Hearing From Heaven： Getting Orders From Headquarters — Shane Idleman

Hearing From Heaven Through Scripture

It's going up, I'm hoping, hearing from Heaven. And what I'm going to do, I just want to read Revelation 10 for you. And if you have your Bibles, we want to hopefully get back in the habit of bringing our Bibles, having it open, highlighting what God is speaking to you, because a lot of times what He speaks to you won't come back later.

That's why I have a notepad next to my bed. Because if I think of something, I've got to write it down. I've learned over the years not to say, well, in the morning I'll write that down. Because I get up, I'm like, what was that?

So bring your Bibles. Phone Bible doesn't count. It does, it does. But here's what happens. You know, because I do it. I was at a church in Anaheim last Sunday. Me and Morgan went to a church, and then here comes text messages, Instagram, Twitter, and you're like, oh, what's that?

It gets so distracting. So if you can just only have the Bible app, then you are good to go. But if you get text messages and emails at the same time, it's counterproductive. Just saying. Revelation 10, it's about the mighty angel with the little book, and John, who wrote Revelation, actually eats the little book.

I have to tell you. I'm looking at commentaries, and I'm like, Lord, we need some help here. Because Ellicott's commentary, the pulpit commentary, what does Spurgeon say about this? What did Matthew Henry say about this?

It's like, there's so much speculation, but God, we need food. We have marriages falling apart. We've got people struggling, and we need to hear from heaven. So what I did is took, instead of going verse by verse and different commentaries, and well, it could mean this, it could mean this, it could mean this, I'm gonna take it and also go topical on how we can hear from heaven and gleam some principles and some points from this.

It says here in Revelation 10, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was on his head. His face was like the sun, and his feet were like pillars of fire.

He had a little book open in his hand, and he sat on his right foot on the sea and on his left foot on the land. So he has this picture of this angel. You're not gonna probably see it up there, unless you can keep up.

That's pretty good if you can. But so we have this vision of this angel separating the sea from the land, and he cries out like a lion roars. And when he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices.

Now when the seven thunders uttered their voices, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven. That's where this comes from. I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, seal up the things which the seven thunders uttered and do not write them.

Then the angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it, the earth and the things that are in it, the sea and the things that are in it, that there should be no delay any longer.

But in the days of the sounding of the seven angels, when he is about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished as he declared to his servants, the prophets. Let's stop there for a minute. Let's go back to verse one.

Interpreting Revelation Through Old Testament Themes

Anybody would like to unpack all that? Take a shot at it. There's so many different views. And of course, your view is going to be not skewed, but it's going to be interpreted by your book, your view of revelation, preterist, partial preterist, all millennial, dispensational, post-millennial, pre-millennial, all of your view of eschatology or who you've been following really, right?

The teachers who we follow really influence us. And you're going to look at this a little bit differently. And because we don't know exactly what this means, I'm not going to come up here and say, oh, this is exactly how it's going to pan out.

This is how it's going to play out. But I believe we can pull important principles from here, especially in the opening verses, verse one, I saw still another mighty angel coming down from heaven. So John sees this mighty angel coming down from heaven clothed with a cloud.

Often clouds are signs of God's judgment because in order to really understand revelation, you've got to understand the Old Testament. I think John had a pretty good idea of the Old Testament as he's writing revelation.

And so clothed with a cloud could be a sign of impending judgment. God's judgment. And a rainbow was on his head. See, we got to take back the rainbow sometimes. We got to take back the rainbow. It's a sign of God saying, I will no longer judge the world.

Yet those under the judgment and condemnation of God flaunt it and they call it pride. The very thing that caused the rainbow, it's like they've got everything mixed up. It's a sign of God not judging the world.

Yet in our pride, we shake our fists at God. Take back the rainbow. It's a place, it's something that God gave us. Not to mock Him, but to be thankful for what He has done. And so this angel, his face was like the sun and his feet were like pillars of fire.

That's powerful because I didn't want to forget, I wanted to encourage you, listen to Jim Garlow's message on heaven from November 5th. So if you were not here, listen to that. Go back and listen to that and get an idea, a glimpse of what heaven will be like.

And wasn't that so encouraging too? 32 people or more came forward, gave their hearts, their lives to the Lord. The different speakers have different ways of doing things. And I've been praying about this since yesterday.

The Purpose and Risks of Altar Calls

I think it's important to share with you because people have asked me, and it's a good question, in regard to altar calls, why don't we do them? Jim did, that was very powerful. And it was kind of a setup.

