Restraint

Proverbs 29:18 Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; But happy is he who keeps the law.


There is a reason that Revelation is the only book in the Bible with this promise:


Revelation 1:3 Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is near.


All prophetic revelation is designed with one goal in mind: to connect everyone with ears to hear to the purpose of God. To bring us into an understanding of the time we live in, and to give us vibrant spirits that agree with God in what He is doing. We were made to feed our spirits and hearts on Revelation. Revelation stokes the fire in our hearts. Where there is no revelation, we lose sight of our purpose, God's plan, and how we were made for so much more than this. All prophetic revelation has the ability to heat up the fire in our hearts.


A few times I have received personal prophecy. When someone I don't know tells me things that are secretly true about me, and then offers me even a small glimpse of what is possible for me in the future, it is VERY exciting. My mind will dance on those words for days...I feel like God knows me and has His eye on me in a fresh and alive way. He always knows and me and constantly keeps me in His gaze, but when I become aware of it, something in my heart changes, and I become way less distracted with everyday "stuff." This is how it is supposed to work! Prophecy isn't Christian fortune telling. Prophecy is an invitation by God to connect with His plan for my life. It is a powerful reminder that there is way more than currently meets the eye to my life's purpose.


Personal prophecy is important, that is why Paul said:


I Thessalonians 5:19-22 Do not quench the Spirit. Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.


Paul gave this warning because He knew the importance of prophecy in keeping our hearts vibrantly connected to God's purposes. Without a clear direction shepherding the direction of our lives, like sheep, we get distracted. Personal prophecy helps with this, but there is something even more powerful than personal prophecy, if we will have eyes to see it and ears to hear it: The Revelation of Jesus Christ.


The book of Revelation is actually DESIGNED to ignite our hearts, keep us burning, and connect us with the vision God has for the Church. This IS why it is so neglected. Satan attacks the teaching of this book like no other. This book will light you on fire for Jesus if you can start to grasp what it really says. The intensity of the real it describes demands a response. If you have ever studied Revelation, you know what I mean. It is hard to spend a little time with this book and not walk out of the room feeling engaged with what God is doing in your life, the Church, and the world.


We are supposed to feel this way when studying Revelation. Revelation is the culmination...the final fulfilling of all prophecy...Revelation is the most complete written statement of what is on Jesus' mind for THIS hour, which started in Acts 2 and is reaching a full boil now. Jesus has a fire to set in the days this book takes place, and oh, how He is ready to light it up:


Luke 12:49 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!


This is a prophetic statement that is fully realized in the last 7 years of natural history. Prophecy brings the supernatural insight to natural earth. Someday, when we live on earth in a supernatural way with Jesus, prophecy will no longer be necessary:


I Corinthians 13:8-10, 12 Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. For 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.


But, for now we are supposed to know, at least in part! "Knowing"...revelation...having Jesus shed light on what is happening gives us vibrancy for obedience. Without knowing at least in part, the people cast off restraint...their spirit dulls. An absence of revelation leads to a wandering through life. More revelation leads to more vibrancy...more focus...more meaning...a vision of our lives that agrees with God's vision of our lives. I want to be alive and vibrantly on fire for what God is doing.


To be honest, over the last couple of years I have become fascinated with Jesus and His brilliant plans, and the things of this world are growing strangely dim...this is how it is supposed to work.


Most of the first apostles and disciples died going after what Jesus told them to do. Martyrdom was the end of many of them, not mention jail, beatings, persecution of all sorts...that they mostly endured joyfully. They BELIEVED they were living in the last days. Paul, Peter, James, Jude, John...all these men wrote about this. We have their plain words about it in the Bible. Not one of them said "we will wait and see." No! They said "these are the last days!"


When the Holy Spirit came upon the 120 in the upper room on the day of Pentecost, Peter wore his heart right on His sleeve and declared "this is the end" when he told everyone that Joel 2:28-32 had arrived. He was not wrong. What started in Acts 2 is being brought to completion right now.


After John had written his gospel and first John, where he said:


I John 2:18 Little children, it is the last hour; and as you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many antichrists have come, by which we know that it is the last hour.


He received divine revelation from Jesus, which he recorded as "the Revelation of Jesus Christ." Jesus didn't correct John and say "buddy, you are a little ahead of schedule!" No! Jesus said, "John, write down all these things that must take place shortly." Those men and women in the upper room poured their lives out because they knew their purpose in Jesus' plan to take back everything that is His.


If Jesus said they weren't wrong about the time, what would Jesus say to us? The events He described are all happening simultaneously for the first time since the words of Matthew 24 and Revelation were written. All of creation has longed to see the days we live in, yet the truth is that this generation mostly sleeps, hoping "it will all work out." This is COMPLETELY in disagreement with everything the New Testament teaches. It will all work out, but how will it work out for those with no revelation?


Reading and teaching the words of Revelation are designed to wake up the Church, set her on fire, give her vision that puts on restraint, and sets her in motion to have a lamp full of oil that will burn through the long night of Jesus' arrival! Intense times are ahead. These days call for an intense preparation of our hearts. Knowing what Jesus says must take place shortly.


This is what Paul said to BELIEVERS:


Romans 13:11-14 And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.

Ephesians 5:14 for the light (revelation) makes everything visible. This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”