FORERUNNER CHURCH PART 1 ‐ PREPARING THE WAY OF THE LORD 12.30.2011

I. THE CALL OF A FORERUNNER

A. All across the earth God is raising up forerunners to Jesus’ Second Coming. A forerunner is “one who precedes and proclaims the coming of another.” (Webster’s Dictionary)

Luke 1:17 NAS “It is he [John the Baptist] who will go as a forerunner before Him [Jesus] in the spirit and power of Elijah… to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

B. In the same way that God raised up John the Baptist to prepare the way for the Lord’s first coming, so God is calling forth a ‘Forerunner Church’ who will prepare the Nations for His second coming from heaven [ 40:3, 62:10‐11;Lk. 7:27].

Luke 2:76,77 “You will be called the prophet of the Highest; for you will go before the face of the Lord to prepare His ways, 77 to give knowledge of salvation to His people…

C. Isaiah prophesied about End‐Time forerunners who would prepare people by proclaiming the full message of salvation (the first and second coming of Jesus) to the ends of the earth.

Isaiah 62:10‐11 “Prepare the way for the people… Lift up a banner for the peoples [the nations]! 11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed to the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of , 'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him...”

D. Forerunners act as “sent messengers” who go before the face of the Lord so that the people are adequately prepared to receive Him. Zacharias, Anna, Simeon, John the Baptist, and the Apostles proclaimed Christ’s coming and prepared the way before Jesus arrived.

Luke 9:52 “[Jesus] … sent messengers before His face. And as they went, they entered a village of the Samaritans, to prepare for Him.”

E. The forerunner calling is not for an elite group of Christians. It is available to anyone who will prepare themselves for it. They include those called as evangelists, pastors, singers, musicians, writers, teachers, artists, dancers, marketplace ministers, media messengers, stay‐at‐home moms, etc.

II. BECOMING MESSENGERS OF THE LORD

A. Before God does anything in the earth He first sends Prophetic Messengers before Him [Amos 3:7]. These forerunners hear what God is saying and doing ahead of time to prepare and warn the people for what is about to come upon the earth.

Mal. 3:1 “Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," Says the LORD of hosts.

Rev. 1:7 “Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

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B. The central message of the Forerunner Church is, “Behold, the Bridegroom is coming! Get ready to meet Him!”

Matt. 25:6 “At midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the Bridegroom is coming; go out to meet Him!”

C. In the a ‘messenger’ was sent by the King with a particular message to deliver to the people. Often times the message was urgent and required the messenger to hurry up and run ahead of everyone to warn the people of what was coming. Their single assignment was to stand in the council of the King and deliver His Word to the people [Jer. 23:18‐22].

Obad. 1:1 “…We have heard a report from the LORD, and a messenger has been sent among the nations, saying, "Arise, and let us rise up against her for battle’

Hag. 1:13 “Then Haggai, the LORD'S messenger, spoke the LORD'S message to the people, saying, "I am with you, says the LORD."

D. End‐Time Forerunners are ‘one short step’ ahead of the larger Body of Christ for the sake of preparing the people to rightly respond to Jesus in His End‐Time activity [Is. 62:10]. The call to proclaim “now” what the Holy Spirit is “soon” to emphasize in a universal way across the nations requires great humility.

1 Chron. 12:32 “the sons of Issachar… had understanding of the times, to know what ought to do…

E. Often times Forerunners are seen as excessive, extreme, or ‘out of touch with reality’ by the religious establishment because they are seeing and declaring what is not yet seen. Their resolve to hold fast to the Word of God (the message of the king) and carry it (to run) with urgency and fire disrupts many people, while also encouraging many people in their walk with the Lord.

Hab. 2:1‐3 “I will stand my watch and set myself on the rampart, and watch to see what He will say to me… 2 Then the LORD answered me and said: "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets, that he [the forerunner] may run who reads it. 3 For the vision [of the end‐times] is yet for an appointed time; but at the end it will speak, and it will not lie. Though it tarries, wait [look for/ anticipate] for it; because it will surely come, It will not tarry.

F. The Forerunner Church will not make sense to the world or the Church until the intense activities of the Lord begin. The wisdom of ’s ark was not apparent until it began to rain.

Heb. 11:7 “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household.”

III. ‐ PREPARING THE WAY OF THE LORD

A. Isaiah 40 gives us the clearest picture of the Ministry and Message of the Forerunner Church. Like many Old Testament prophecies it has a multifaceted fulfillment: 1) The end of Babylonian captivity. 2) The First Coming of Christ & John the Baptist. 2) The Second Coming of Christ & the End‐Time Church.

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B. Though every gospel writer applied Isaiah 40:3 to John the Baptist [Matt. 3:1‐4; Mk. 1:1‐4; Lk. 1:76‐78; John 1:23], the entire context gives us important truths necessary for the Church that precedes Christ’s Second Coming [Is. 40:10].

C. FORERUNNER LIFESTYLE:

Isaiah 40:3‐5 “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: “Prepare the way of the Lord; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. 4 Every valley shall be exalted and every mountain and hill brought low; the crooked places shall be made straight and the rough places smooth; 5 The glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together; for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.”

