After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”
Immediately I was in the Spirit; and behold, a throne was standing in heaven, and One sitting on the throne (Revelation 4:1-2).
This scripture is a present invitation to every believer in Christ. There is a door open to us not only to experience the heavenly realm, but also to walk and live in it now. This is an invitation to all who call on the name of the Lord. Thousands and thousands will soon respond to this call and the result is going to be spectacular. Adventure will return to the church that hasn’t been seen in nearly two thousand years. A profound devotion to morality, integrity, and true biblical holiness will return as a tidal wave throughout the church.
The Call
God is Spirit and God is supernatural. Man was created to have fellowship with God who is both Spirit and supernatural. Because of this, there is a deep yearning in the heart of every human being for a spiritual, supernatural relationship with God. Those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and truth (see John 4:23). True Christianity is a spiritual, supernatural relationship with God that requires the utmost integrity. Both are coming to the church, which will soon become the most exciting place on earth to be, and will be known as a place of faithfulness, loyalty, truth, and integrity. She will be the stability of the nations in the uncertain times that are coming. After watching a Star Wars movie, one of my children asked me if Christians would ever be able to do the kind of things that the Jedi knights did by the power of “the force.” I felt the Holy Spirit well up inside of me, “Tell them YES!” Those who are serving the dark side are already gaining power to levitate objects, but knights of the cross are coming who will say to mountains, “Be plucked up and cast into the sea,” and the mountains will obey them! (See Mark 11:23)
Something is coming that is more awesome than anything Hollywood has ever been able to produce. The Lord is the Almighty. We cannot really reveal Him without revealing His power. His true messengers will come in the power of signs and wonders. As the apostle Paul affirmed in I Corinthians 4:20, “For the kingdom of God does not consist in words, but in power.” The message of the kingdom is about to be preached, and it will come with demonstrations of power.
As stated, there is a yearning in every soul for the supernatural because we were created to experience it. However, as C.S. Lewis pointed out, if you deny a man food, he will soon gobble poison. Those who do not know the real power of God will become increasingly subject to evil supernatural power, which is now happening at an alarming rate. Just as there was a point at which Pharaoh’s magicians could duplicate the power that Moses demonstrated, there was a point at which even they had to declare that Moses had the true power of God. The same thing will happen in our time. There is a host coming who are trained, wise, and ready to handle the true power.
The deepest yearning of our hearts to know, see, and experience the Lord is about to be fulfilled. The faithful seekers of God are about to experience a supernatural relationship with Him that goes far beyond the occasional hearing of a miracle. The true Christian life is meant to be a miraculous life. We are called to live in the place where miracles are normal— not an occasional marvel. This is our calling, and it is our inheritance.
The Journey
What you are about to read is the key to opening the door of heaven. It is one of the keys in Matthew 16 that was given to Peter, and many others throughout the church age. This key is available to every believer, and we receive it the same way that Peter did. The first clue in scripture about entering the heavenly realm is a remarkable event in Jacob’s life, recorded in Genesis 28:10-17:
Then Jacob departed from Beersheba and went toward Haran.
And he came to a certain place and spent the night there, because the sun had set; and he took one of the stones of the place and put it under his head, and lay down in that place.
And he had a dream, and behold, a ladder was set on the earth with its top reaching to heaven; and behold, the angels of God were ascending and descending on it.
And behold, the LORD stood above it and said, “I am the LORD, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
“Your descendants shall also be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread out to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and in you and in your descendants shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
“And behold, I am with you, and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”
Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely the LORD is in this place, and I did not know it.”
And he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”
Beersheba means “the place of the covenant,” and Haran means, “parched.” Like Jacob, the church has, in many ways, left the place of its covenant with God. Because of this, we have likewise ended up in a very dry place. Even so, the Lord is going to show His people His house, Bethel, while they are still in the wilderness. He is also going to show them how to enter the heavenly realm and live there regardless of whether they are in a prison or a palace on earth.
