The Stairway to Heaven

Friends, I have a special quest writer today on our Blog-I think you will be greatly blessed by the Scripture Revelation. Dan

The Stairway to Heaven

By Daniel Kolenda

The Gospel of John is distinctly and wonderfully different from its three synoptic counterparts.  Some have speculated that John wrote his Gospel long after Mathew, Mark, and Luke and as such, John was not only able to read what the others had written, but he also had many years to reflect on his own experiences in light of what had been recorded.  As an old man, under the divine unction of the Holy Spirit, John was convinced that there were still some essential things that needed to be said. So he set out to tell the rest of the story in his own words.

John is an unashamedly biased reporter who writes with irresistible persuasion. He openly states his objective in chapter 20, verse 31, when he says, “But these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name.”  Everything in John’s Gospel is strategically incorporated to convince the reader that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, because John knew that through this knowledge we could receive eternal life.

It is incredible that while John omits the story of Jesus’ nativity, baptism, temptation, and transfiguration, he uses nine verses in the opening chapter to tell us a seemingly insignificant story about a young man named Nathanael.  But a closer look will reveal that this otherwise untold account is a profound and luminous thesis from which John’s exceptionally convincing argument will springboard in the following chapters of his Gospel.

The next day He purposed to go into Galilee, and He found Philip. And Jesus said to him, “Follow Me.” 

Now Philip was from Bethsaida, of the city of Andrew and Peter. 

Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote – Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”  Nathanael said to him, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” Philip said to him, “Come and see.” 

Jesus saw Nathanael coming to Him, and said of him, “Behold, an Israelite indeed, in whom is no deceit!” 

Nathanael said to Him, “How do You know me?” Jesus answered and said to him, “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you.”

Nathanael answered Him, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel.”  

Jesus answered and said to him, “Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You will see greater things than these.” 

And He said to him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, you will see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”

John 1:43-51 nasb

In order to understand what is happening here, I am going to ask a series of key questions about the text, and from it a wonderful revelation will emerge.

What’s going on with the fig tree?

The fig tree may seem like an oddly reoccurring theme here, but the cultural context reveals that there is more than meets the eye. In the rabbinic tradition, a fig tree is often used as a metaphor of the Torah (the first five books of the Old Testament).  Nathanael may have been sitting under it literally or figuratively, but either way it seems clear that he was studying the Scriptures.  When Jesus said that he saw Nathanael under the “fig tree,” He was indicating that He saw Nathanael reading the Torah, which leads us to the second question.

What is it that Nathanael was studying in the Torah?

Of course, in Nathanael’s day, there were no chapter and verse distinctions that we have in our modern Bibles, but I believe it would have been somewhere around chapter 28 of Genesis.  He would have been reading about his ancient ancestor, Jacob (whose name means deceiver) who stole his brother’s birthright, defrauded his elderly father, and escaped with his life.  He would have read how Jacob reached Bethel where he rested for the night.  There Jacob laid his head upon a pillow of stone and had a dream.  “And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it!” (Genesis 28:12 amp).

You will notice that before Nathanael met Jesus, he was a hardened skeptic who asked in reference to Jesus, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  But somewhere between verses 46 and 49, he dramatically converted to a convinced believer who declared to Jesus, “Rabbi, You are the Son of God; You are the King of Israel” (John 1:49 nasb). And this incredible transformation seems to have happened almost instantly, which leads us to ask a third question.

Why the sudden change of heart?

Nathanael was clearly dumbfounded by Jesus’ astonishing depth of prophetic insight. 

First, Jesus had demonstrated that He knew that Nathanael had been studying the scriptures before Philip called him, which it seems was hidden knowledge. 

Second, Jesus knew exactly what Nathanael had been studying and alluded to it when He called Nathanael “…an Israelite indeed” (a descendant of Jacob, the “deceiver,” whom Nathanael had just been reading about) “in whom is no guile [or deceit].” 

And third, by this same statement, Jesus proved that He knew not only THAT Nathanael had been studying the Torah AND exactly WHAT he had been studying in the Torah, but the clincher was when Nathanael realized that Jesus saw something no one could possibly see…the very heart itself.

This demonstration so moved Nathanael that he declared his faith in Jesus, “Rabbi, thou art the Son of God; thou art the King of Israel.”  And that is when Jesus made the most incredible statement of all – it was the punch line of John’s story. “Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these” (v. 50). 

And then Jesus alluded back to the scripture that Nathanael had been reading about Jacob and made a clear reference to the story of Jacob’s ladder: “Truly, truly, I say to you, you shall see the heavens opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man”  (John 1:51 nasb).

