Acts Book II – Prepare Me For The Revelation
ACTS BOOK II
PREPARE ME FOR THE REVELATION
By
Nita Johnson
New Orleans Revival Services
It is an amazing time in history. As we think about it, we stop and realize that it has been an amazing time in history for many thousands of years. How could it have been more glorious than in the days of Adam and Eve? From that time to the present, we have been experiencing something so holy and so wonderful; we have actually been experiencing all these thousands of years the revelation of Jesus Christ in ever unfolding splendor. What an amazing reality––something worth living for.
Can you imagine being John the beloved? He lived all of his adult life loving the Lord. The love grew into greater and greater immensity until the love owned Him. The ocean of God overtook him, and he dwelt in the dwelling place of God. Such love, such passion! The disciple whom Jesus loved shared a deep and intimate love with the Lord. He saw the beauty of the Father for three and a half years, and it so captivated him that he couldn’t run fast enough into the depths of God to know the Father as Jesus had known Him. The love grew and changed in its complexity, its intensity, and its constitution year by year, until that fateful moment when he saw Him in His glory and in His majesty; unfolding before him was the revelation of the ages.
Poor John was so overwhelmed. He was taken from one scene to another to another; each one was so dramatic that he did not know whether to fall on his face and worship or to jump up and down. One minute, he was on the earth, and the next minute, he was up in the heavens, and the next minute, he was looking out over the nations of Europe. He was traveling all over the place.
He had such love for the One who stood before him. I wonder when it came to him. I wonder if there were moments when he walked with Him, and when he stood back and said, “I wonder, this beauty in motion, is He more than we think? Is He more than we dare believe? He says marvelous things beyond our understanding, and He speaks of the Father like He knows Him so intimately, I wonder. I wonder.” And then, I am sure that he shook his head and moved on, not daring to believe the unbelievable that He was the Word made flesh. When did he get that revelation? When did he look in the face of our Lord and suddenly know the revelation of the Father, the revelation of Jesus Christ?
Think deeply about this for a moment. You read the Book, words printed on a page, and you sit back and are amazed at what you have read. You wonder what it all means, and you wish that you really knew for sure the exact meaning of every line. However, to say that you have beheld the revelation of Jesus Christ and to say it deeply as one who has experienced Him––not many can do that. Not many do, because they haven’t had the experience. They have not beheld the revelation. The eyes of their heart have not been opened for them to be able to understand and comprehend the knowledge.
In the body of Christ, we fight and war in so many factions. One believes this and the other believes that; they believe it so strongly that it can divide families. Sometimes you just want to sit everyone down to make them realize how absurd it all is. I am sure there is probably a denomination that somehow has built their whole denomination on the fact that God does not talk to man today. We also know that there are very good men and women, very good denominations that do not necessarily believe in the way of the Spirit as other denominations do. We find the silliest things to fight over. We divide the Bible up into so many sections that in the end are almost meaningless, when all it was given to us for was the revelation of Jesus Christ. The Bible allows us the privilege of experiencing the revelation that creates revolution that brings about reformation. It was given to us to experience, not merely to read, but to experience, like John and Paul experienced. It was given to us to experience Christ. If we don’t experience Him through His revelation, most of our Christian reality is lost. He was never meant to be a one dimensional God to us; He gave the revelation for us to experience. Isn’t that love? In John 17:26, it says that His love may be felt in our hearts.
John 17:26 amp I have made Your Name known to them and revealed Your character and Your very Self, and I will continue to make [You] known, that the love which You have bestowed upon Me may be in them [felt in their hearts] and that I [Myself] may be in them.
I can remember that in my earliest days of walking with the Lord, I had so many experiences. I heard people teach that we should not want experiences, but that we walk by faith and not by experience. I thought at the time that maybe there was something wrong with my walk; I really believed that. I didn’t understand why everyone said that you walk by faith and not by sight, or experience. I was experiencing; what was wrong with me? Of course today, thirty years later, I realize the problem was not with me. Real faith is built in experience with God, in a conviction that comes out of experience. You believe God is love because you have felt His love. It is one thing to believe it because the Bible says it, but it is another thing to believe it because you have experienced it. You know this foreign kind of love that has flowed down over your heart. You have experienced it, and no one can ever tell you God is not love. You have faith in that, and you have faith because you know it through experience.
