Seeing, Hearing, and Declaring
I. PROPHECY IS OUR INHERITANCE
A. Moses’ desire for all to prophecy was a precursor of what God would indeed do in the church.
16 So the LORD said to Moses: “Gather to Me seventy…elders of Israel… 17 …I will take of the Spirit that is
upon you and will put the same upon them… 25 Then the LORD came down in the cloud…took of the Spirit
that was upon him, and placed…upon the seventy elders…when the Spirit rested upon them…they
prophesied…26 But two men had remained in the camp…Eldad, and … Medad. And the Spirit rested upon
them. Now they were among those listed, but who had not gone out to the tabernacle; yet they prophesied
in the camp. 27 And a young man ran and told Moses…“Eldad and Medad are prophesying in the camp.”
28 So Joshua…said, “Moses my lord, forbid them!” 29 Then Moses said…“Are you zealous for my sake?
Oh, that all the LORD’s people were prophets and that the LORD would put His Spirit upon them!”
(Numbers 11:16-17; 25-29)
B. Joel prophesied that when the spirit would be poured out it would be a prophetic anointing resting on the church.
28“And it shall come to pass afterward That I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; Your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
Your old men shall dream dreams, Your young men shall see visions. 29And also on My menservants and on My
maidservants I will pour out My Spirit in those days. (Joel 2:28-29; see Acts 2:17-18)
1. Promise to pour out the Holy Spirit on all flesh – The word “all” refers not to all human beings without exception
but to all classes of human beings without distinction. This promise is spoken twice emphasizing it as an absolute reality
to occur.
2. Promise to release the spirit of prophecy – both male and female believers will prophesy. It should and will be a
normal thing for God’s children to prophesy as part of being filled with the spirit in the body of Christ—a prophetic
community.
3. Promise to give revelatory experiences – Dreams and visions will and should be a normal function of spirit filled
living. The ‘realm’ of the spirit will be opened up to all His children.
II. THE OUTPOURING—TWO REALITIES AS ONE FLOW
A. Realm of the Spirit – In Joel, we see that the outpouring was primarily prophetic in nature. When the outpouring
of the Spirit came, it opened the ‘realm of the Spirit’ to us, which would be a doorway for us to supernaturally encounter
God. The release of the Spirit was meant to give us divine access into the very existence of God and realities of the
Spirit (John 17:3; 1 Corinthians 14:24-25).
1. I believe the greatest longing in the human heart is to see God face to face. The Catholics call it the Beatific Vision;
it is where those in heaven experience the immediate presence of God—the face-to-face reality. The power of dreams,
visions, visitations, and other revelatory experiences give us mere glimpses into the Glory of God.
9… “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for
those who love Him.”(1 Corinthians 2:9)
2. The fullness of an experiential, face-to-face reality in God is our eternal destiny that we have access to right now
through the Holy Spirit; however, in this age we see in part into this eternal destiny.
12 now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.
(1 Corinthians 13:12)
3. Theophanies (God encounters) and other visionary experiences in scripture should become our gazing ground,
or doorways into where we ask the Holy Spirit to reveal and transport us to encounter these truths as a personal reality.
As we read these supernatural encounters and begin to pray for ourselves experience the same, a deep hunger is
awakened in us to see and enter into the realm of the spirit (some examples - Genesis 28:10-12; Exodus 19:18-25;
34:1-9; Judges 6:11-24; Ezekiel 1; Daniel 7, 10; Matthew 17:1-8; Revelation 1:9-20).
B. Holiness of heart –Jeremiah characterizes the outpouring of the Spirit as it relates to the interior workings of the
heart, which is to bring about holiness of heart, or obedience to God’s ways.
10For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel After those days, says the Lord: I will put My laws into their
minds, And I will write them on their hearts. And I will be their God, And they shall be My people. (Hebrews 8:10)
1. The same Spirit that allows us to taste the age to come with personal experiences of God (i.e. dreams, visions,
encounters, etc.), also desires to establish in us His very nature, so that we can become more like Him.
2. Transformation of our inner man, which is taking on the very nature of Christ, is the work that the Holy Spirit does
in us.
