Not Ready Yet

I remember when I was a student in Rhema Bible Training Center (now Rhema Bible Training College) back in the 80’s, Rev. Kenneth E. (Dad) Hagin used to tell us that there were things that he could not share with us. There were things that he was walking in as part of his revelation and personal walk with God that he said he could not share as much as he wanted to. He said that no one was ready to hear it yet.

Lately I have been thinking about this quite a bit. Every time I begin to think about it I am reminded of the words of Jesus:

“I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.” John 16:12 NKJV

When Jesus walked the earth he had the same issue with His disciples. He had many things to share with them but they were not ready yet. So it was with Dad Hagin, he had many things to share with us, but we were not ready yet…nobody in the Body of Christ was.

I look at much of the revelation of the Apostolic & Prophetic Restoration, Worship Explosion & Emphasis on the Kingdom that has been released to the Body of Christ in the last 25 or so years and realize now that these were some of things that Dad Hagin was referring to when he spoke to us back in the 80’s. My first year at Rhema was 1983 and I graduated in 1987. Most of the real growth of the Apostolic and Prophetic began to be released around the early 90’s and forward.

Dad Hagin went to be with Jesus in 2003; and much of what was released in the Body of Christ from the early 90’s to the time of his home going were things I believe that he referred to when he spoke to us back in the 80’s when I was a student. It wasn’t that dad did not understand them, have revelation of them or walk in them; he just knew the timing of God and that we were not ready yet.

If Jesus knew that the disciples were not ready for certain things that He knew and walked in, and Kenneth Hagin knew that we as Bible school students were not ready for certain things that he knew and walked in; isn’t it quite possible that as leaders today there are things that we may know and walk in but we cannot share them yet? Why? Because those we are called to minister to are not ready yet!

There is timing and season to everything and that includes new things that we are experiencing and walking in that maybe others are not. Do we always have a green light to share what we see and know? Or do we need to get the timing of God?

I can look back over my life and ministry and can remember around 1993 - 1995 I was working with a group of men doing Revivals, Leadership Seminars & Holy Ghost Meetings. We saw some things in the Word and were walking in them and began to share them and try to bring them to folks who were in the circles we were in, but most were not ready yet. In retrospect I can see that we were ahead of our time.

As God continues to give us revelation and show us new things to walk in and experience…before we begin to release them to our circles…let us keep in mind Jesus and Kenneth E. Hagin…and make sure that they can bear them…because sometimes…they are not ready yet.

Where Are We Now

It is always important to understand where we are in God’s time and season. We don’t want to be like the Pharisees of Jesus’ day that could not discern the signs of the times. (Matthew 16:3) Instead we want to be like the sons of Issachar, who were men who understood the times. (1 Chronicles 12:32) So, where are we right now in God’s timetable? If we look to the Scriptures, we can find the answer.

 

“He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” Hosea 6:2 & 3 NASB

 

These two verses give us a clear picture of where we are in God’s timing and what we should be experiencing. I think most people in the Body of Christ understand Peter’s explanation of God’s timing in 2 Peter 3:8: 1000 years = 1 day, 1 day = 1000 years. It has been 2000 years since Jesus’ earthly ministry, or 2 days since Jesus walked the earth, so what happens now? I see four things: He Will Revive Us, He Will Raise Us, He Will Reveal To Us and He Will Refresh Us. Let us consider them briefly one at a time.

 

First, HE WILL REVIVE US. Notice in our text that He will revive us, not the world, us (His people). Notice also that this will take place after two days, or 2000 years. The people of God are about to walk into the greatest revival that they have ever experienced! Most folks in the church don’t understand revival; they seem to think that revival is when people get saved, however that is evangelism and conversion, which are offshoots of a true revival. Let us look to the definitions of the word revival for a better understanding. Revival means: To come or bring back to LIFE or consciousness, resuscitate. Its second definition is: To come or bring back to a healthy, vigorous, or flourishing condition after A DECLINE. Isn’t that a picture of the church today? God is about to bring us back to a healthy, vigorous and flourishing condition! We are no longer going to be sleep walking, going through the motions of our Christian lives! It is time to sing with the great hymn writer: “Revive Us Again”!