1. Forerunners are true prophetic “Voices” and not merely “echoes” of someone else. God rebuked the prophets in Jeremiah’s day because they would steal the words of their neighbors and say “This is what the Lord says” [Jer.23:30].

2. Forerunners live a “Wilderness Lifestyle.” They are developed from years of testing, brokenness, humility, fasting, and prayer. They live set apart from that which is showy, worldly, and shallow.

Luke 1:80 “[John] was in the wilderness till the day of his manifestation to Israel.”

3. Forerunners prepare the way of the Lord and His glory to be fully revealed. They make a highway for our God by filling valleys and removing obstacles. Vv.4 speaks of leveling, smoothing, and straightening out the roads on which an important dignitary would travel to get to the people.

D. FORERUNNER MESSAGE:

Isaiah 40:6‐10 “The voice said, “Cry out!” And he said, “What shall I cry?” All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades, because the breath of the Lord blows upon it; surely the people are grass. 8 The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.”

1. Isaiah the prophet is immediately commanded to “Cry Out!” But what is the Forerunner to cry out? God touches Isaiah with eternity and gives Him one all‐important revelation that is to be at the heart of the Forerunner Message [40:6‐11].

Isaiah 40:9,10 “O Zion, you who bring good tidings (good news), get up into the high mountain; O , You who bring good tidings, lift up your voice with strength, Lift it up, be not afraid; say to the cities of , “Behold your God!” 10 Behold, the Lord shall come with a strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him; Behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him.

2. The Forerunner is not to be ashamed or apologetic in the message that he brings. He is to lift up his voice with strength and not fear man [vv.9]. His message is simple and yet powerful: “BEHOLD YOUR GOD! …BEHOLD, YAHWEH –THE LORD YOUR GOD ‐ IS COMING.” He is to declare the greatness and majesty of God.

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3. John the Baptist did this very thing by saying, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the World” [Jn. 1:29,36]. We will say “Behold, the Lion of the Tribe of Judah… Get ready, He is coming! [Rev. 5:5,6]. Vv. 10 has a distinct application to the Second Coming of Jesus [Rev. 22:12].

4. Behold Your God! This is directly opposite to the man‐centered messages being proclaimed today. God will restore His supremacy and greatness in all things by making the knowledge of God known through His Forerunners. Isaiah sums it up in the following verses of Chapter 40:

Isaiah 40:12‐29 “Who has measured the waters in the hollow of His hand, measured heaven with a span and calculated the dust of the earth in a measure? Weighed the mountains in scales and the hills in a balance? 13 Who has directed the Spirit of the Lord, or as His counselor has taught Him? 14 With whom did He take counsel, and who instructed Him, and taught Him the path of justice? Who taught Him knowledge and showed Him the way of understanding? 15 Behold, the nations are as a drop in the bucket, and are counted as the small dust on the scales; look, He lifts up the islands as a very little thing… 17 All nations before Him are as nothing, and they are counted by Him as less than nothing and worthless. 18 To whom will you liken God? Or what likeness will you compare to Him…? 21 Have you not known? Have you not heard? Has it not been told you from the beginning? Have you not understood from the foundations of the earth? 22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. 23 He brings the princes to nothing; He makes the judges of the earth useless… 25 To whom will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” Says the Holy One. 26 Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing… 28 Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. 29 He gives power to the weak and to those who have no might He increases strength.”

IV. TAKING THE SCROLL

A. Forerunners cannot prepare others ahead of time if we are not already prepared in the knowledge of God. We must daily choose to “Eat the Scroll” of God’s Word in order to be entrusted to deliver His prophetic word to the nations [Rev. 10:9‐11].

Ezekiel 3:1‐4 “Son of man, eat what you find; eat this scroll, and go, speak to the house of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and He caused me to eat that scroll. 3 And He said to me, “Son of man, feed your belly, and fill your stomach with this scroll that I give you.” So I ate, and it was in my mouth like honey in sweetness. 4 Then He said to me: “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak My words to them.”

B. As the End‐Times unfold God will require His Forerunner Church to know who He is and what He is really like. When the earth is searching for answers we will be able to proclaim with boldness: “Behold Your God!” This is a life‐saving ministry that we cannot take lightly. The Bridegroom is coming and we must get the Bride of Christ in every Nation ready to meet Him!

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G. In the midst of this controversy God is sovereignly setting End‐Time watchmen who are fueled by prayer and the prophetic. Multitudes of forerunners will stand their watch on the walls of the cities of the earth to labor in prayer and prophetic proclamation until God makes it a praise in the earth.

Isa 62:6,7 “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; They shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 And give Him no rest till He establishes and till He makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.

Amos 3:7 “Surely the Lord GOD does nothing, Unless He reveals His secret to His servants the prophets.

Luke 7:27 “Behold, I send My messenger [forerunner] before Your face, Who will prepare Your way before you.”