I knew he'd be speaking on heaven and he asked and I said, absolutely. Because we want to throw that out there. But I want to give you, I think it's important to give West Side Christian Fellowship a glimpse into what God is doing.

So when I first began, first began, 2001, 2002, you'll never guess where I spoke. It was a Wednesday, I'll never be invited there again, but Wednesday night, a Wednesday night at the vineyard. Just let that sink in.

And I gave the call and 25 of the room responded. Oh man, I'm doing pretty good. Right, pride comes up. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I would preach.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, come forward, thank you, thank you. And God really began to deal with me. An older man came up and he said, you know, you don't need to say thank you. You're not doing anything and they don't need to thank them.

And I started to rate success by how many people would come forward or raise their hand. Man, God really moved. Wow, look at this, look at this. Unbelievable. And God would deal with me. Would you still do that even if you didn't even know?

Would you still preach your heart out? So a lot of people wrongly judge me for not doing that, not knowing what God has done in my heart. Because it can be an area of pride. There's nothing wrong with it.

Is it biblical? Absolutely. Is there a biblical model that says we have to do it that way? Not at all. I've worked at Greg Laurie's conferences down in the field of Anaheim. Many of you don't know. And I would see people come forward.

And what are you doing? My friend told me, come forward and get a Bible. So I also saw that, and they will rightly tell you, Billy Graham Crusade, Greg Laurie, they will tell you that not everyone is converted.

The numbers are not what they, just because a certain amount walk forward. And so it was a process. And I would also find, you know, when I would go and travel and speak, and it became about, man, Lord, nobody really came forward.

And you'll find people starting to say, well, I know there's people here. You're just, you're not stepping out in faith, or God's not moving. And it can become kind of dangerous if you're not careful.

Now Calvinists will love that we don't give out altar calls because they don't believe in those. Armenians will wonder why we don't do them all the time. Right? It's, again, your view on how God saves an election and soteriology and things like that.

But that's how God has dealt with me in the past. And you don't know it. Maybe we tell you sometimes we don't, but a lot of people, every Sunday, we hear from people texting us, hey, this person came to faith in Christ.

This person came to faith in Christ. This person... So it happens all the time. Now, is it incredible to see? I've talked to Yvette about this. Many of you know Yvette and Ron, and we'd love to see it.

It's incredible. But that's where we're at as a church. I just want to make sure we're not letting pride come in and look at what I've done when I spoke versus I have no clue what God is doing. We're going to throw the invitation out there.

We're going to throw the call to repentance. And I don't think it hinders salvation. I truly don't. I don't think it hinders salvation. We have this, hey, if you need to accept Christ, we need to talk to you in the prayer room.

We want to pray with you. You need to get baptized. You know, and so it's one way of doing things. And it's a good way of doing things. Maybe God will prompt me sometime to do it. And so that's why I was so excited that Jim did that because you can actually see, you can see what God is.

So that to me was a picture of what God is doing often that you just don't see. And I don't see. 32 people on a Sunday. Did I get jealous? No, actually, believe it or not, I didn't. I was so happy. So I'm like, oh, Lord, I know what's going on behind the scenes.

Not that many every Sunday. I'm pretty sure of that. Because when you, and I knew when he talks about heaven, when you talk about eternity, when his mom was given that near-death experience, when souls are on the line and you're thinking about where you're going to spend it, that's powerful.

That's gonna move the hearts. That's gonna lead people to salvation. So in a nutshell, I thought it was important to explain to you because people were asking me, well, why don't we do that? Why don't you do altar calls?

And I hope you only knew. And it became a way to rate pastors and preachers. Now, Pastor Shane spoke. 25 of the room raised their hand. They came forward, but the whole place was full. Why is that not happening in my ministry?

Or why can't I? And see how it becomes more of our works and thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. Versus what is God doing behind the scenes? Now, does that mean it's right?

I can't say that. I think God gives us a lot of different ways of doing it. As long as the gospel is preached, and like Peter, you throw it out there, it's really, it can also be, I mean, I could talk about this for a while, the flip side is, and I've talked to people that are not saved.

And they'll say, but I came forward at a crusade. I walked forward and I said the prayer. I walked forward and I said the sinner's prayer. Isn't that, now, aren't I saved? Not necessarily. Not necessarily did you repent of your sin, confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, and cry out to God to save me.