In essence, Jesus said, “Nathanael, are you impressed that I read your mail?  Are you impressed that I knew you were reading about Jacob’s ladder?  Oh, Nathanael, I’ve got something better for you. Wait until you see that I AM Jacob’s ladder!”

Jesus declared Himself to be more than a prophet, more than a Rabbi, more than a political deliverer, and more than a King.  He declared Himself to be the bridge between Heaven and earth, the link between God and man, the portal that God has opened on earth, giving us direct access to heavenly realms.

This is only the first of many such revelations about the identity of Jesus that John includes in this book.  For instance, Jesus says:

• I am the living bread that came down out of heaven  (John 6:51).
• I am the light of the world (John 8:12).
• I am the door (John 10:7).
• I am the good shepherd (John 10:11).
• I am the resurrection and the life (John 11:25).
• I am the way, and the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
• I am the true vine (John 15:1).
• He even said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was born, I am” (John 8:58 nasb).

John seems to be shouting to us what Philip shouted to Nathanael: “We’ve found Him…the One Moses and the prophets wrote about…the One who solves all the riddles, the One who answers all the questions!”

We’ve found Him:

The Way, the Truth, the Life,

The Bread of Life,

The Light of the World,

The Door,

The Good Shepherd,

The Resurrection,

The Vine,

The Great I AM! 

He is the Passover Lamb.

He is the Ark of Noah’s salvation. 

He is the brass serpent lifted up in the wilderness.

He is the rock of Horeb. 

He is the city of refuge. 

He is the veil in the tabernacle and the tabernacle itself. 

He is the unleavened bread and the manna from Heaven.

He is our Melchezideck. 

He is our kinsman-redeemer.

He is our High Priest.

He is the tree of life. 

He is the stairway to Heaven.

He is the second Adam. 

He is Isaac going to get a bride. 

He is the warrior standing before Joshua with a drawn sword.

He is Jonah three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 

 He is in every way the fullest and most complete fulfillment and source of

every promise,

every type,

every shadow,

every epiphany,

and every theophony.

He’s the end of all theology.

He’s the reason for every genealogy. 

He’s at the heart of every prophecy. 

His coming has split history in two and has changed absolutely everything!

  

Daniel Kolenda is a missionary evangelist who has led more than 14 million people to Christ.  As the successor to evangelist Reinhard Bonnke, Kolenda is the President and CEO of Christ for all Nations (CFAN), a ministry that has conducted some of the largest evangelistic events in history.  He also hosts a syndicated television program that airs in 118 countries.

Join Kolenda on Facebook at: https://www.facebook.com/EvangelistKolenda and on Twitter at https://twitter.com/DanielKolenda.

Covet to prophecy

Do you have the gift of the Holy Spirit called prophecy?

The Bible says: “In the last days, God says, I will pour out my spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophecy”. (Joel 2 and Acts 2)

Sometimes we can confuse the station of a prophet, the spiritual gift of prophecy and the unction of the Holy Spirit in a believer to prophesy. According to this verse quoted in the book of Acts from Joel, through the giving of The Holy Spirit, all believers have access to the prophetic.

Like a remaining unopened present under the Christmas tree, many of Gods children are not aware that the gift of prophecy is one of the gifts of the spirit God has given to them. ‘So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up”.

The gift of prophecy is given to the church body “for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort”.  According to the Apostle Paul, the gift of prophecy is one of God’s best gifts: “Eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy” (1 Corinthians 14:1).

The calling out of Holy Spirit gifts, like prophecy, can happen in many ways but the way I know from my own experience is by the laying on of hands by someone with the gift.  Apparently from Paul’s writing, the first century church also prayed for awaking of spiritual gifts with the laying on of hands. In fact, the Bible says, "In the presence of prophets, prophets’ prophecy".

King Saul discovered his gifting of prophecy when “a procession of prophets met him; the Spirit of God came powerfully upon him, and he joined in their prophesying.  When all those who had formerly known him saw him prophesying with the prophets, they asked each other, “What is this that has happened to the son of Kish? Is Saul also among the prophets?” (1 Samuel 10)
So how does one discover today if they have this wonderful gift that is to be used to strengthen, encourage and comfort?

I will try to answer that by recounting a recent experience where during an airplane flight I was speaking to the wife of my friend about things of God. As the discussion moved on it stirred my spirit and I sensed The Holy Spirit hint to me that she had something inside that was not ON her. At the same time I sensed the Holy Spirit say "'ask her if she knows she has the gift of prophecy'.