Isaiah 57:14 “And one shall say, "Heap it up! Heap it up! Prepare the way, Take the stumbling block out of the way of My people."

ISAIAH 40 – PREPARING THE WAY OF THE LORD

Ezek. 33:6,7 “…If the watchman [forerunner] sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' 7 "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth [the voice of the Spirit] and warn them for Me.

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II.

A. Isaiah 62 is literally talking about God’s action plan in redeeming the literal city of Jerusalem at His Second Coming, but I believe that God is saying to us that, “If I can restore and bring salvation to the hardest place, surely I can do this in every other city on the face of the Earth.”

B. GOD WILL NOT REST until He sees salvation and righteousness spring forth in the Cities and Nations of the Earth.

Is. 61:11 “For as the earth brings forth its bud, As the garden causes the things that are sown in it to spring forth, So the Lord GOD will cause righteousness and praise to spring forth before all the nations.

Is. 62:1,2“For Zion's sake I will not hold My peace, And for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, Until her righteousness goes forth as brightness, And her salvation as a lamp that burns. 2 The Gentiles shall see your righteousness, And all kings your glory. You shall be called by a new name, Which the mouth of the LORD will name.

C. At the Second Coming of Christ God promises to redeem and join [marry] Himself to the Earth. [Rev. 21:3; Eph. 1:10]

Is. 62:3‐5 “You shall also be a crown of glory In the hand of the LORD, And a royal diadem In the hand of your God. 4 You shall no longer be termed Forsaken, Nor shall your land any more be termed Desolate; But you shall be called [My delight is in her], and your land Beulah [Married] For the LORD

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delights in you, And your land shall be married. 5 For as a young man marries a virgin, So shall your sons marry you; And as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride, So shall your God rejoice over you.

D. The means at which God brings the Cities and Nations of the Earth to Himself before His return is through the Ministry of Forerunners. This ministry is not something that we will have to work up, God has promised His Word to SOVEREIGNLY SET watchmen and forerunners in the Earth to prepare it for His coming.

Is. 62:6,7 “I have set watchmen [forerunners] on your walls, O Jerusalem [York] ; They shall never hold their peace day or night [continually pray]. You who make mention of the LORD, do not keep silent, 7 And give Him no rest till He establishes And till He makes Jerusalem [York] a praise in the earth.

E. End‐Time Forerunners ‘prepare the way for the people’ to enter into the salvation of God. This place of preparing is seen in 2 facets. #1. Prayer‐ Giving the Lord no rest [vv.6,7], and #2. Proclamation‐ Saying to the Nations, ‘Your Salvation is Coming.’

Is. 62:10,11 “Go through, Go through the gates! Prepare the way for the people; Build up, Build up the highway! Take out the stones, Lift up a banner for the peoples! 11 Indeed the LORD has proclaimed To the end of the world: "Say to the daughter of Zion, 'Surely your salvation is coming; Behold, His reward is with Him, And His work before Him.'"

a. Prayer is the primary ministry of a Forerunner! [Is. 62:6]

#1. Intimacy‐ Crying out for a deeper intimacy and Knowledge of Him [Eph. 3:17]

#2. Revival‐ Crying out for the Break‐In of His Kingdom [Matt. 6:10]

b. Proclamation is the ‘lifting up a banner for the peoples’ so that they might be saved from the crisis.

#1. Teaching‐ Calling men to a deeper knowledge of God and His purposes [2 Tim. 3:16,17]

#2. Preaching‐ Calling men to repentance and salvation [2 Tim. 4:2]

Luke 7:26‐28 “What did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I say to you, and more than a

VI. PROCLAMING THE WHOLE COUNCIL OF GOD. [Acts 5:20; 20:20, 27]

• At the first coming, Jesus paid the price for our sin and sickness, defeated Satan, and released the power of the Spirit in and through His people so that they might live victoriously over sin and make a dynamic impact on the nations of this age.

• At His second coming, Christ will openly manifest the fullness of His victory in every sphere of life in the millennium. *Imagine the power that is exerted at the rapture when dead bodies rise from the dead,

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when Satan is cast into prison, and removes the curse of sin from creation by restoring all things including the animals, and atmosphere.

VII. THE END‐TIME HOPE FOR ALL THE NATIONS

• The return of Jesus is called ‘The Blessed Hope’ (Titus 2:13). The earth will not come to an end. Rather, Satan’s kingdom on earth will end. The devil will be thrown into prison and all evil laws and leaders will be replaced by righteous ones (Rev. 20). This is the greatest hope imaginable for our future. Jesus will come in person to rule all nations. The nations will enjoy an open heaven with unprecedented prosperity and righteousness as the land, water, and atmosphere are cleansed and the conditions of Eden fill the earth (Is. 11:6‐9; 35:1‐8; 51:3; Ezek. 34:29; 36:35; 47:6‐12).

• And the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ and we shall reign forever and ever!

Rev. 11:15 “Then the seventh angel [last trumpet] sounded: And there were loud voices in heaven, saying, "The kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ, and He shall reign forever and ever!"

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