank you for doing this because you have promised that whosoever calls upon you, as I am doing now, shall be saved.  I pray this in the name of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.”

If this prayer expresses the desire of your heart, I urge you to sincerely and genuinely express it to God as your prayer.  The Bible makes clear that when we believe on the Lord Jesus Christ in our heart, God forgives our sins and counts us righteous, and that when we openly confess with our mouth what we have done in our heart,  God gives us assurance of that salvation (Romans 10:9-10).

“Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?  Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.  That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.  Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again” (John 3:3-7).

Questions and comments can be left further down this page (sometimes comments end up in my spam box – will approve them as soon as I check it every day).