 

Second, HE WILL RAISE US. Notice in our text that on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him. I want to focus on the two words, raise and live in this verse. At first glance, you would think that God will elevate us on the third day (or the beginning of the 3000^th year according to Peter’s equation), which would be good, but a deeper look at the original Hebrew reveals quite a bit more. This word raise carries with it the added meanings of: CONFIRMING, ORDAINING & ESTABLISHING.

 

Notice also that the text says that the reason that He will raise us is so that we may live before Him. There is an intended purpose to this raising. A deeper look at the meaning of this Hebrew word for live carries the added meaning of: NOURISHING, SAVING & BEING WHOLE. Therefore we could say that on the third day (which is the day we are living in), that God will CONFIRM, ORDAIN & ESTABLISH us that we may be NOURISHED, SAVED & WHOLE before Him!

 

Third, HE WILL REVEAL TO US. Notice the words of our text, so let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. This speaks of revelation. A closer look at this word know in the Hebrew carries with it the meanings of: PERCEIVING, HAVING REVELATION & BEING SHOWN. We are living today in the day that the people of God are going to walk in the greatest revelation that any people of God have ever walked in throughout all of human history simply because of where we are in God’s timetable! God wants us to know: WHO HE IS, HOW HE THINKS, WHAT HE FEELS & HOW HE WORKS. This revelation will come to us one of three primary ways: The Spirit of God will open the eyes of our understanding as we spend time in His Word, The Spirit of God will speak to, give images to, or make impressions on our hearts during prayer, praise and worship, and finally the Spirit of God will manifest His gifts in our midst and speak to us prophetically as we are open to His moving amongst us.

 

Finally, HE WILL REFRESH US. Notice in our text He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain. Rain in Scripture is a symbol for the refreshing that comes from the manifest presence of the Lord (see Acts 3:19). The prophet stresses that on the third day God will come to us not just as the rain, but as the SPRING RAIN. This is a key phrase in Scripture. In studying the rain of the Holy Spirit in Joel chapter 2, the footnotes of my New American Standard Bible make mention of the fact that the Early Rain = the Autumn Rain, while the Later Rain = the Spring Rain. The early rain came at planting time, the spring rain comes at harvest time to get the crop to a place of maturity, and ready to be harvested.

 

There are going to be two great coming harvests. The first is the last day great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God. The second is the harvest of God’s people being caught away (The Rapture Of The Church). Jesus is coming for a spotless bride that is mature and ready to meet Him when He comes. It will take the last day outpouring of the Spring Rain to get this crop of the church to come to a place of maturity ready to be harvested. I can remember all the books written about the Second Coming (like 88 reasons Jesus was coming in 1988). Obviously the church was not ready, because the third day outpouring of the Spring Rain had not yet come to bring her to that place of maturity, ready to meet Him. We are living in the day of that outpouring! Get ready for it!

 

It is clear from these two verses of Scripture that God has some specific things in mind for His people of the THIRD DAY CHURCH. It is up to us to recognize what His purpose is and place a demand on the purpose of God. It is up to us whether we walk in the fullness of what His purpose is or not. As for me, I will experience HIS REVIVING, HIS RAISING, HIS REVEALING & HIS REFRESHING! How about you?

 

Interpreting Your Prayer Language Brings Direction / Knowing God's Timing

I would like to give you an example from my life which I believe will help you. This is a case where the revelation that I received from the Lord came through a different manifestation of the Spirit, and one that many folks in the Church don’t walk in or even understand. One time recently when I recounted this story in a sermon as an illustration I had some folks looking at me like I had three heads or something because it was so far out of their understanding. Let us as we always do look at the Word of God to lay the foundation:

“Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret. For if I pray in a tongue, my spirit prays, but my understanding is unfruitful.” 1 Corinthians 14: 13 & 14 NKJV (Emphasis Mine)

There are two applications that can be made from these two verses. They are similar but yet different. They both deal with Tongues, but one deals with the Public Gift of Tongues which must be interpreted to be in order Biblically, the other deals with your Prayer Language, which doesn’t need to be interpreted, but it is to your benefit if it is.

