Pastor And Prophet: Conflict Before Cohesion

Note from the Moderator; This is a message that was given to Eric Wheeler in August of 1999. Because of the time we live in it is relevant and the Lord is bringing it out into the light.

PASTOR AND PROPHET: CONFLICT BEFORE COHESION
By: Eric Wheeler

A few months ago, I was tearfully praying and asking God to please open my pastor’s eyes so that he would begin truly feeding and teaching our congregation, because we were spiritually starving. After I finished my prayer, I drifted off to sleep. The next morning, I awoke knowing that God had spoken to me in a dream. He said this:

Shortly, my pastor would strip me of everything (titles, positions, reputation, etc.) and push me off to a small, dark, and lonely corner of the church building. The “light of God” that was in me would be bound and gagged, and severely restricted so that it would not be allowed to emanate from me at all, though I would still carry it within me. The pastor and the elders would reduce me to a lonely and shunned servant and banish me to some small corner of the church building to “stack chairs”. As I was in this corner stacking and setting-up chairs, I noticed that it was still dark outside. I was given the sense that I was there early in the morning, setting-up chairs for church services, and that shortly the people would begin arriving for another typically-dry church service. I remember thinking to myself as I considered my miserable condition, “How long, oh God?” Just then, the doors flew open, and in came my pastor! At that moment, I noticed that morning had broken, and I could see the glorious rays of the sun behind him on the horizon! As he stood in the doorway, the light shone brightly behind him, and his eyes were full of light. He had great prophecies rushing out of his mouth, and he was skipping and dancing all over the room! (He was dancing and prophesying such that I remembered thinking of the verse in I Sam.10:11 where the people were so surprised at how the Spirit was upon King Saul that they said “Is Saul also numbered among the prophets?!”)

Immediately as I recognized the Spirit of God in him and upon him, the Spirit of God and the Light of God were released in me. We joined hands in the middle of the sanctuary and both began singing and dancing and prophesying together. At that moment, I looked up and noticed a large pitcher suspended mostly over me but also partly over him. I expected to see glistening living water come forth, just as I had seen it before in other visions, but instead, this time God’s hand began to pour out a thick heavy substance like syrup over us. I heard a loud voice say, “As it is written, ‘In the last days, I will pour out of my Spirit (indicating to me a consistency of substance), and my servants and maidservants will prophesy”.

After this, the pastor and I noticed that the people were beginning to show up for church services. We rushed to the door to greet them. It was all happening so fast! The only thing that the pastor and I had time to communicate to them was that “It’s time! The things that we have been looking for are here!” Immediately the first family that we shared this message with lit-up like a candle or a torch, with just these few words, all excited and shining they turned and went out. The next family to show up had the same reaction – they heard, immediately lit-up, and turned and walked out! It was like they were surprised for a split-second (caught-off-guard), then smiled and rejoiced as though they were expecting these things, graciously accepted it, and then went out to carry it with them and to share it!

A few more people strolled in, and so again we shared the good news with them, but they looked at us perplexed and said, “Huh?” as they scratched their heads in wonderment. We didn’t have time to explain it to them. So they slowly turned and wandered out the door unenthused, never being lit-up. This same scenario played over and over again – with some being lit-up, and others not.

After attending to the last group of people and family who came through the doors of the church, I turned to find the pastor. Everything had happened so quickly, that I didn’t have a chance to ask him how and when his spiritual eyes were opened. I stepped outside of the church door looking for him, and I saw him walking down the sidewalk trying to explain to a couple of the individuals who apparently didn’t get it. He was quite a ways down the sidewalk, so I began to go after him, when all of a sudden, right in front of me was the most peculiar site I had ever seen! Right in front of me was a police officer on his motorcycle upside down on his head! It wasn’t an accident or anything horrific. It was just a very unusual scene. In fact, I sort of stumbled over the scene, not really paying any attention to it. When I first came upon it though, I noticed some individuals that were strangers to me (who had not been in the church) just staring at the whole unusual scene, totally mesmerized by it. When I walked upon the site and stood beside them for a second, they didn’t even acknowledge me, because they were so consumed with this policeman standing on his head still sitting on his motorcycle.

Within seconds, I shrugged it off, and continued on my quest to locate the pastor. When I reached him, we began walking back together with his arm around my shoulder, towards the church building, and incidentally came upon the peculiar policeman scene again. Not paying any real attention to it, we simply stepped over it, and continued on. I finally got the chance to ask him how and when these things began to happen. He said, “It’s amazing. I was just sitting at home being idle, when all of a sudden . . .” He never finished the sentence. I woke up.

When I woke up, I knew that God had talked to me. As soon as I sat up, the entire interpretation of the dream came to me:

Soon, I would find myself stripped of all the positions and responsibilities that I currently hold within my local congregation. The “light of God” which is Jesus Christ living in me would cause offense to the leaders and elders of the church. I would soon find myself being pushed away, restricted, rejected, and banished in some way by the religious authorities for carrying the light of God. [In the dream I represented the prophets sent to forewarn the religious leaders.] Then virtually overnight God is going to “visit” the religious leadership and confront them supernaturally.

The following Scriptures were revealed to me concerning this “visitation” and shaking-down of the church leadership. Some of the religious leadership will be “broken on the Rock” and humbled, while others will harden their hearts in their self-righteous pride against the Rock. This is what Jesus meant when He forewarned, “He who falls on this Stone will be broken, but he on whom this Stone falls will be crushed” (Matt 21:44). Jesus said, “Have you never read in the Scriptures, how the stone which the builders of the church have rejected, has become the head of the corner?!” (See Matt 21:40-45, Luke 20:17-19, and Acts 4:11) As it was done the first time, He will once again come unto His own and His own will not receive Him (John 1:11). But as many as do receive Him, even to them which believe on His name, He is going to give the power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). Just as Christ did the first time, He is going to visit His own House first! Judgment will begin at the House of God (I Peter 4:17). He is going to surprise and humble everybody once again – beginning with His own House first! And nobody will be as surprised as the religious leaders! For as Jesus said, “For judgment I am come into this world, so that the blind will see, and those who see will become blind. Now some of the Pharisees (religious leaders) who were with him heard him say this, and asked, ‘What? Are we blind too?’ And Jesus said, ‘If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin. But now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains” (John 9:39-41).