Jacob laid down because it was getting dark. We are also entering dark times, which has caused many in the church to fall asleep spiritually. Even so, Jacob had a dream that was very real to him. Likewise, the church is about to be awakened with a visitation, which will come mostly through prophetic dreams. It is already happening to many all over the world. Jacob saw a ladder into heaven, with the angels of God ascending and descending upon it. The word that is translated “angel” is the Hebrew word mal’ak (mal-awk’). Strong’s defines this word as; “from an unused root meaning to dispatch as a deputy; a messenger; specifically, of God, i.e. an angel (also a prophet, priest or teacher): KJV— ambassador, angel, king, messenger.” The messengers, or ambassadors that are ascending and descending upon this ladder are not angelic beings, but His faithful ones. His true messengers are about to become much better acquainted with this ladder. They are going to learn how to enter the heavenly realm, and come back with the blessings of heaven.
The Inheritance
We should note that when the Lord spoke to Jacob from heaven, it was not about heaven. The Lord stood at the top of this ladder to speak to Jacob about his inheritance. That inheritance was the land on which he was sleeping. The Lord is also about to speak to His people from heaven, declaring their inheritance of the very lands in which they have been sleeping. Like Jacob, many have and will continue to go on to Haran, the dry place, and labor long and hard, just to survive. Even so, they will be blessed there as Jacob was, and God will bring His people back into their inheritance. Others have already left Haran and are in route to their inheritance, carrying with them all the blessings they received in the dry place where they were living.
The result of Jacob receiving his inheritance was that all of the families on earth would be blessed. That is the true result of receiving our inheritance in Christ—others get blessed. Our inheritance is the same as the Lord’s because we are members of His body. His inheritance is declared in Psalm 2:7-8:
“I will surely tell of the decree of the LORD: He said to Me, ‘Thou art My Son, Today I have begotten Thee.
‘Ask of Me, and I will surely give the nations as Thine inheritance, and the very ends of the earth as Thy possession.”
The messengers of God ascend on the ladder into heaven so that they can descend back to the earth with a part of heaven. When the people of God start possessing their inheritance in Christ, it will be a blessing to everyone else. When the Lord’s people start taking spiritual dominion over the place they are called to inherit, everyone will be blessed because they are going to turn that land into a piece of heaven on earth.
As we ascend and begin to experience the heavenly realm, we will start taking heaven with us wherever we go. Our churches, homes, and even the places we work will start becoming a piece of heaven. The Holy Spirit will start to prevail there and the anger, resentment, backbiting, and discouragement will be replaced by love, joy, peace, patience and so on. This is our calling. If we are true messengers, ascending into heaven as we are called to do, this will be the result. Our job is to bring heaven to earth so that His will is done on earth just as it is in heaven.
It is the Lord’s will to heal the sick. Everywhere the Lord went, “He went about doing good, and healing all who were oppressed by the devil” (Acts 10:38). As we are told in I John 3:8, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, that He might destroy the works of the devil.” God has not changed, and when He appears in His people, it is for this same purpose—to destroy the works of the devil. Those who enter the heavenly realm will come back with miracles and prophetic visions that give hope and direction. However, there is something even more important that they will come back with—Christ-likeness.
In II Corinthians 3:18 we are told, “But we all, with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.” As we enter the heavenly realm, we will have our veils removed so that they will not distort what we see. We will behold the glory of the Lord, and be changed into His same image. After each visit, we will be more like Him and do more of the works that He did.
This is not to imply that we can short circuit the spiritual disciplines of studying His Word, prayer, etc., and have an experience that will do the job effortlessly. It is only those who “desire earnestly spiritual gifts” (I Corinthians 14:1) that receive them. Those who are just “open” to be used by the Lord almost never are. We have to care more than that. We have to care enough to keep on seeking, and keep knocking until the door is opened.