Because just going through the motions, saying something, there's nothing wrong with the sinner's prayer. I've seen videos that mock it. And I've seen people rely on it too much. Yeah, I've seen people where it's like, can you say that, oh, I'm not sure if I'm ready.

Okay, well, just squeeze my hand if you agree with me then. Well, no, wait a minute, you can't do that. That's sneaky. Because they're wanting to get numbers. That's another thing. I would see people, and I'm not gonna mention the denomination, where they'd have to send in a report every month.

How many salvations? How many baptisms? And you don't think those numbers were doctored? I know for a fact they were. And so I just think, I just wash my hands of it. Say, Lord, you know, you'll save.

We'll do baptisms. And maybe we'll do that from time to time. I think it's great. I think at Grace Fest and different guest speakers, maybe I'll be prompted to do it sometime. But that's the story, that's the history behind the altar call.

It actually started, I believe, in the 1700s. It was initially called the Mourner's Bench. And people like, gosh, I think it started with Wesley, John Wesley probably, the Mourner's Bench, where at the Methodist movement, they would preach and the Whitfields and the Wesleys, I don't know if Whitfield did it, but they would say, okay, here's a Mourner's Bench.

And for those who are concerned about your soul, sit there and let us know. And then it turned into the altar call and people like Mordecai Ham. You don't hear that name much, but do you know that that's who Billy Graham, when he walked down the sawdust trail, they would put sawdust down in the old tent revivals.

I love those old tent revivals. I'm reading about it. Mordecai Ham was preaching and Billy Graham walked down the sawdust trail. And so the altar call has a strong history there. And again, there's nothing wrong with it.

I think it's great if you do it right. But it's not something you have to do. And if you're not doing it, you're outside of God's will because the Bible doesn't actually promote that. It doesn't give any examples.

When Peter preached the 3 ,000, what must we do to be saved? Repent and believe. Now, could he have said, and those who did come forward, maybe, we don't know, the Bible doesn't say. So, gave you a snapshot of what we believe, the altar call, when we do it, why we don't do it sometimes.

And that's my six minute version. All right? So make sure you see that message. Hope that was helpful, because I'm even wondering, I wonder if people probably think, why don't you do that? You have 32 people, but they're not, you know me, 12 people came forward.

15 people came forward. 10 people came forward. And really, are they saved? God knows. And it's wonderful. But I wanna encourage them, if you're hearing this or you know somebody who did come forward, get baptized.

Get baptized. I brought clothes. We have clothes every Sunday. First service, second service. And we've had baptisms, as you know, every Sunday. Salvation's every Sunday, as far back as I can remember.

I mean, I'm not talking years, but I mean, months and months and months. Raquel prays with somebody. Lori prays with somebody. Morgan prays with somebody. Morgan's, you guys don't even, I should toot her horn sometimes, because she is doing amazing things, talking to the younger women and leading people to salvation.

I pray with people. Pastor Abram does, and Tim and Amy and Joe. People are coming to salvation, because we ask them, well, we can pray for you, but do you know Jesus? Well, I'm considering it. I'm thinking about it.

Well, let's begin there. And I like that approach better, because we can talk to them. We can lead them. We can tell them what it really means and what their decision is going to lead to. So that was a long rabbit trail.

Hearing God's Voice Through the Word

Let's get back on track. So this descriptive picture gives us a glimpse of God's awesomeness. It gives us a glimpse of God's awesomeness. And he had a little book in his hand. Now, what does this mean?

Well, I can tell you 40 different opinions, but let's keep reading. So the angel had this little book in his hand, and he set his right foot on the sea and his left foot on the land. And he cried with a loud voice, as when a lion roars.

Wouldn't this be incredible to see? And he cried out. When he cried out, seven thunders uttered their voices. Again, that number seven is of completion. And they uttered their voices. And I was about to write.

John was about to write. But I heard a voice from heaven saying, no, no, no, don't write it. Don't write it. Seal it up. Now, what we don't know is, is he releasing things later in Revelation that we'll read about?

Things that have been sealed up, but now we know, because John was able to release them later as we go through Revelation, you'll see. And this voice said, hey, God shared things with you. I didn't even write this note down, but I'm thinking of it right now.

Sometimes when God shares something with you, but don't share it with everyone else. Sometimes you gotta be like Mary. And she pondered these things in her heart. What about Nehemiah? And he pondered these things in his heart.