Let us consider the first one regarding the Public Gift of Tongues. Notice the Apostle Paul said if you speak in a Tongue, pray that you may interpret. That is because the Public Gift MUST ALWAYS be interpreted. We know this because later in this chapter Paul gives this direction:

“If anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be two or at the most three, each in turn, and let one interpret. But if there is no interpreter, let him keep silent in church, and let him speak to himself and to God.” 1 Corinthians 14: 27 & 28 NKJV (Emphasis Mine)

There are many things I could bring out of this passage but we are not teaching on Tongues here, so I will limit my observations and explanations to the matter at hand. Paul is basically saying that if you speak in Tongues but there is no one to Interpret the Public Message, don’t speak out the Public Message. A MIKE RULE…not a Bible Rule is: “If you can’t give the interpretation, don’t give the message!”

Let us now go back to 1 Corinthians 14: 13 & 14 to make our application regarding your Prayer Language. Paul says that when you pray in Tongues, your spirit prays but your understanding or mind is unfruitful or does not understand. However, before he says that he says if you speak in a Tongue pray that you may Interpret. Why should your mind or understanding be unfruitful or not understand when you pray in Tongues? Ask God to give you the Interpretation of what you prayed in your Prayer Language (Tongues).

One time somebody asked Oral Roberts what the secret to his success in the ministry was. How many think Oral Roberts had some success in the ministry? Are you ready for his secret to success? He said: “I pray in other Tongues to God, then I ask Him for the Interpretation to what I prayed, then I pray out the Interpretation in English what I prayed in Tongues, then I go and do the Interpretation.”

So how does this relate to us? We can pray in our Prayer Language, which is always praying God’s will, then pray back the Interpretation of what we prayed in Tongues and we have just prayed back to ourselves the Will of God regarding our life or the situation we were paying in our Prayer Language over. We now have God’s direction.

Now to how this worked in my life and how I got direction and almost missed God by not understanding timing: Right after I graduated from Rhema in 1987, I locked myself in our spare bedroom of our two bedroom apartment in Tulsa, OK intent on getting alone with God and getting direction for my life now that I had graduated. I was prepared to be in there for days if need be. I told my wife to not come in and get me but to just leave me be.

I began to pray in my Prayer Language, which is how I do most of my private praying. After a while I hit a vein. I am not sure you know what I mean by hit a vein, but that is a place in the Spirit where all of a sudden it is like you have tapped into a stream or a river and just take off and go with it. As I hit this vein I just went with it and prayed in the Spirit for quite a while with great ease. After about an hour, I began to pray back in English what I had been praying in the Spirit.

There were two major themes to my prayer that afternoon. One is not relevant to this illustration, but was extremely important for what was transpiring in the Church in 1987. If you remember, 1987 was when we had the Jim Baker (PTL) and Jimmy Swaggart scandals, not our brightest hour. Part of the interpretation that I prayed out first that afternoon was for the restoration of both of those men of God; then came the interpretation that was for me second.

You see when I graduated I did not know what I was going to do or where I was going to go. I didn’t know what the will of God was for my life. Should I stay in OK? Should I move back to NJ? Did God want me to go somewhere else? All I knew was I had completed my last instruction which was to finish Rhema and graduate. Now what? So as I prayed out the second theme of that vein I hit in English I began to pray my future. I was praying about moving back to NJ from OK to work in the ministry with my parents.

Now I knew the plan of God for my life. What I didn’t know was the timing of God. This is where we can really get messed up. I tried two or three times to move back to NJ and make it happen in my own ability and in my own strength because I knew that God wanted me to come back to NJ and work with my parents. But I every time I tried it was like I hit a brick wall and nothing fell into place or came together at all.

It took five years for that direction that I received in prayer to become a reality. And when it was time to come back everything fell into place quite quickly and easily. Within a matter of a couple of months we were back in NJ. I look back in retrospect now and realize that there were things that I needed as part of my Ministry Training that I had not yet received. There were many things that I received from my Mom and Dad growing up. There was a tremendous impartation that was received at Rhema, even though I am only now realizing the impact of the Prophetic Mantle that was imparted through Dad Hagin, as I started as an Evangelist and did not really use it.