However, it should be noted that the word “gifts” is not found in I Corinthians 14:1 in the Greek manuscripts. Strong’s says this about it: “This word was added by the translators for better readability in the English. There is no actual word in the Greek text. The word may be displayed in italics, parentheses or other brackets to indicate that it is not in the original text.” What the apostle wrote was that we should “earnestly desire the spiritual.” It is a calling to the heavenly realm—the spiritual walk that is the inheritance of every believer—but only those who “earnestly desire” it will receive it. Spiritual gifts will be the result, but our goal is more than receiving gifts. Our goal is the heavenly walk.
The Key
Now we must understand the key that opens the doors of heaven. It is recorded in John 1:49-51:
Nathaniel answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel.”
Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these.”
And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Here we see that Jesus is Jacob’s ladder. The rungs on that ladder by which we ascend into the heavenly realm are the progressive revelation of Jesus. You take a step when you come to know Him as Savior. You take another step when you come to know Him as Lord. You take another step when you begin to see Him as the Lord over all lords, and another when you begin to see Him as the One through whom and for whom all things were made. Another step is taken when you begin to see that all things will be summed up in Him. You take another when you begin to see that the greatest inheritance of all is the Lord Himself. This is verified in Matthew 16:15-19, when Peter was given the keys to the kingdom:
He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
And Simon Peter answered and said, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
And Jesus answered and said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon
Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven.
“And I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades shall not overpower it.
“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; and whatever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”
Peter was given the keys to the kingdom of heaven because of his revelation of who Jesus was. The same is true today. We will never be used to do miracles because we have had a spiritual experience. We will only do miracles as we have faith in the Lord, because we have seen and recognized who He is. All authority and power is in Him, and will always be in Him, but will never be in us. We are used as we abide in Him who has the power and authority. True faith is the simple recognition of who Jesus is, not just who He was, or who He will be, but who He is today, as we are told in Hebrews 11:6:
And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is (not “was” or “will be”), and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.
That is why we must go to heaven now. We do not have to wait until we die to go there. We are called to go there now, and to begin living in heaven now. This is our calling and our inheritance. This was the greater thing that Nathaniel was promised because he believed in the Lord. Greater than Nathaniel seeing Jesus on the earth was seeing Him in heaven. Greater than seeing Jesus as He was when he walked on the earth is seeing Him as He is now—above all rule, authority, power, and dominion. When we do, we will be translated into another realm of reality. Nathaniel saw the messengers of God ascending and descending from heaven on the Son, and this is also a promise to us. Those who really believe that He is, not just that He was, are about to see some truly remarkable things.
You Can’t See Without Eyes
In Acts 2:17-18, Peter quotes the prophet Joel to describe an event that we can expect to happen in “the last days”:
‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says, ‘That I will pour forth of My Spirit upon all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams;
Even upon My bondslaves, both men and women, I will in those
days pour forth of My Spirit and they shall prophesy.’
In my study of church history, I have come to the conclusion that every time there is an authentic outpouring of the Holy Spirit, it is accompanied by visions, dreams, and prophecy, just as it was in the book of Acts. Even so, the emphasis on this prophecy is “the last days.” As we get closer to the end, we can expect this to increase. This has been increasing throughout this century, and even more dramatically for the last couple of decades. This will continue to increase until all of the Lord’s sons and daughters are having visions, dreams, and are prophesying. However, this is not happening for our entertainment, but because the church is going to need this kind of guidance to accomplish her mandate at the end of the age.
Although all are not called to the office of a prophet, all can prophesy, or have prophetic dreams and visions. In fact, as we proceed toward the end of this age, we can all expect it. We must therefore become familiar with the spiritual realm, and the language of the Spirit, which is different from human language.
Equipping the Saints
In Ephesians 4:11-12 we are told that, “He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service.” Here we see that the ministries given to the church are not just called to do the ministry, but to equip the people to do the work of the ministry. The primary calling of a pastor is to equip other pastors. The primary work of an evangelist is to equip other evangelists, etc. The primary work of a New Testament prophet is to equip the whole church to know the Lord’s voice, and to prophesy. This text implies that the true measure of a New Testament ministry is not how well they can do the ministry, but how many others are being equipped through them to do the ministry.