I know we can get excited about what God is doing in our heart and in our lives. We want to tell others, but be careful because there's a lot of dream killers out there. I'm very careful who I share my stuff with nowadays.

They will kill your dream. I don't know about that. That's where I get the word negative Nelly from. And downer Debbie. Negative Nick for the men. You haven't met the dream killers yet? Aubrey, you know, right?

Young adults. When you start to share what God's, oh, I don't know, that's pretty expensive. I don't know. I don't know if you're designed that way. I might share it sometime. But it's kind of funny, but we did a 10 year anniversary video.

And my mom was actually in it. And it was actually before she passed away. And we were able to share it. She says, when Shane became a pastor, I was worried for a little while. You know, because, I don't know, he was kind of, you know, came from the school of hard knocks.

And a tough dad and just toughness and hardness and you know, type A, fight, fight, fight. And she never killed the dream. She encouraged them, but others did. Others did. Oh, I don't know. You have to go to school for that.

I heard that a lot. You have to go to school. I don't think you're called, you didn't go to seminary. Do you have a chapter and verse? I mean, I have one that says, when they saw that they were untrained and unlearned men, they knew that they had spent time with Jesus.

I don't need a master's degree. I want a degree from the master. I want to hear from God. I want to hear, be led of the Holy Spirit. Now the critics will say, well, you can't just hear voices and do it.

No, of course you need sound doctrine. You need teaching. You need to go through systematic theology. Of course you need that. But at the end of the day, what is God saying to you? How is God speaking to you through His Word?

Grounded in Scripture, of course. The dream killers. I still remember it today, a church in Lancaster. When we first started our church, people were coming and then they would stop coming and they said, well, this church said that you're not a real church because you didn't go to seminary.

Well, what's a real church? Ironically, we have more people coming here now than they do. God has a sense of humor, doesn't He? You've got to be open to His will because He will confuse you sometimes.

A friend of mine I know, it's actually they're starting a church today in Quartz Hill. And I'm like, Lord, really? I've been praying for my hometown and started something for 13 years. Really? He's got a sense of humor.

I'm telling you, God is not concerned with what you want. You have to submit to what He needs and what He wants to do. Are you okay with the rabbit trails? Okay, watch out for the dream killers. Be careful who you look to for counsel.

Be careful who you look to for counsel. And so he heard this voice that said, seal up these things. What is a little book? Well, a book, obviously, something important to transmit information. We know that much about this little book.

It is something important to transmit information. And I thought of something as I was putting these notes together. You can't hear from heaven if you don't read what heaven wrote. Some of you need to get back to burying your face in the Word of God.

That is the only solid truth that we can anchor our lives to. His Word is like a burning fire in my heart. Get in that Word. Then you'll know what heaven is speaking to you. I don't know what God is doing.

I don't know what to do. Are you buried in His Word? Look to those principles. Look to the Word of God and God's Word alone. Let it direct you. My Word is like a fire. It's like a sword. It will devour, it will cut, it will lead, it will direct, it will come alive, and it will guide you.

It is a lamp unto my feet and a light unto my path. Look to it. Get back into the Word of God. Get direction from God's Word and His Word alone. But I don't know if you follow Mike Winger at all. On YouTube, he's got a great channel.

He said, Bible study isn't done until you apply it. I second that. I second that. So many people know the Scripture, but they live in deception because they're not applying it. Apply it to your life. Now I have some encouragement.

Many of us would say, Shane, I'm trying. I've fallen. Thank God God doesn't judge you on perfection. He judges you on direction. Getting back up and falling forward. That's why you need to go back and listen to Wednesday's message from Bishop George on God can use anyone.

Even the leper. The leper that came to Jesus. He said, Lord, if you are willing, if you are willing, will you cleanse me? Somebody that they would have nothing to do with was an outcast. Used of God? Are you kidding me?

A leper wasn't gonna be used by anyone. They would be cast out to die. And Jesus said, I am willing. I am willing. Well, what do I need to do? You just need to turn. You need to turn to Him completely and unashamedly and unconditionally.

Now, can you do that perfectly? No, I'm still trying. I'm still blind sometimes walking through the darkness, but God is there to hold your hand and to direct you and to get you back up and on solid footing.

Hearing God Amid Spiritual Dullness

Ellicott in his commentary, it's one of the commentaries I use. He said, dull ears. Dull ears there are who hear the thunder, but never hear God's voice. Isn't that so true? Dull are the ears who hear the thunder, but they never hear God's voice.

