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The Spirit Says to the Church

A word in season and an apple of gold in a setting of silver.

Luke 1:17 (NIV)

 And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

Three keys:

• In the spirit & power of Elijah
• The hearts of the parents to the children
• The wisdom of the righteous

To make ready a people prepared for the Lord

Much may be speculated about concerning what a people living in the spirit & power of Elijah looks like & means.  I feel that it speaks to the body of believers presenting a clear, accurate revelation of Jesus as the radiance of God’s glory & the exact representation of God’s being seated at the right hand of the Majesty of God.  This necessarily involves actively pursuing the supernatural empowerments available to the Christ Follower through the Holy Spirit & radiating Divine Love to all people wether they are disciples of Jesus or not.

The idea of parents turning their hearts toward their children, I believe, speaks not only to our natural families but, & especialy, to our spiritual one.  The mature in the faith must intentionaly & dilligently mentor & disciple both new & immature Christlings.

What is the wisdom of the righteous?  A teacher explained to me that the words translated in the Bible as righteous carried with it not only the idea of a persons character but also the actions they engaged in.  A righteous person was someone who simply made things right through their actions & words.  The importance of righteous people living in a geographic region may be demonstrated by these scriptures:

Proverbs 11:10(NIV) When the righteous prosper, the city rejoices;
when the wicked perish, there are shouts of joy.

Ezekiel 16:49-52(NIV) “‘Now this was the sin of your sister Sodom: She and her daughters were arrogant, overfed and unconcerned; they did not help the poor and needy.  They were haughty and did detestable things before me. Therefore I did away with them as you have seen.

Genesis 18:28(NIV)” what if the number of the righteous is five less than fifty? Will you destroy the whole city(Sodom) for lack of five people?”“If I find forty-five there,” he (God) said, “I will not destroy it.”

The people of Sodom were proud gluttons who were unconcerned with people in physical or spiritual poverty-this was the colective sin of Sodom.  There was not one person with faith in or fear of God attempting to make things right in the entire city.

What is right concerning conduct and attitude may be discerned spiritualy with wisdom from God.  This may come in a specific word or insight as well as become a general state of being.  Wisdom is as sure a promise as salvation.

1 Corinthians 12:8b(NIV) To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, .....

James 1:5(NIV) If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

James 3:16-18(NIV) For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness

Here is demonstrated the relationship of righteousness and wisdom resulting in peace.  This is holiness.  Holiness is peace, purity, and power. Each individual disciple of Jesus must grow in peace, purity, and power.  If we seek spiritual, supernatural power that is good.  Christians are commanded to in scripture.  

1 Corinthians 14:1b (NIV) Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit,….

However, our degree of empowerment will not exceed our level of peace or purity.  Through peace we will know how to properly exercise our power.

Philippians 4:7 (NIV) And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

2 Corinthians 13:11b….live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.

Our purity brings us a more defined revelation of Jesus.  As our revelation of Jesus becomes more clearly defined we are transformed into a more accurate representation of Him.

Matthew 5:8 (NIV) Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

1 John 3:2 (NIV) Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.

Purity of heart may be understood in this context as having a singular devotion to things associated with the Kingdom of God & its expansion within ourselves as well as in our families & communities.

Our level of peace will not exceed our pureness of heart.  We will be distracted from the source of our joy and provision.

Spiritual, supernatural power is available to the degree we develop peace & purity.

Holiness equals peace, purity, & power.  The amount of one attribute may not exceed the others.  If we are powerless then we will be unable to defend either our peace or our purity.  Increasing in peace, purity, & power allows a Christ Follower to become wholly holy.

To make ready a people prepared for the Lord?

Ready for what?  Prepared to do what?

Long Term Goals:

Romans 8:18-21(NIV) I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed.  For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope  that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.

Isaiah 11: 1-10 (NIV) 1 A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse;
from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
 The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of might,
the Spirit of the knowledge and fear of the Lord—
 and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.

He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes,
or decide by what he hears with his ears;
 but with righteousness he will judge the needy,
with justice he will give decisions for the poor of the earth.
He will strike the earth with the rod of his mouth;
with the breath of his lips he will slay the wicked.
 Righteousness will be his belt
and faithfulness the sash around his waist.

 The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
and the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord
as the waters cover the sea.

 In that day the Root of Jesse (Jesus) will stand as a banner for the peoples; the nations will rally to him, and his resting place will be glorious.

These promises are for all who follow Jesus Christ.

Romans 4:16(NIV)  Therefore, the promise comes by faith, so that it may be by grace and may be guaranteed to all Abraham’s offspring—not only to those who are of the law but also to those who have the faith of Abraham. He is the father of us all.

This will be performed through the revealed children of God we read about in Romans chapter eight.

1 Corinthians 6:2-3 (NIV) Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases?  Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life!

Short Term Goals (or how we get from here, now to there, then):

1 Corinthians 13 (NIV)  If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.  If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.  If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.  For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.  For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

LOVE INTENTIONALY