The Corinthian church has been much maligned by theologians and teachers as being “the immature church.” This is because they had so many problems and divisions. Often, this is attributed to their devotion to spiritual gifts. If that was true, why did Paul exhort this church to “earnestly desire” them? I submit that there is probably not a church on the earth today that is as mature as the Corinthian church was then, in spite of all its problems. However, it is a spurious conclusion to think that their problems were the result of anything that the Holy Spirit had given to them. His gifts were in fact one of the answers to their problems, which is why Paul exhorted to seek them more.
In I Corinthians 13, Paul also exhorts the Corinthian church in the pursuit of love in the most eloquent and powerful discourse on love ever written. This is, without question, the main answer to most of our problems. Even so, let us read the two scriptures that this great chapter is sandwiched in between:
But earnestly desire the greater gifts. And I show you a still more excellent way (I Corinthians 12:31).
Pursue love, yet desire earnestly spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy (I Corinthians14:1)
Love is the more excellent way. It is the foundation and centerpiece of all that we do. However, love does not negate the need for spiritual gifts, but rather releases and empowers them. The Lord heals people because He loves them. He speaks to us because He loves us. When we come to abide in the Lord, He manifests His gifts through us. When you are abiding in Him to the point that He starts to heal people through you, you feel His compassion for them in a way that is not possible otherwise. The gifts of the Spirit are actually a release of His love through us.
I have heard some popular Charismatic teachers say that we should “seek the Giver, not the gifts,” but that glib sounding statement is contrary to the clear biblical exhortation to seek the gifts. Of course, we should seek the Lord Himself more than the gifts, but seeking spiritual gifts is one way that we do seek the Lord. Spiritual gifts are without question some of the most powerful ways that He can use us. The best part is simply being with the Lord, but that does not negate our calling to also be used by Him to do the work of the ministry. Those who ascend into heaven must also come down with something practical that brings heaven to earth. If we are going to accomplish our mandate in this hour we must rise above the immature and counterfeit wisdom that some of these popular clichés impart to people.
Remove the Stumbling Blocks
Until the Lord returns it is probable that even the most mature believers will still make mistakes at times. Even those with the greatest gifts and ministries will misuse them at times. However, I do not believe there is a man or woman in Scripture, excluding the Lord Jesus Himself, who did not make mistakes, and at times even become an embarrassment to the Lord. It appears that those who accomplish the most for Him make some of the worst mistakes. The Lord allows this to happen so that He can trust them with even more power and authority. He also allows this to happen so that our trust will not be in earthen vessels, but in Him.
God gives His grace to the humble, and He is a master at allowing us to do things that will keep us humble and dependent on Him for grace. Peter, Paul, and John are good examples of this. Peter, Paul, and John may have made mistakes, but they did not let their mistakes stop them. I’m sure that there were many disciples on the Day of Pentecost who were remembering that Peter had denied the Lord. How could God use him? Peter did not let what other people thought stop him. The Lord did not let what people might think of Peter stop Him from using Peter. If we are wise, we will not criticize or condemn others when they make mistakes, because how we judge them is one of the ways that we too will be judged. The Lord said that as we received even the least of His people, He counted it as how we received Him. Unrighteous judgment is probably the most common way that people disqualify themselves from walking in their own inheritance. Those who could no longer receive Peter could not be a part of the extraordinary things that the Lord was doing. Those who could not receive Paul because he persecuted the church, missed one of the great opportunities of all time to participate in the work of the Lord. This is not to imply that we do not have discernment, and call mistakes what they are. However, as we judge others, we ourselves will be judged, and many have not experienced the Lord in a very long time because of their prideful judgment of others. Those who criticize others will often look more mature to the immature, but not to the truly wise. Possessing Our Inheritance
Just as there has been unrighteous judgment in the church toward one another, we can also fall into unrighteous judgment by the way we judge ourselves after we make a mistake. This also hinders the church from walking in what she should be. Many quit after making a single mistake, often saying that they just do not want to hurt anyone. Certainly, no one wants to hurt another, but no one is given a guarantee that this won’t happen. Such a mentality only reveals an immature self-centeredness that is actually a profound pride. We will never be smart enough, or mature enough, not to need the Lord. How many people remain hurt because they are not receiving our life changing words that bring healing if we were not so afraid of making a mistake?