Dull are the ears. Look at what's going on in the world. Look at what's going on in our nation. And they still won't turn back to God. It's just like the twilight zone. Unbelievable the lies and the manipulation that we put up with.

Thank God the new Speaker of the House will be releasing some video footage. Ah, don't get political. Oh, geez. Give me a break. If it doesn't come from the pulpit, where's it gonna come from? Dim eyes there are which see no trace of the divine craftsman in all of nature.

The thunders are not to be written down, they are for those who have ears to hear. You can't write down thunder. I remember George Whitefield was preaching, it's in his journal, and the newspaper wanted to record his sermons.

And he goes, okay, here's the note, but you're not gonna be able to write down the thunder. When the fire fell and the thunder of God's Word came across, the people would be touched and changed. And it's hard to convey the work of the Spirit.

Sometimes I talk to you about the deeper things, right? The filling of the Holy Spirit. And when God comes and just the atmosphere is thick with God's presence, and all these things that make conservatives uncomfortable, they're biblical, but it's hard to explain those things unless you experience them.

How many people, they talk about Acts 2, but oh my goodness, if they were there when the Spirit came upon them. Sometimes we get so nervous about the Holy Spirit that we're not open for the deep work.

And that great theologian, Megan Rapinoe, it's in the news this week, the soccer star, she hurt her Achilles heel and now she's out. She said, this proves there is no God. I would say it actually proves there is.

To wake you up. To wake you up. The things we come up with to prove there is no God, it is pride, it is pride, it is pride. To shake our fists at God when we see the thundering, we see the chaos, we see the confusion.

We see clearly the creation of a Creator. Wouldn't common sense just tell you to look around and say, hey, you know what, I might wanna find out who did all this? Who did all this? Mount Everest to Tioga Pass to Yosemite to the Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River.

Feel some John Denver coming up in me. Isn't that funny? We would go camping and my mom would take that eight track tape, you guys don't know what eight track was, you know? Big, thick, eight track, it's like this big and you would take it out and we would, but those times, my mom and dad and fishing and hunting and camping and you remember, it's like, oh, you know, the memory is so powerful and influence is so powerful.

Influence, what you listen to and who you listen to is so important. Have you guys seen that thing that's going viral with especially young adults on TikTok, how they're actually praising Osama Bin Laden and they're reading his letter and they're like, people are like, what's going on?

Influence, influence, influence. They've been taught that America's evil and deserved it by liberal professors who are godless and perverted. Hey, I'm calling it out. I have to go home and answer to God, not people.

Discerning God's Voice and Timing

This is an important point. John said, I was about to write, but I heard a voice from heaven. I heard a voice from heaven saying, do not write anything down. So let's stop here for a minute. Hearing God's voice prevents many mistakes because even a good thing isn't always a God thing.

Amen? I've told our leadership team and at staff meetings, hey, that's a good idea, but is it a God idea? Because that's going to be pretty exhausting. Because guess who it always falls back on? Let's do this, let's do this, let's do this.

Or you, right? Good thing, but is it a God thing? Right, Carrie? We can relate to that this week. We're like, it's a good thing to have children's ministry Christmas Eve, but is it a God thing? Because nobody wants to help.

They want their kids in the service. So let's have the kids in the service, right? So good thing, God thing. Remember that. Seek God to find out, is He truly leading you? Because you can get too busy.

I was about to write. This is so, John was about ready to write something in the Bible, but God stopped him because he heard from heaven. See, I'm convinced that God will speak if you listen. The problem is, many times we don't listen.

How many of us can relate? I was about to move. I was about to marry. Ooh, let's bring this home. I was about to invest. I was about to buy. I was about to send that text. I was about to do something, but I heard from heaven.

Not only will God direct, but there are also warning signs, warning signals. Beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep, beep. Do you ever know when you're ignoring the voice of God? You're being prompting to the Holy Spirit.

One good indication is the heart rate. I know I shouldn't do this, but ding, ding, ding, ding, ding, that inner alarm clock, and it's not very always loud, is it? You've got to hear that still small voice of the Spirit.

He said, "'Sill up these things which the seven thunders uttered, and do not write them yet.'". I put in yet, of course, but obviously, He's hopefully going to expound upon them at some point, or maybe they were just for John.

But another key of hearing from heaven and getting orders from headquarters is timing, timing, timing when it comes to God. How many people know something about or have been in real estate? Not too many.