My example here is right to the point mentioned -that is: prophets’ call out prophets.
To my question, she was very surprised and humbly replied "No, at least I don't think so".
So I said, "I sense you may, so would you like to find out yourself right now?"  With unsure excitement she said 'yes' and with that I explained that I would lay my hand on her shoulders and pray for The Lord to show her if she had the gift of prophecy and that she should look forward in her mind and tell me what she saw. She was open to this and I told her to set aside her unbelief and instruct her mind to believe that God would and does give this gift.

So I put my hands on her and prayed "Lord, I thank you by the Holy Spirit you gave us gifts, I now call out the gift of prophecy." Then, after just seconds on prayer for her she exclaimed 'O my God!' "What are you seeing" I asked? She said 'I see a door opened in front of me inviting me to enter into it'. “Wow, that's exciting” I said, “Now ask the Holy Spirit if there is more he wants to show you and what does this vision mean”.

To this she went back into the spirit of prayer and came out after about 40 seconds with a big smile from ear to ear. Glowingly, she answered "He says he has opened the door for me into this new realm so that I can minister and pray more effectually for others".  She had the gift and hadn't realized it.

Now here is the fun part of the conversation - I asked her if there was something she was praying about and really wanted revelation from God about and she responded "Yes, I want to understand what is going on with my son".  Her son is in his early 20's and has been a huge concern to her and her husband as he has been living openly as a homosexual.

I said “ok, let's go back into the spirit of prayer and ask The Lord to show you what He wants you to know about your son.  Here is what you are looking for - as you see a glimpse or a flash in your mind’s eye focus your attention on it, asking The Lord to show you more of what you are seeing.  A glimpse becomes a thing, a thing becomes a picture, a picture becomes a movie frame and more is added until you are ready for the interpretation.  Honor the gift of prophecy with belief, asking for God to make it clear to you and for the right interpretation and The Holy Spirit will impart His message. Ask for Interpretation by saying, “This is what I see Holy Spirit, what is the Word you want me to comprehend from it”. (Read Jeremiah 1:11-15 “what do you see Jeremiah?”).  As she did so she began to weep as she saw the bondage her son was held by but also that the binds we coming looser. What she saw she could only explain to me as that she was much encouraged as she felt God was confirming that the prayers for her son were being heard and effectual.

This example, I believe, is what can happen to you also, as God says in His Word that He is not a respecter of persons and gives his gifts freely without measure and without repentance.
Only believe to receive!

Ask Him for the gift of prophecy - even become desperate for it. I have prayed many times something like this: "Lord, I know you have given the gift of prophecy and healing to many people who do not believe you for them and will not receive them, let me borrow the unused. I will give them back when you want them."

Some further advice on Prophecy: Ask The Lord who the Word is for and if you should share it with them.  Sometimes the answer is yes, other times it is no.  Just ask and do as The Lord directs.  If The Lord tells you who it's for and to share it simply say to the person "I believe I may have a Word for you.  May I share it with you?"

Prophecies should not be thought of, nor sought after as future predictions, like a fortune teller would offer for a sum of money, but rather revelation and knowledge of God's heart towards the matter. Through prophecy, God wants the person to know 'He will do it' but it's very important to remember God's timeline is very different from ours and very often a prophecy is given to encourage a larger vision towards future which may take decades, not days for fulfillment.

This goes without saying but must be said: Never make stuff up or use fillers. Faithfulness and honesty is all-important. You don't want to get stoned as one who speaks falsely of God. After giving a Word to someone further interpretation often comes out and I find myself able to explain what the Word means. You can expect that to happen to you as well.

Prophecies are subject to the control of prophets. A prophecy remains in your mind for quite some time. Paul says it this way in 1 14:32, “The spirits of prophecy under the control of the prophet”. I can still recall most prophecies that I have given even years later. They are God given burned into prophet’s mind by the Holy Spirit. You should write out prophecy when you can and if you feel it should be written.

Many years ago I received a word of prophecy in a church in NYC. The Word came to me during a baby dedication and it was for the two parents. After I gave them the Word I asked if they would like me to write out the prophecy and email it to them. They were very eager that I do so. It was an extraordinary honor and delight to give this Word.  I know it was from God. (This written out word is available on request)

Another way to be effective in prophecy is in prayer. I will often ask the Holy Spirit to show me through this prophetic gift what He would have me to pray.  I do this now daily when I pray for the Church in the world’s two largest populated countries, India and China. I am always amazed at what the Holy Spirit gives me.

Many of us have been turned off by those who have claimed to be someone pretending to prophesize in silly babbling words. Ok, that may be true sometimes, but who would want to scare us away from using the gift of prophecy, especially when the Bible says this gift is powerful to convert unbelievers? (1 Cor 14:24).  I think these false prophets talk because the real prophets are silent. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, be eager to prophesy” (but everything should be done in a fitting and orderly way).