If you went up to a tub of very, very hot water and stuck your hand in it, you would jump! Your hand would turn red, and it would be a painful experience, but no one is going to tell you that the water is cold because you have experienced how hot it really is. This is the revelation of Jesus Christ and it has been given for you to know. It has not been given for others who do not believe, but it has been given to those who believe. It has been given for you to know. It has been given for you to know. The revelation of Jesus Christ was given for you to read, but not just to read; it has been given for you to know. Let that sink into your heart. If the revelation of Jesus Christ was given to you to know, shouldn’t you know it? The Greek word for know means experiential knowledge. In other words, it means knowledge that you have experienced. The Jewish sages will tell you that you do not have knowledge unless you have experienced it, you have embraced it, and you are living it. Without that, it is not true knowledge to you. In the same respect, the Bible uses the Greek word that specifically speaks of experiential knowledge. Jesus said, “It has been given for you to know.” It has not been given for you to get a big head with intellectual knowledge, but it has been given for you to experience the revelation of Jesus Christ.
To each one, his own personal experience is different. The revelation is given for each and every one of us to experience. If it has been given for you to experience, then your call is to desire it with all passion. I want to know the revelation of Jesus Christ. I want to experience it, and I will live to have that experience.
Now, if I were to come to you, never having met you before, and say to you that the Lord tells me that He is going to give you the revelation of Jesus Christ, and that you are going to experience it, what would you do? Would you sit down and watch your favorite programs every night and wonder occasionally when it is going to happen? (I hope not.) Would you fast and pray, telling Him, “I want this word to come to pass, Lord.” Would you spend time in His Word, hoping this is the moment? Would you find yourself pulling more and more away from the Tinseltown of the world so that you can be alone with Him, in the hopes of experiencing the revelation of Jesus Christ? Do you think that you would believe it that much? Would you? I’ve got something better for you. Jesus said, “It is for you to know.” It is for you to know. Jesus Himself said it; you can’t get any better than that. And then He said:
John 16:13-14 amp “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all the Truth (the whole, full Truth). For He will not speak His own message [on His own authority]; but He will tell whatever He hears [from the Father; He will give the message that has been given to Him], and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come [that will happen in the future]. He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you.”
Doesn’t that sound like the revelation of Jesus Christ? We know that it does because He said “all Truth.” So this is better than from a prophet; the Lord Himself is saying that He wants to come to you, and that He wants to reveal Himself to you. Isn’t it exciting that you do not have to ever wonder again about how much of the revealing of Christ you can have? Jesus said:
John 14:21 amp “The person who has My commands and keeps them is the one who [really] loves Me; and whoever [really] loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I [too] will love him and will show (reveal, manifest) Myself to him. [I will let Myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.]”
This is the Word of Jesus Christ. If you live for any other reason in this life, you are living for the wrong reason. I want to somehow make this diamond as big as I can make it. The promise is to you. You have been given the capacity in this life to have the revelation of Jesus Christ, not intellectual knowledge, but the experience of all of His manifest glory.
Do you believe this? Are you sure you don’t think, “Well, that’s for you, but deep down in my heart I know that will never happen to me.” Are you positively sure that you don’t think that? If you believe it, then hunger for it. Hunger for it so much that it changes the way you live. When you awaken in the morning think, “I want to know the revelation of Jesus Christ.” When you stop and have lunch in the afternoon, think, “O God, I want to know the revelation of Jesus Christ.” When you go to bed at night, lay there and think, “What can I do to experience the revelation of Jesus Christ faster? God, teach me Your way. Help me to know the path of revelation.” The more you do this, the more your heart will begin to pant after the truth; the more you hunger for the truth, the more it will change your life and the way you live. There are those who say that they love the truth, but whenever you tell them the truth, they reject it if it is not a really sweet truth. However, those who love the truth will be convicted by the truth. They will love the truth even if it is hard, because they know now that they are one step closer to a greater revelation of Christ. Love truth enough to let it cut like a sword all the darkness that shrouds the beauty of the light. Christ is the revelation of God; He is the revelation of the Father. He is the Truth made known to man. He is the revelation of heaven, the revelation of the Kingdom, the revelation of the plan and purpose of God, and the revelation of why you are alive. You cannot know the fullness of your purpose until you know the revelation of Christ because you are part of that revelation. Your purpose for existing is part of the revelation of the Son, because you’re part of the Kingdom.