Lending. Buying a home. So in real estate, they say location, location, location. I remember back in the day when I was in real estate, believe it or not. Should tell you guys my story sometime. It's funny what God has a sense of humor.

But I got a call from Rosemond in 2010. Marco wasn't too good, was it? So I've got a house in Rosemond, okay, I'll come out there. I want about 500 ,000 for it. I'm like, oh, I don't think that's going to happen.

You're not even close. Okay, well, I think we can get up there. I'm like, okay, well, boy, oh, boy, oh, boy. I don't know, this isn't going to be worth it, right? Because, I mean, back then, short sales, things, you know, 130 ,000, 140 ,000.

It was in Rosemond too, and even out here. I drive by tracks where they're 150 ,000, now 500. It's just absolutely amazing. Be prepared. I don't know what's going on, but there's a lot of, you know, wish I could go into detail.

Maybe we'll have David Thies give a message sometime on what's going on in the national economy. It's not pretty. It's just, I don't know what to say, but other than don't plan on anything, just be ready.

But anyway, I drove out there, and she goes, let me show you the backyard. So I walk out there, it's like, oh, maybe, yeah, I think 500 ,000 might be right. They were up against the runway, and they had two huge, what are those garages to build?

150 ,000 hangers. Yeah, they had two hangers, two hangers right on the runway. I'm like, if I had a pile of slices, I'm interested. Can you imagine that? Just getting your brain out of your backyard and go?

Location, location, location. Remember that with God. Timing, timing, timing. God plants the seed, but you want the fruit. Maybe that'll sink in when you drive home. God plants the seed. Here's what I'm going to do in your life.

Here's the seed, but we want the fruit. And sometimes it takes years for things to grow. There's some type of, I can't remember, I don't want to butcher it, but bamboo in China. I think it's like this high in six years.

But then in like six months time, it grows 30 feet. And often God does things like that. So to hear from heaven, it's timing, timing, timing. That's why as you wait upon the Lord, you will renew your strength.

Wait upon the Lord and renew your strength. So now Revelation 10, verse five. We're going to go through verses five through seven. The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised up his hand to heaven and swore by him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and the things that are in it.

And basically he goes on just to say, this is God. This is powerful. He created everything. And because of that, there should be no delay any longer. But in the days, the sounding of the seventh angel, when he's about to sound, the mystery of God would be finished.

And he declared to his servants, the prophets. What is a mystery in the Bible? Well, it's not something found on Oprah. It's not this. A mystery in the Bible is something that God has not yet revealed.

Or sometimes something we don't understand. The Godhead is described as a mystery by Paul. You know what the Godhead is? The Trinity. Hear, O Israel, the Lord your God is one, but He reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

Theologians call it three persons of the Godhead. Now persons, we kind of think, trust me, you'll get a headache if you try to unpack this too much. It's one of those things, it's a mystery. We know it's true, God is one, but He reveals Himself as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.

And that's why we don't embrace something called oneness Pentecostalism that says, for example, when Jesus was on the cross, God was on the cross. When Jesus was at the Jordan being baptized, it was like a ventriloquist.

The Spirit really didn't descend on Him like a dove, and the Father didn't speak from heaven. They're just one. One Jesus only. But we see throughout Scripture, Elohim, the plurality, God uses the term to describe His nature.

And that is described as a mystery, and rightly so, because I haven't yet figured it out. If you have, I'd love to speak to you afterwards. I'll be in the prayer room. Tell me exactly how the Godhead works.

And while you're at it, tell me exactly how Christ being fully man and fully God works. The hypostatic union? For a construction, there's another term, hypo-something, and it's water and pressure. I always get them confused.

Prophets as Servants Who Proclaim God's Word

Prophets are simply servants. As He declared to His servants, the prophets. And I don't know where you're at in this whole spectrum of Christianity, but sometimes people put prophet on their business card.

Or apostle such and such. Be careful. Be careful. This is not about self-exaltation. And any time it says prophet such and such, I run the other way. Because the true prophets of God are humble. People will tell you they're prophetic.

You don't need to go announcing your calling to everyone. But they are simply servants. Prophets in the Bible, God would call a specific person to be His servant. Were they popular? Prophets are rarely popular.

Why? Because God calls them. Isaiah, I called you. Jeremiah, before you were even born, I formed you in your mother's womb. Ezekiel, I'm going to call you. Amos, you're just a shepherd, but I'm gonna call you.