I think that most of us as Christians fail to realize that when Jesus comes, He is going to come unto His own first – as a “thief in the night” and “in a way we think not”! He is going to judge His own House first! “To make ready a people prepared for their Lord” (Luke 1:17). Only after He has “cleaned up” His own House, will He then use His people to go out to “clean up” the neighborhood [world], and then we will see a great revival as in the Book of Acts, and afterwards the end will come (Matt 24:14, Acts 1:8). Every parable and admonition that Jesus gave His people [the Church] was that He was going to come upon them in “a way that they thought not” and “as a thief in the night”. This is how He came upon His people, the Jews, the first time. He surprised them! He came in a way that they didn’t expect! Which ultimately confounded and humbled them – especially the religious self-righteous ones! What makes us think that He is going to come upon us any differently as the people of God today?!

When Jesus actually comes in the fullness of His glory at the end of the age, the whole world will see Him then. But when He first comes unto His Church [the people of God] He will come in such a way that they think not! “For as the lightning that comes from the east is visible even in the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man . . . and all the nations [Gentiles] of the earth will mourn when they see the Son of Man coming in the clouds of the sky with power and great glory” (Matt 24:27-30). When Jesus returns in the visible fullness of His glory, He will be coming to judge the unbelieving world, “the Gentiles”! Not His Church! For by this time, the Church would have already “made herself ready” as “a people prepared for their Lord.” For judgment must begin, not end, at the House of God!

Malachi 3:1 says that “See, I will send my messenger [the prophets], who will prepare the way before me. Then the Lord whom you are seeking will suddenly come to His temple!” I Cor 3:16-17 says that we are that temple He is suddenly coming to! But notice, Malachi continues, “But who can endure the day of His coming? Who can stand when He appears?” The answer is nobody! Nobody stands righteous before God! “For He will be like a refiner’s fire, He will purify the Levites [the religious leaders] and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness” (Mal.3:2-3). Notice that this is the same point that Jesus made to His Church at the end of the age, “You say, ‘I am [spiritually] rich, and have acquired wealth, and am in need of nothing.’ But you do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich and have white clothes to wear, so you can cover your shameful nakedness, and have salve to put on your eyes, so you can see. Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest, and repent!” (Rev 3:17-19). We all are about to find out that we are not as right with God as we think we are. Is it not written that the people of God were described by God before His First Coming as “sitting in darkness” (Luke 1:79)? That is why He sent the prophet John the Baptist [Elijah} to them in the first place – “to turn many of the people of God to the Lord their God” (Luke1:16). The Second Coming will be just like it!

After the religious leaders are confronted by God and they either accept Him or reject Him, God is going to heal the relationship between the true prophets and the believing pastors. That is why in my dream the pastor and I held hands and sang and danced together in the sanctuary. During this time, God is going to pour out a greater portion of His Spirit upon His servants. One thing that was apparent to me during the dream was that all the people that were in the House or coming to the House (symbolized by the church building) as well as all that showed up for church services (all that wear His name – and call themselves Christian) had a chance to know what was happening! Each person had a chance to be told that, “The time had come!”-“The Kingdom of God was at hand!”-“The bridegroom is coming! Go you out to meet Him!” But sadly, only half of them were ready and had oil in their lamps and lit-up. The other half didn’t. It is interesting to note here that as each person showed up for church, each was caught-off-guard. It was just as the Scripture said it would be, “While the bridegroom was a long time in coming, they all became drowsy and fell asleep” (Matt. 25:5). But when the cry rang out, all of the virgins woke up, but sadly, only half of them had oil in their lamps. Another interesting point that God made me aware of during this dream was that as each believer was lit-up, they turned and went out into the street. They didn’t take a seat in the church. They went out!

God also revealed to me the meaning of the policeman turned upside down on his motorcycle. The policeman symbolizes “law and order” in the world, which will apparently be in a state of upheaval. While a great spiritual revival and awakening is taking place within the Body of Christ, the un-believing Gentile world is going to be totally turned upside down. The world is going to be so caught-up and mesmerized at how the law and government has been turned upside down, that they will be completely unaware of what is going on spiritually in the House of God. That is why no one on the street (the strangers on the street looking at the policeman) even noticed me, or the others who were lit-up. They were too busy being perplexed and absorbed by this unusual site. On the other hand, the lit-up individuals were so consumed in what God was doing in and through them that they hardly even noticed the condition and the chaos of the world around them. (In light of Y2K and the other economic crashes prophesied to come, this is a very comforting thought!)

One final thought: When I had this dream about 6 months ago, I was in excellent standing with the pastor and the elders of our small congregation. I was the Teen Pastor, a Deacon, and a Bible-Study teacher. About 2 months ago, however, I was called before the pastor and the elders and told to quit preaching and teaching. They felt that I was preaching and teaching heresy. When I asked them to please explain what they meant by that, they told me that what I was teaching was not in line with two thousand years of “accepted Christianity”. I said, “Of course it’s not! It’s in line with the Word of God, not the words of men!” Consequently, they stripped me of all the positions, and titles, and responsibilities I held in the Church, and suspended me from Church until further notice. All I can say now is that I can’t wait for daybreak to come!

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