Hunger for truth. Hunger for revelation. In it is revolution and in the revolution you are moved into reformation and all things become new! It is not enough to know the past. I am so thankful that the Bible teaches us the truth about the past and as a result, we never have to doubt; I am so grateful for that. It is not enough to know the present, although the Bible teaches us that as well, and I am also thankful for that. It is not enough to know the future. How I long to put in your heart the love for the truth that I am trying to give you. It is not enough to know the future. It is not enough until you know Him and the many aspects of His character, His plans, His purposes, the way He thinks, the way He feels, what He is, and what He does. Jesus said, “I only do those things I see the Father do.” What are “those things”? He dwells in the unapproachable light with the Father. What does that mean? “I and the Father are one.” What does that mean? Do you have the right to experience that oneness? Yes. The Bible says that He is the Glory of God, the radiance of the Divine. You have a right to know this, and you have a right to experience what it means because it has been given to you to know. He does not want you walking in the dark and in ignorance. He wants you walking in the light of truth. He wants truth to overtake you until you begin to look just like Him. Do you have a right to know these things? Yes. Not only do you have a right, but also it has been given to you to know by the Father. To you, He says, the Bible can be more than just black and white on a page; it can be a living experience with the Father because “those who love Me, I will reveal myself to them.” If you love God, then believe for Him to reveal Himself to you. The only criteria is that you love Him and obey His commandments; He promises to reveal Himself to you.
Paul invited us in his writings to look into the face of Christ and be transformed. To look into His face is to look into His Word in a living experience. I want to awaken in you a passion for a different kind of walk than you have ever had. More than a desire––a passion. Jesus told me a long time ago that “anyone who will” can have this. That goes beyond desire into a place where you are willing to pay any price to have the revelation of Christ. Will you drop the nuggets of pearls along the path? You don’t dare, but you hold them tight in your bosom so that no one and nothing can take them from you. Every time you choose sin over truth, you lose. Every time you choose truth over sin, the way is made light to enter in. This is something that God wants for His Church so much that He poured out the blood of His dear Son to ensure that His Church would have it. That is a tremendous commitment. Our part is to hunger and thirst for the revelation and the knowledge of God so much that when the Lord says, “I want you to give this up so that I can reveal Myself to you,” you do not even think twice. You just do it because you are hungering after and thirsting for the revelation that He wants to give you.
Did you know that most revelation comes after a time of testing and trial? God gives the testing and ordains it so that He can give you the revelation. Most people don’t understand that so they resent the tests and the trials. They don’t seek to learn God in them but instead get angry with God. Then, when the testing and the trial is over, there is no heart to receive the revelation. They do not realize that the very thing that they despise is the thing that was designed to give them the answer to their prayer.
Remember when Abraham went out against the kings in the dale? The next thing that happened to him was that he saw God. That was a heavy trial to him; he didn’t know if those kings would come back upon him and kill him at night. He had no idea what would happen as a result of going to war with those mighty kings. However, he endured the trial and did what he was asked to do; when it was over, God revealed Himself. This is a way that God interacts with us. Every trial and every test is designed to reveal Him. It is true. It does not matter what the trial or test is; if you will go through it right, you can have the revelation of Jesus Christ.
When you realize that every trial is an opening of a grand door with the purpose of revealing Christ, it is as though it takes the lion’s teeth out of the trial. Because most people do not understand that, they do not press in for the revelation and they mess it up, so that they go through a lifetime of trials and they never get the blessing. It is time for the Church to arise in truth and receive the blessing of the promise. This is something that God is saying to you: it is time for you to press through to the blessing. It is time for you to quit denying yourself the blessing. It is time to press through to the blessing, the fruit, and the life of truth. It is time to come out of our old way of thinking and see the glory in every trial that awaits you. How can you resent something that is designed to reveal God? He says, “I will let myself be clearly seen by him and make Myself real to him.” What a promise!
