As we have discussed, after the Fall, the first one about whom it was said that walked with God was Enoch. We are told in Jude 14 that Enoch prophesied, and a good case can be made that everyone who truly walks with God prophesies. This does not necessarily mean predicting the future, but simply speaking for God. However, many do not even recognize when they are being used in this way—not that this is essential, but we might be used more if we could recognize it.
To become sensitive to when the Lord is speaking, to us or through us, we must not just be listening for the words of the Lord, but for the Word Himself. As we have covered, in John 10 the Lord said that His sheep know His voice, and they follow Him because they know His voice—not just His words. Knowing His voice comes from knowing Him and being with Him. We need to be reminded often of this because without knowing Him, nothing else will benefit us.
Knowing His voice will become the most valuable knowledge one can possess in the coming times. Those who know the voice of the Lord will soon be the most sought after people in the times to come, and they will be the leaders of the church at the end of this age. The greatest of all leaders have always been those who followed the Lord the closest, and as He Himself said, those are the ones who know His voice.
We also have the remarkable Scripture in Revelation 3:20, “Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me.” We are told in this text that the Lord is standing outside of the door of His own church, knocking to see if anyone will open to Him. This is a most amazing revelation—that the Lord would actually remain outside of His own church unless He was invited in! As we also see in this text, it was not those who heard His knock who let Him in, but those who heard His voice. In this age, Jesus will not come where He is not wanted. He must be invited into our churches, our homes, our businesses, and our lives!
He must be invited into our country. The United States was born as a nation by leaders who not only invited Him in, but who repeatedly stated that no democracy could last long without the fear of God and the devotion to His Scriptures. Many of our history books have been revised to imply that most of the founding fathers were either agnostics or Universalists, but this is not found in their writings. However, over the last half century America has basically asked God to leave—determining to remove the reminders of His grace in our history and even the mention of Him in our public places. Most of this was done by a tiny fraction of the population, while the overwhelming majority, who claimed to be Christians, did nothing. The results of His departure are growing more striking every day. The Great Commission is to make disciples, not just converts, and of the nations, not just individuals. Are we going to let one of the greatest disciple nations in history fall away without doing anything?
Of course, this backsliding of a nation could not have happened if the church had not backslidden or fallen into a lukewarm state. Lukewarmness is the worst state that a believer, or a church, could ever fall into because it is actually indifference, and that is one of the most insulting states a relationship could ever enter into. As the Lord Himself said to this church, it would be better for them to be hot or cold than to be lukewarm, but because they were lukewarm, He would actually vomit them out (see Revelation 3:14-16). They had fallen into this terrible state because they were so rich in natural blessings. Has that happened to us?
Throughout the Scriptures and history, it has been prophetic voices who were raised up to speak for God and awakened God’s people, and/or turned them from their evil ways. The whole world is desperate for such voices today.
An awakening is happening in the church of America. Christians who resolve to join with others that are oriented to action are growing in numbers so fast that The Tea Party is now bigger than the Democratic or Republican Parties. It is led and populated mostly by Christians. The Oak Initiative, which I was a part of founding, now has members not only all over the U.S., but from many other countries. This is happening so fast that some Christian leaders are already declaring that we are in the first stages of another Great Awakening in America. Be a part of this. We must be engaged in the important issues of our times if we are going to be the salt and light we are called to be.
For information on The Oak Initiative, please check out our website at www.theoakinitiative.org. It is important to join together with other likeminded people to “stimulate one another to love and good deeds” (see Hebrews 10:24). However, the main thing is to get closer to the Lord and to determine that we are not only going to know His voice better, but we are going to obey Him better as well.
NOTE: If you are interested in a much more in-depth study of knowing the voice of the Lord, or the prophetic ministry and gifts of the Spirit, we have an abundance of resources on these subjects. For a free catalog that can be emailed or mailed to you, just email us at info@morningstarministries.org or call our toll free number, 1-800-542-0278 with your request.