During the five years between graduating from Rhema and moving back to NJ I worked with Billy Joe Daugherty at Victory Christian Center. This is where the other impartations that I needed came from. I wore many hats and worked in many areas of the ministry including being one of the head ushers in the church which allowed me to work hand in hand with some of God’s Generals up close and personal. I also had tremendous impartations from Billy Joe who was without a doubt one of the meekest, gentlest men I have ever had the privilege to know. I needed an impartation of his spirit to soften my bull in a china shop ways.

So you see that day when I prayed and got the direction, the direction I received was correct, but my understanding of God’s timing wasn’t. I thought because I had graduated from Rhema my training was complete, but God knew otherwise! He knew where to send me to get what I needed to complete my training in OK before I could move back to NJ.

WAIT WAIT WAIT

I went to sleep last night praying in the Spirit. I woke up this morning hearing the Lord saying WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! Then this Scripture came to me:

“Then the Lord answered me and said: ‘Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time; But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait for it; Because it will surely come, It will not tarry.’” Habakkuk 2: 2 & 3 NKJV

So often when we get a Prophetic Word we have a tendency to run off immediately with it thinking it is for right now. As I look back over my life I can look at many Prophetic Words that I received that took years to even begin to come to pass and some I am still waiting for. Don't get in a hurry trying to make what God told you come to pass! Many have almost shipwrecked their life, me included, not understanding or knowing the timing of God.

I remember in 1982, right after I got married, my wife and I were on our way to Tulsa, OK for me to attend Rhema Bible Training Center (now Rhema Bible Training College). We made a slight detour on our way from NJ to OK via MI where my sister Bonnie and her family lived at the time for a visit.

During that visit we went to church with them and her Pastor, Robert Doorn (known to many the world over as Papa Doorn) called me out and prophesied to me on the Sunday night we were there. Here is an excerpt of what he prophesied to me that night, August 29, 1982:

“The Lord would say to you tonight Brother Mike, The Spirit of God would say, that while your Mother and Father are going to the mission field, they’re only going to blaze a trail before you. For surely, the trail they will blaze, shall even be a trail that you yourself will walk and minister under the anointing of My Spirit. You shall see multitudes healed and delivered and set free by My power, for behold, I’ll put the Word of Faith within you...”

Now here is what we need to learn about the Prophetic. THERE IS TIMING TO THE PROPHETIC! I didn’t take my first missionary trip to Africa until 1987, right after I graduated from Rhema, five years later. I didn’t really see multitudes get healed through my ministry until 1993 on a missions trip to Uganda during a crusade where the Gift of Faith fell on me, six years after my first missionary trip, and eleven years after I received the Prophetic Word.

The true legitimate Prophetic Word of God will always come to pass, but not on our time, on God’s time, and more times than not, they are not the same! What I think we fail to realize is that the language of the Prophetic can confuse us. For example, many times in Prophetic Words we will here God say “Soon”. Well, we immediately run off trying in our strength and ability to cause that word to come to pass because God said “Soon”.

We must remember that “Soon” to God and “Soon” to us mean two different things. God lives outside of time and we live in time. God measures time totally different than we do. Peter gives us a clue:

“But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day.” 2 Peter 3:8 NASB

So if we take this formula that Peter gives and apply it to Bible Prophecy it helps us in interpreting the Scriptures.

“He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him. So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” Hosea 6:2 & 3 NASB

I want you to pay attention to the underlined words in this text…two days & third day. In this portion of Scripture the Prophet is declaring that some things will take place after two days and on the third day. My question to you is this…was this Scripture fulfilled after two days from when it was written?

