Lesson 5. Levels of Maturity for Receiving Revelations. The “How to Hear God” School was held at Father’s Blessing Church. Author – John Paul Jackson. Teacher – Dmitriy Leo
Acts 2:17–21 “And it shall come to pass in the last days, says God, that I will pour out of My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and daughters shall prophesy, your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams. And on My male servants and female servants I will pour out My Spirit in those days, and they shall prophesy. And I will show wonders in heaven above and signs on the earth beneath: blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
1. Sons and daughters – they will prophesy.
2. Young men – they will see visions.
3. Elders (old men) – they will be given dreams.
4. Male and female servants – they will prophesy, and God will confirm their words with signs in heaven and wonders on earth.
1. Sons and Daughters
These are not simply people on earth, but born-again Christians. God calls only His children sons and daughters—those who have returned to Him through Jesus Christ. When the Holy Spirit was poured out, they immediately received the ability to prophesy and speak in new tongues.
Acts 2:4 “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Acts 2:11 “...we hear them speaking in our own tongues about the great [deeds] of God?”
Acts 19:6 “and when Paul had laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them, and they began to speak with [other] tongues and prophesy.”
When we conduct “Baptism in the Holy Spirit” services, we should not forbid people to speak in their native language, because the one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues. At that moment, we cannot know which comes first: speaking in tongues or prophecy.
Scripture does not give an exact order of what should follow what. Therefore, when we tell people, “Do not pray in your native language... be silent and begin speaking in an unknown language... do not try to think; do not think about what to say... repeat: shibara shibara shibara... stop praising God in your native language...” I think that many sons and daughters never released their prophetic voices because we did not allow them to do so. Is the gift of prophecy really less important than tongues?
Question.
And where did the prophet Joel speak about other tongues?
Could Peter have confused the passages of Scripture? No, he did not. The key that day was not tongues, but prophecy. That is why Peter said this was what had been foretold by the prophet Joel. God poured out the Spirit of prophecy on the disciples, and they prophesied to everyone there about the great deeds of God in languages they could understand.
Acts 2:4–12 “They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit enabled them. At that time, devout Jews from every nation under heaven were staying in Jerusalem, and a large crowd gathered when they heard this sound. Everyone was amazed to hear them speaking in the languages of their own countries. ‘Aren’t all these people who are speaking Galileans?’ they wondered. ‘Then how is it that each of us hears them in the language of the country where we were born? Among us are Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome—both Jews and converts to Judaism—and Cretans and Arabs... We hear them declaring the great deeds of God in our own languages!’ Everyone was amazed and perplexed, asking one another, ‘What does this mean?’”
Question.
Does this mean that we could all prophesy from the very beginning, when the Holy Spirit first came upon us? Why, then, did we not begin to prophesy even then?
Answer.
When you received baptism in the Holy Spirit, were you told that you would begin to prophesy? Moreover, many people were forcibly prevented from speaking prophecies at that time and were only allowed to pray in other tongues.
If we do not allow the prophetic voice to be born in people, how can we later expect this gift to operate in the Church?
Many of you will say to me now: “Wait, how can such a gift be entrusted to new believers? Shouldn’t they mature first?”
Oh yes, go ahead and tell God that. Apparently, He did not think it through when He said that this is for new believers, for sons and daughters.
That is absolutely right: they must mature, and when they mature into young men, God will give them visions. Then, when they mature into elders, they will be given dreams; and when they become servants, God will manifest His power through their prophecies in miracles, signs, and wonders.
Our problem is that we wait until people become male and female servants before we can entrust them with prophesying. As a result, we have churches without people who prophesy, see visions, or dream dreams. There is no need even to mention great miracles, signs, and wonders.
2. Young Men
As we grow in the Lord, we begin to see visions. The moment they appear in a person’s life may indicate that he or she is growing into a young man. The original text says that young men will be given visions. In other words, this is not about pictures people imagine themselves, but pictures that come from the Holy Spirit.
If a person does not see visions for a long time, this may be a sign of:
- There has been no new birth; the Holy Spirit does not live within the person, the person’s spirit is dead, and there is nothing to grow.
- A person is born again, but loves this life and this world so much that he does not study Scripture, pray, or do anything in the Church. He is immersed in worldly busyness, and because of this he will not grow spiritually.
- Wrong teaching about visions, or a lack of teaching about visions.
Visions are not for the chosen few; they are for everyone. Moreover, they are not only for the super-spiritual, but even for young men in the Lord.
Visions are not a gift. Visions are the result of our growth.
3. Elders
In the New Testament, this Greek word is used to mean “elders, presbyters.” It refers to people who serve others: mentors, ministers, and pastors. In other words, this word does not refer to age—people who are a hundred years old—but to people who serve in the Church.
The elders serve sons and young men.
God gives them dreams and visions through which they receive revelations, edification, direction, correction, and so on.
Everyone dreams, even pagans, and at any age. This refers not to ordinary dreams, but to dreams that come from God and have great significance for us.
Dreams have advantages over visions. We will discuss this in the second year of training.
4. Male and Female Slaves
“Upon My male and female slaves.” Many of us consider ourselves servants of the Lord, but in reality, few of us are truly His slaves. His male and female slaves are people who live for God and for God’s sake and have died to themselves and their “self.”
2 Peter 2:19: “For whatever overcomes a person, to that he is enslaved.”
This is the level at which we are overcome and subjugated by God. At this level, we receive the privilege of serving with signs and wonders. At this level, God Himself confirms His words with miracles on earth and signs in heaven.
“...And on My male and female slaves in those days I will pour out My Spirit, and they will prophesy. And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and vapor of smoke. The sun shall be turned to darkness, and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.”
All this will contribute to people's salvation.
“...And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”
Prophecies at this level of maturity differ from prophecies at the level of sons and daughters. At this level, prophecies come to bring change; these prophecies are accompanied by the power of God and miracles.
This is the level of the manifested power of God. Many long to serve with power, miracles, and signs, but few understand what it means to become a servant of the Lord.
Being servants of God does not mean living without sin; servants also make mistakes. It means being conquered by God. And we do not need to worry about miracles and signs: as soon as we begin to submit more fully to God, miracles will immediately begin to manifest as well.
The choice is ours
– Do you want to be a son or daughter of God and have eternal life? – You need Jesus.
– Do you want to prophesy, speak in tongues, and operate in other gifts? – You need the Holy Spirit.
– Do you want to receive the ability to see and understand visions? – Grow into a young man.
– Do you want to receive dreams? – Grow and serve God's people.
– Do you want to serve in the manifested power of God with miracles and signs? – Die to your own plans and desires, and submit fully to God; become His servant.
Our victory is in being conquered by God!
End of lesson.
Father’s Blessing Church
Author – John Paul Jackson
Teacher – Dmitriy Leo