When we started the School of the Spirit in Charlotte, we received a mandate from the Lord to provide a place where His people could come and make mistakes and not be condemned, but rather learn from them. He gave us Proverbs 14:4: “Where no oxen are, the manger is clean, but much increase comes by the strength of the ox.” He said that if we wanted the strength of these ministries and gifts in a big way, we had better get a big shovel!
We made the decision then that any amount of ridicule or criticism was worth it for just a single gift from the Spirit to be birthed in a single person. We agreed to follow the Lord without being concerned about how foolish we looked, or what people thought of us. I consider this one of the best decisions we ever made. We have now seen thousands of people released in authentic gifts of the Spirit. It has always been interesting to me that those who made some of the worst mistakes are now being used in the greatest ways. It is also interesting to me that every time someone seems to make an embarrassing mistake, their spiritual authority goes to a new level. Why? Because every time—if they do not let their mistakes stop them—their trust will be more in the Lord, and less in themselves. Any trust that we put in ourselves is wrongly placed, and this is a very effective way that the Lord delivers us.
We were determined to provide a place where people were made heroes for making mistakes, as long as they made them while trying to step out, and had the honesty to admit them. It is also interesting that we have experienced almost none of the problems with prophetic people that others seem to be having, or at least that critics are saying they are having. In fact, after a superficial research into the supposed mistakes being made by other prophetic ministries, we have found some very serious exaggeration going on about those mistakes. We too are still making mistakes, but the way they are reported is usually very different from the way they actually happen. However, this is to be expected. The accuser will attack everything that God is doing, and the Lord will allow him to do this for the purification of His ministries and His people.
Peter made some big mistakes, but they were followed by spectacular advances for the kingdom. I am not discouraged when I hear of our mistakes or the mistakes of others. As long as we embrace them for what they were, each mistake can allow us to be trusted with even more from the Lord.
Like Israel in the wilderness, we have all made mistakes. Even so, here we are ready to cross the Jordan and start possessing some of the greatest promises that the Lord has ever given. We did not get this far by our own wisdom or ability, nor will we cross over by them. We are right now poised to experience the things that even the angels have desired to look upon. We will never possess anything because we are wise, mature, or innocent, but only because of the cross of Jesus Christ. I know that I will not ever be worthy in myself to receive anything from God, but I am still asking for all that I can get, and I am asking because of what the Lord gained for us. Like Israel, we will not stop making mistakes because we have crossed the Jordan. However, it is time that we get over our immature response to mistakes and determine that they are not going to stop us. We must realize our mistakes, repent, and keep going!
There is a door open in heaven. The Lord is inviting us to “come up here.” We are about to experience everything that is written in the Scriptures, and most of it with more frequency and to a higher degree than ever experienced before. The Lord really did save His best wine for last. Never has there been a more exciting time to know the Lord. When the voice of the Lord comes from heaven, there will be many who will just think that it thundered. We will have critics, gainsayers, and stumbling blocks with us for a time yet, but there has never been a true move of God without them. We must press on to know the Lord and to walk in all that He is opening up to us today.
This is the beginning of the true age of miracles. Get ready for the dreams, visions, and prophecy that will accompany every true move of the Spirit. These are going to a much higher level at this time, and so are we. Even so, in all things let us never forget that we can only ascend into the heavenly places upon the Son of Man, Jesus. With every new level that we ascend into the Spirit, it will always be authenticated by a greater revelation of Him.
