BUILDING WITH THE PROPHETIC
Curtis Forbes, Founder and President of:
Proton Ministries International
You cannot build with
teaching; you can only build upon teaching. You must build with the
prophetic, which is directly connected to the revelatory realm, or better known
as “the spirit of wisdom and revelation”
as stated in Eph 1:17
“That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him”…
The overall purpose of the prophetic is to “discern” the Lord Himself, the very likeness, nature, and essence of who He is, in direct relation to His entire creation. Take into consideration the awesome example of all the apostles who wrote the New Testament, especially the Apostle Paul as he stated in Eph 3:3, “How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery” … the Apostle Paul uses the term by revelation and similar terms several times.
The Greek word here is apokalupsis #602 in the Greek N.T. which denotes a very direct, intimate, intense, relationship between the person being revealed, which is Jesus, and the person to whom He is being revealed; which in this case it is the Apostle Paul. The word apokalupsis or “revelation” is not just an unveiling, disclosure, uncovering, or revealing, it also includes the interpretation of the same, the instant impartation of understanding. Very rarely is this a complete understanding, but it is always at least a functional knowledge and understanding.
When Paul used the word “revelation” I do not think he was just talking about either Logos alone or Rhema. Alone, (Logos: #3056 in N.T. Greek: a larger, more encompassing intelligible discourse, as in the entire word of God as a whole, Rhema: # 4487 in N.T. Greek: a word spoken or uttered, denoting more of an operative or all powerful word or command of God). They are both written, and they are both spoken! apokalupsis or “Revelation” is a simultaneous release and impartation of understanding involving both Logos and Rhema!! Hallelujah!!! In the New Testament the Apostle Paul was without a doubt the most prolific biblical teacher and writer, responsible for one third of the New Testament and even though his teachings were very revolutionary, they were all based upon previous revelatory truths in the Old Testament meanwhile he was hearing and receiving a new divine understanding and a new application after Jesus fulfilled the law, incorporating both Logos and Rhema building a powerful progression and a solid foundation of truth.
True “didaskō” 1 Cor. 12:28) teaching should be the fruit or result of the prophetic, even with N.T. apostles. True teaching should always provide an awesome foundation of steady progression after being forged by the prophetic. True, solid, teaching always builds revelation upon revelation creating a powerful, organic or natural progression; this is the pattern all the way through the word of God.
The Lord always releases His word prophetically, but then we still must see, hear, discern from the Lord how to administer, distribute, or teach that word. Prime example: Moses received the law prophetically, then he still distributed or “taught” the word of the Lord to the children of Israel directly after the “pattern which he saw in heaven”, this was not just another method of teaching … it was directly after the pattern! Now we are talking about “principle” not just a “method” .
If teaching does not first come from the prophetic it will always end up “methodical” or based upon “methods” and not the very essence of the Lord Himself ...over emphasis on methods will absolutely circumvent and choke out the prophetic, which is exactly what the spirit of religion wants. Again, another prime example; in the span of time from when the law was given - until Jesus Christ, the law became literally thousands of rules and regulations that had nothing whatsoever to do with the nature or likeness of God and they had almost completely lost the precious experiential knowledge of the very essence of God.
This snare and entrapment of methods are some of the very best friends of tradition and religion; you must understand that the spirit of religion is the absolute antecedent of the spirit of revelation mentioned in Eph 1:17. We must understand that the character of God, the person of God, the word of God, and the motives of God never change … but His methods always change.
This is very evident all the way through the word of God. The scene in the Garden of Eden changed, and then there was a span of time before the law, of course that changed when the Lord gave the law, then obviously that changed when His Son Jesus came and fulfilled the law then died for us on the cross! These are just the major and most obvious changes. We could very possibly look at dozens and dozens of different examples concerning this principle.
God has always used various methods, but they always change, this is why we cannot build with teaching or get locked into one particular method or another. The spirit of revelation can protect us from this trap. If the enemy could keep the Church hung up on methods, (which he has done a great job so far) then he can always keep the church, the body of Christ in a perpetual state of confusion, strife, envy, and division. In James 3:16 it says: “for where envying and strife is, there is confusion and every evil work”.
This seems to be the “method” of the enemy - to get us locked into and focused on one particular method or another when the methods of God are ever changing, then we fight against each other because “your methods (or teachings) are different than my methods”. This trickery of the enemy reminds me of the doctrine of Balaam who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block of sin before the children of Israel so they would defile themselves and ultimately cause a blockage to the blessing and favor of God.
This is a brutally vicious, repetitious cycle that can only be broken and corrected by the spirit of revelation. Not to be redundant, but methods are not always bad, God has always used different methods, but we must understand – they always change – We will see how this word “method” is used as a trap and snare in a couple of different scriptures.
Eph. 6:11 Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the ‘wiles” (#3180 “methodia” method, snare, trap, trickery, deceit…) of the devil. Also in Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive (# 3180 methodia) the actual translation here is: “whereby they lie in wait for the circumvention of deception”
This becomes a major problem if we are bent toward or focused on teaching instead of the prophetic, or the spirit of revelation, where by His grace we are able to discern “The Revelation of Jesus Christ” which is only the first step, in a 5 – fold progression of revelation. (1) The revelation of Jesus Christ, which leads us into: (2) the revelation of Gods purpose for man, which leads us into: (3) the revelation of the kingdom of God, which leads us into: (4) the revelation of the Church, which leads us into: (5) the revelation of Gods purpose for the nations.
In the New Testament, if we do not receive our teachings after our pattern - which is Jesus Christ – you will not have a true progression of revelation, you will only find a vacillation (1.to sway from one side to the other; to oscillate. 2. to swing indecisively from one course of action or opinion to another; to waver; to be irresolute); which ultimately leads to a double minded man who is unstable in all his ways - James 1:8.
All truth – revelation – always builds a steady natural, organic, progression. The further teaching gets away from truth – revelation – it will result in a synthetic, fabricated, manufactured, process of manipulation and control which will always inevitably produce vacillation, instability, and major frustration, not being able to receive anything from the Lord. The foul spirit of Religion absolutely loves this scenario, robbing God of the good pleasures of His goodness in blessing man, also robbing man of the very promises of God like this one found in John 15:15 … but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
As well as John 14:21 : He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest (show, reveal) myself to him.
The very heartbeat of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is to communicate and reveal truth into the very deepest regions of our heart eradicating bondage and darkness within seconds … things which took the enemy a lifetime of twisting and perverting to accomplish. Truth and revelation are without a doubt the very deadliest of enemies to satan and all the hoards of hell.
Karl Marx, the German philosopher and co-writer of “The Communist Manifesto” made a very radical statement in the 1800’s that “religion is the very opiate of the people” wow! Was he ever right!!! In other words, having a religious mindset is a lot like sitting around smoking dope all day, it does nothing more than stupefy and totally corrupt the human mind, but The Revelation of Jesus Christ will absolutely galvanize you, protecting you from corruption, from the spirit of religion, which is nothing but a deadly cancer to the body of Christ.
Hopefully now you see a little better and are able to understand why the enemy does not want anyone to be filled with the Holy Spirit, pray in tongues, to actively communicate with the Lord and receive revelation from Him and understand the word of God! To progress organically and naturally, building revelation upon revelation, in direct relationship with Jesus Christ. Producing fruit and then reproducing even more fruit. Not synthetic or manufactured methods which causes people to become sterile, unproductive, fragmented and unstable..
Curtis Forbes