More on the Art of Receiving
Angels
Angels are sent on errands from the throne – but it is we who determine what and how much we receive and don't receive.
JOHN 1:51
51 And he saith unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter
ye shall see heaven open, and the
angels of God ascending and de-
scending upon the Son of man.
Nethanael had been amazed by the gift of the discerning of spirits or the word of knowledge that just occurred in Jesus' ministry.
But Jesus responded, "Thou shalt see greater things than these."
And Nathanael did: he saw the dead raised, the cripples walk, the deaf hear, the blind see, the dumb talk, water turned to wine, the feeding of the multitudes, walking on water, the wind and waves calmed, and Jesus resurrected and ascending into glory.
All these miracles were the outward sign, but in the unseen realm, what was taking place is angels were ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
There is an unseen realm, and there are activities of angels, which are involved in the manifestation of the miraculous.
For example, in Kuarla Lumpur when an elder in the church brought a couple to me and asked me to pray for them to receive the joy of the Lord, as soon as I laid hands on them and said, Receive the joy of the Lord, immediately an angel appeared with a golden present held out for them to receive. That was the gift of the discerning of spirits in operation, for it was only me who saw the angel - the others who were standing with me saw nothing.
But notice that angels are involved in delivering what we speak.
In Melacca, a leader of the church saw angels in the meetings in which there was joy and other manifestations of the Spirit occurring.
In
That again is the gift of the discerning of spirits in operation - the ability to see and understand what is going on in the unseen realm.
Notice that angels - and the Lord Himself - are present during our Church services; and they are active with regards to what is manifested during the meeting.
In Kuching, someone saw the angels lined up along the sides of the building in order, as if waiting for commands. They were waiting.
In that meeting, there was no thorough breakthrough of manifestations of the Spirit like there had been in previous meetings.
The man who received the vision of the angels - through the gift of discerning spirits - told us that the angels were here to do things sent from the throne, and urged the congregation to let it happen, to make it happen, to not miss what was available.
Nevertheless there was no great breakthrough, no free receiving, of the manifestations of the Spirit in that meeting. It seems the angels never quite got their go-ahead in that meeting - although they certainly were ready.
See there are things we must do - there is a role we must play - to see the angels activated - to see the manifestation of all that God is willing to do in our meetings.
I preached in a Bible College at Ipswich Region Assembly of God from the scripture "There are more with us than be with them" where Gehazi's eyes were opened to see the hosts of God.
"The strong angels of God are on our side, and we can determine what we receive from God today," I preached.
Before leaving Cagayan de Oro city, a brother named Jun Nagac and I went up onto the hill overlooking the city to pray. I saw a large guardian angel standing over the city with a sword drawn. I sensed that he would ensure a lodging place for me if I came back.
Angels are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation (Hebrews 1:14).
I read where brother Hagin taught about this verse. He pointed out that it says the angels minister for them [ not just to them] who shall be heirs of salvation.
He shared how the Lord told him to command the angels to go forth and cause the money to come in, the amount that he needed, for his ministry.
I decided to try it. I said to the Lord, "I need an amount more than $100, but not more than $110 – somewhere in between the vicinity of those two amounts."
Then I said, "I command the angels to go out and cause the money [that amount] to come in."
Well that night I was invited to lead a meeting where they received an offering and I noticed the amount was $107. I wondered wether they might give it to me as an honorarium for having been the guest speaker than night; and I wondered whether that could could be the Lord's provision. But they didn't give it to me.
Later that night we were saying goodbye in the carpark after having been out at a cafe when Jolon said, "I've been feeling that I need to give you some money, but I don't know if I have the amount in my wallet that I feel I'm meant to give you. Let me have a look."
He took out his wallet, had a look, then handed me one hundred dollars.
Rodney promptly spoke, "I'm going to give you something too," and added ten dollars.
So I came away with my $110. God gave me the top of the two amounts!
And in fact, one of the guys, at his own volition, soon afterwards began a system where an automatic regular payment was made from his account to mine, as a way of contributing to my expenses. Hallelujah!
The gift of the discerning of spirits is not just about seeing angels or the Lord in operation, its about seeing the activity of demons too. More on that later.
But the point here is: there is an unseen host that is commissioned to minister for us individually, and for our ministries, and for our cities, fand or our churches, and for our meetings.
So how can we see greater things happen?
Jesus said, "Thou shalt see greater things than these."
Why did that angel appear in Kualar Lumpur 10-minutes before the couple received the joy?
Why were the angels waiting in formation but not activated, in that church in Kuching?
Why were angels seen to be active during the meeting in Melacca where the Spirit's works were manifested?
The answer is that its up to us to activate, to receive.
Notice that in relation to the greater things that Jesus said Nathanael would see, He said he will see the angels ascending first and then descending upon the Son of man. It's as if they ascend first with something, and then return with something in response, from the throne.
I believe it is our worship or our faith that they take up to the throne. Then in response, angels descend with God's response - the answer, the object of our faith.
Faith is spoken and acted. It is deliberate.
Notice that Jesus said there were many widows in the days of Elias but unto none of them was Elias sent save unto Sarepta, a city of
Why not? Because God responds to an accepting heart.
Smith Wigglesworth said, "If the Holy Ghost doesn't move, I move the Holy Ghost."
Wigglesworth also said, "Anyone who is waiting for God has mistaken the position - Gos is waiting for us to act".
There are things that God is ready to do in our midst. What is needed now is not just for more prayer meetings asking God to move. The other ingredient needed now is to act, to accept, to speak, to receive, to make room, to deliberately allow time in the program, for Jesus to do His miraculous works in our meetings. We just have to give him time to move! And He will.
I shared this simple message - "give Jesus time" - to a home group of youth in Hong Kong. They decided to try it. The next Sunday they reported with excitment that the Holy Spirit showed up and blessed their meeting.
I've shared it with Pastors, and they decided to put it to practice. The result - God's supernatural presence visited their churches, resulting in revival.
Give it a go. In your personal prayer time; wherever two or three are gathered in His Name; in a home meeting or in a larger gathering - welcome Jesus to move, and deliberately allocate time for it, by faith.
And let us know what happens, that we may rejoice with you.
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