God’s heart for you is that you would crave Him; crave the revelation of Jesus Christ. Think about Israel. An awesome revelation of Jesus Christ was about to come to them in the person of Moses. Think about the fiery trial my people went through to get to that revelation. Then, many years later, He himself comes. They had been through and were even at that present moment wrapped up in a fiery trial called Rome, but in that fiery trial, God was paving the way for the desire of their hearts. It was a desire that had been held for thousands of years. God was paving the way for all the promises of the prophets. Rome had to come down with its iron fist––it had to––because God was paving the way for the revelation of Jesus Christ. The trials must come. I am teaching you God’s ways. I am also trying to help you understand where we are going in the calendar of God. One way that you begin to understand is that you begin to understand God’s ways. Then you can look for certain things to happen, as certain other things transpire. That is how prophets walk; they learn His ways. They see this happen, and then they automatically know that this is about to occur. It is learned not just by prophetic vision, but from experiencing the life of Christ. They understand and know how God is, how He talks, and how He brings about His purposes and plans in the earth, as well as in their own individual life.
People think that prophets know these things just because they are good prophets and God speaks to them all the time. No, they know it because they have learned His ways. That is the best part, because anyone can learn His ways. When you begin to learn His ways, you begin to see prophetically. What I am telling you is the truth. It is one thing to have prophetic vision; it is another thing to have God in your vision. We walk and talk with Jesus, but when He talks back, no one can hear Him because they do not know His ways. They do not understand how He communicates. It is yours to have, the revelation of Jesus Christ. You can go through the trial, no matter how fiery it may be, and you can make it into the promise of the revelation.
Are you ready for another exciting truth? The greater the trial, the greater the revelation! You just thought the devil was beating up on you because he likes to beat up on people, but you never realized that God had hand-picked you. Look at the terrible trial that Job went through. It was awful, perhaps the worst trial anyone has ever gone through, but look at the revelation that followed. He saw God face to face. The bigger the trial, the greater the revelation on the other side; look for it and believe God for it. Start praying for it. “OK, Lord, we’re in the trial. I’m ready for the revelation. Prepare me in this trial for the revelation. Help me to be aware. Help me to understand when it’s time for the revelation to be given so that I’ll be ready.” Never waste time in this life, but buy up every opportunity to know God. Are you excited because you dare to believe that all things are possible to him who believes? Only believe.
I was sharing with my prior secretary’s young daughter Charity some visitations that had been given to my granddaughter Tiffany. Charity exclaimed, “Tiffany has had those visitations? Tiffany has seen the Lord that many times? Well, why haven’t I? Why can’t I?” So I asked her, “Have you asked Him? Have you asked Him to visit you?” “Well, no,” she replied. So I said, “Then ask Him. Don’t worry about why, Tiffany. Get it for yourself.” She asked, “I can do that? I can ask Jesus to do that for me and He will?” I said, “Charity, He will.” I don’t remember how long it took; I can promise it was less than a year, but I think it was only within a few months. Within a three day time frame, He visited her twice, and on the second time, He brought along a couple of angels. She was looking out of her bedroom window and a little friend of hers was sitting right next to her. There He was, with two angels on either side of Him. Her friend, who was not saved, screamed and asked, “Charity, who is that?” Charity laughed and said, “It’s Jesus and those are angels!” Needless to say, her friend got saved.
It is for you to know; only believe.
A Prayer:
Father, we thank You for the most glorious promise in the whole world. We don’t have to wait until heaven. We can have the revelation of Jesus Christ here and now. Not only can we, but You’ve assigned it to us because we love You. That is what You said in Your Word. The big criteria is that we love You. Our hearts are so full of gratitude; how do we say thank You for such a precious gift? We don’t have to cry or bellow for it, but we just have to pray and believe because it is given to us by God the Father to know! How can we thank You enough? Words cannot tell the joy in our heart to know that we can know and experience You. It is our assigned portion and our inheritance. Give faith, Lord. Put faith in our dear reader’s hearts that they can believe and receive in Your precious name.