29For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn
among many brethren. (Romans 8:29)
III. THE HOLY SPIRIT’S MINISTRY IN REVEALING THE DEPTHS OF GOD
A. It is the Holy Spirit’s delight to reveal the being of God to us. He loves to make known His beauty and magnificence,
the pleasure of His love and tender mercy towards us in weakness, and the hope of our future; however, we must believe
that He wants to do this, of which faith is at the core when engaging God.
6But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a
rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)
B. We have no innate knowledge of God in ourselves, it is necessary that the Holy Spirit gives us revelation by way
of understanding in the word, and also other types of revelatory experiences (dreams, visions, etc.) that would only
compliment the scriptures. It is His main function as He aligns us with truth.
9… “Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, Nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those
who love Him.” 10 But God has revealed them to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep
things of God. … no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God. 12 Now we have received… the Spirit who
is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God." (1 Corinthians 2:9-13)
1. We have not even begun to understand the life of God within us, much less the eternal reality awaiting us. It
hasn’t even entered our minds at all. This amazing reality will be for us to discover forever.
2. The Holy Spirit reveals to us what God is like, our identity before Him as friends and lovers, our present
predicaments, and our future hopes. This has been freely been given to us to know—it is our inheritance to receive.
One of the ways this is revealed to us is through prophetic activity, opening our senses to the spirit realm (Daniel 7;
Revelation 4:1).
IV. THE CHURCH IS TO BE A PROPHETIC FAMILY OF AFFECTION
15No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, …
(John 15:15)
A. A new wineskin is emerging that is calling forth friends who live as a prophetic community, where all can move in
the realm of the spirit. This wineskin, in which the prophetic anointing will reach its highest measure, will flow from the
well of devotion to God. A normative life of prayer, depth in the word, fasting, and giving, will provide the context for
friendship with God and counteract an overemphasis on giftedness and platform ministry.
B. God wants to change our identity from just being ‘gifted servants’, into being intimate friends with Him. Under the
under the old covenant, God would speak His heart primarily through the prophets who were a specially chosen by Him,
whereas under the new covenant, with the outpouring of the spirit, God would give the spirit to all so that we could all hear
what is on His heart. God wants to show us what He wants to do. He loves to share with us His thoughts and actions. The
only designation to hearing His heart is to have the Holy Spirit within.
7Surely the Lord GOD does nothing (intimate partnership), Unless He reveals His secret (His thoughts) to His servants
the prophets (N.T. counterpart, the prophetic community). (Amos 3:7)
27 My sheep hear My voice (as Jesus hears the Father), and I know them, and they follow Me (as Jesus only did what
the father showed Him). (John 10:27)
V. WE WERE MEANT TO SEE, HEAR, AND DECLARE
A. Jesus is our example of how He was in perfect harmony or congruence with the Father.
19…“Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He
does, the Son also does in like manner. (John 5:19)
30I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the
will of the Father who sent Me. (John 5:30)
38For I have come down from heaven, not to do My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me. (John 6:38)
28Then Jesus said to them … that I do nothing of Myself; but as My Father taught Me, I speak these things. (John 8:28)
49For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and
what
I should speak. (John 12:49)
B. The Apostles also were men that were compelled to declare/speak by virtue of what they knew to be true based
upon what they had seen and heard.
1Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2being
greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3And they laid hands
on them, and put them in custody until the next day…13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and
perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with
Jesus.… 18So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19But Peter
and John answered and said to them…20For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”
(Acts 4:1-20)
C. Jeremiah speaks of true prophetic ministry as those who have been brought near to God and have seen and
heard, which gives them something to actually declare.
16…“Do not listen to the words of the prophets…They speak a vision of their own heart, Not from the mouth of the LORD.
17They continually say to those who despise Me, …“You shall have peace”; And to everyone who walks according to the
dictates of his own heart, they say, ‘No evil shall come upon you.’ ” 18For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, And
has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?…21“I have not sent these prophets, yet
they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied. 22But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My
people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. 23:16-22)
D. It is our joy to hear the very voice of God
29…the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice.
Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. (John 3:29)