Most of you who understand where we are in God’s timetable understand that these promises that the Prophet declared are things that we are walking in today. Using Peter’s time calculation formula, it has been 2 days, or 2000 years since Christ was here and we are now in the beginning of the third day, or the third 1000 year period. (I have a whole message I preach from this text titled: “Where Are We Now”, but that is not the focus of this article, understanding God’s timing is)

If God has given you a promise…it will come to pass! Just don’t be in a hurry trying to make it come to pass. There is Timing to every Prophetic Word. Remember it is for an Appointed Time. Though it tarries…WAIT for it…for it will surely come!

Where Are We Now

It is always important to understand where we are in God’s time and season.‭ ‬We don’t want to be like the Pharisees of Jesus‭’ ‬day that could not discern the signs of the times.‭ (‬Matthew‭ ‬16:3‭) ‬Instead we want to be like the sons of Issachar,‭ ‬who were men who understood the times.‭ (‬1‭ ‬Chronicles‭ ‬12:32‭) ‬So,‭ ‬where are we right now in God’s timetable‭? ‬If we look to the Scriptures,‭ ‬we can find the answer.

‭“‬He will‭ ‬revive us after two days‭; ‬He will‭ ‬raise us up on the third day that we may live before Him.‭ ‬So let us‭ ‬know,‭ ‬let us press on to‭ ‬know the Lord.‭ ‬His going forth is certain as the dawn‭; ‬and He will come to us like the‭ ‬rain,‭ ‬like the‭ ‬spring rain watering the earth.‭” ‬Hosea‭ ‬6:2‭ & ‬3‭ ‬NASB

These two verses give us a clear picture of where we are in God’s timing and what we should be experiencing.‭ ‬I think most people in the Body of Christ understand Peter’s explanation of God’s timing in‭ ‬2‭ ‬Peter‭ ‬3:8:‭ ‬1000‭ ‬years‭ = ‬1‭ ‬day,‭ ‬1‭ ‬day‭ = ‬1000‭ ‬years.‭ ‬It has been‭ ‬2000‭ ‬years since Jesus‭’ ‬earthly ministry,‭ ‬or‭ ‬2‭ ‬days since Jesus walked the earth,‭ ‬so what happens now‭? ‬I see four things:‭ ‬He Will Revive Us,‭ ‬He Will Raise Us,‭ ‬He Will Reveal To Us and He Will Refresh Us.‭ ‬Let us consider them briefly one at a time.

First,‭ ‬HE WILL REVIVE US.‭ ‬Notice in our text that He will revive us,‭ ‬not the world,‭ ‬us‭ (‬His people‭)‬.‭ ‬Notice also that this will take place after‭ ‬two days,‭ ‬or‭ ‬2000‭ ‬years.‭ ‬The people of God are about to walk into the greatest revival that they have ever experienced‭! ‬Most folks in the church don’t understand revival‭; ‬they seem to think that revival is when people get saved,‭ ‬however that is evangelism and conversion,‭ ‬which are off-shoots of a true revival.‭ ‬Let us look to the definitions of the word revival for a better understanding.‭ ‬Revival means:‭ ‬To come or bring back to LIFE or consciousness,‭ ‬resuscitate.‭ ‬Its second definition is:‭ ‬To come or bring back to a healthy,‭ ‬vigorous,‭ ‬or flourishing condition after A DECLINE.‭ ‬Isn’t that a picture of the church today‭? ‬God is about to bring us back to a healthy,‭ ‬vigorous and flourishing condition‭! ‬We are no longer going to be sleep walking,‭ ‬going through the motions of our Christian lives‭! ‬It is time to sing with the great hymn writer:‭ “‬Revive Us Again‭”!

Second,‭ ‬HE WILL RAISE US.‭ ‬Notice in our text that on the third day He will raise us up that we may live before Him.‭ ‬I want to focus on the two words,‭ ‬raise and‭ ‬live in this verse.‭ ‬At first glance,‭ ‬you would think that God will elevate us on the third day‭ (‬or the beginning of the‭ ‬3000th year according to Peter’s equation‭)‬,‭ ‬which would be good,‭ ‬but a deeper look at the original Hebrew reveals quite a bit more.‭ ‬This word raise carries with it the added meanings of:‭ ‬CONFIRMING,‭ ‬ORDAINING‭ & ‬ESTABLISHING.

Notice also that the text says that the reason that He will raise us is so that we may live before Him.‭ ‬There is an intended purpose to this raising.‭ ‬A deeper look at the meaning of this Hebrew word for live carries the added meaning of:‭ ‬NOURISHING,‭ ‬SAVING‭ & ‬BEING WHOLE.‭ ‬Therefore we could say that on the third day‭ (‬which is the day we are living in‭)‬,‭ ‬that God will CONFIRM,‭ ‬ORDAIN‭ & ‬ESTABLISH us that we may be NOURISHED,‭ ‬SAVED‭ & ‬WHOLE before Him‭!

Third,‭ ‬HE WILL REVEAL TO US.‭ ‬Notice the words of our text,‭ ‬so let us‭ ‬know,‭ ‬let us press on to‭ ‬know the Lord.‭ ‬This speaks of revelation.‭ ‬A closer look at this word know in the Hebrew carries with it the meanings of:‭ ‬PERCIVING,‭ ‬HAVING REVELATION‭ & ‬BEING SHOWN.‭ ‬We are living today in the day that the people of God are going to walk in the greatest revelation that any people of God have ever walked in throughout all of human history simply because of where we are in God’s timetable‭! ‬God wants us to know:‭ ‬WHO HE IS,‭ ‬HOW HE THINKS,‭ ‬WHAT HE FEELS‭ & ‬HOW HE WORKS.‭ ‬This revelation will come to us one of three primary ways:‭ ‬The Spirit of God will open the eyes of our understanding as we spend time in His Word,‭ ‬The Spirit of God will speak to,‭ ‬give images to,‭ ‬or make impressions on our hearts during prayer,‭ ‬praise and worship,‭ ‬and finally the Spirit of God will manifest His gifts in our midst and speak to us prophetically as we are open to His moving amongst us.

Finally,‭ ‬HE WILL REFRESH US.‭ ‬Notice in our text He will come to us like the rain,‭ ‬like the‭ ‬spring rain.‭ ‬Rain in Scripture is a symbol for the refreshing that comes from the manifest presence of the Lord‭ (‬see Acts‭ ‬3:19‭)‬.‭ ‬The prophet stresses that on the third day God will come to us not just as the rain,‭ ‬but as the SPRING RAIN.‭ ‬This is a key phrase in Scripture.‭ ‬In studying the rain of the Holy Spirit in Joel chapter‭ ‬2,‭ ‬the footnotes of my New American Standard Bible make mention of the fact that the Early Rain‭ = ‬the Autumn Rain,‭ ‬while the Later Rain‭ = ‬the Spring Rain.‭ ‬The early rain came at planting time,‭ ‬the spring rain comes at harvest time to get the crop to a place of maturity,‭ ‬and ready to be harvested.

There are going to be two great coming harvests.‭ ‬The first is the last day great harvest of souls into the Kingdom of God.‭ ‬The second is the harvest of God’s people being caught away‭ (‬The Rapture Of The Church‭)‬.‭ ‬Jesus is coming for a spotless bride that is mature and ready to meet Him when He comes.‭ ‬It will take the last day outpouring of the Spring Rain to get this crop of the church to come to a place of maturity ready to be harvested.‭ ‬I can remember all the books written about the Second Coming‭ (‬like‭ ‬88‭ ‬reasons Jesus was coming in‭ ‬1988‭)‬.‭ ‬Obviously the church was not ready,‭ ‬because the third day outpouring of the Spring Rain had not yet come to bring her to that place of maturity,‭ ‬ready to meet Him.‭ ‬We are living in the day of that outpouring‭! ‬Get ready for it‭!

It is clear from these two verses of Scripture that God has some specific things in mind for His people of the THIRD DAY CHURCH.‭ ‬It is up to us to recognize what His purpose is and place a demand on the purpose of God.‭ ‬It is up to us whether we walk in the fullness of what His purpose is or not.‭ ‬As for me,‭ ‬I will experience HIS REVIVING,‭ ‬HIS RAISING,‭ ‬HIS REVEALING‭ & ‬HIS REFRESHING‭! ‬How about you‭?