The Power of His Presence - Part 2

                      ( From Romans 8:28-39 )

By Iverna Tompkins
Transcribed by Jane Vaughn

Editor's note:  In Part 1 of this message, we pointed out a few important things:  First, we stated that the Lord is preparing His Church for His Kingdom to be able to stand tall.   In that, we acknowledged that He has a divine plan for each of us, and ultimately that plan, or His will, is for us to be more and more like Jesus - or, "to be conformed to His image" (Rom.8:29).  Then, we said that we must not miss the importance of placing oneself under His eye, every day - consciously and willfully choosing to be in submission to His will and ways.  We ended by noting that His plan may not be exactly how or what we have prepared for ourselves and then cautioned that it is vital for us to be willing to change our course to match His will for our lives.  Iverna continues:

I see a young man in the scripture…  Well, he’s fairly young, but he’s an ugly little guy really, riding along on his donkey.  This little man has spent his whole life studying desperately to become one of the Sanhedrin (a highly respected, very learned religious leader even though very legalistic) in ancient Israel.  In fact, this Saul studied under Gamaliel, one of the key Jewish teachers of the day (Ac.5:34; 22:3).  Now, this man was kind of popular, because he was a gutsy little ugly guy. :-)   And I say all that because historians describe Saul of Tarsus as 4-foot-eleven with beady eyes, a long beak-nose, and slightly bowed legs.  Definitely not a “hunk,” :-)  and yet a little guy full of fire!  Listen to me, now – full of enthusiasm!  Full of what many Christians would call “anointing!”

Just because someone is fervent or zealous in their presentation, in their delivery, even in their life-style – it doesn’t always mean they’re walking down the right path.

One day, Saul is riding along on the road to Damascus and in his hand he has permission – he has the writ from royalty (Ac.9:1,2; 26:12) – that anyone preaching something other than what the Old Testament taught in the Law should be killed.  This official document he carried stated that anyone who had adopted the message that this “Christ” came to bring – this Jesus from Nazareth – Saul had official permission to kill them.  He could pull them out of whatever they were doing, have them flogged and even imprisoned.  He could do just about whatever he wanted to with them.  He carried that authoritative paper in his hand!

Now, Jesus was born with authority (Lk.3:22; Jn.5:17ff).  He knew who He was.  That’s a big argument among theologians: “At what age did Jesus recognize He was the Son of God?”  May I just say, “Oh, DUH!” :-)   He knew who He was when He came!  Otherwise, it wouldn’t be “learning obedience.”  This was a whole new realm for Him (in a human body), and He had to learn His way.  His human Dad (Joseph) was a carpenter, so He probably was learning carpentry.  But He knew He had a higher goal.  He got one little shot at it in Jerusalem when he was 12 years old (Lk.2:41ff), but then they took Him back home to Nazareth.   :-) 

It isn’t until He’s 30 years of age that He steps out and says, “Repent” or, “Change your mind! The Kingdom of Heaven is here!” (Mt.4:17).  And with that, He set Himself on a path – of persecution.  Oh, He healed the sick – raised the dead – did miracles – “from the get-go” as we would say in our vernacular.  From the very beginning, He did a lot of good things and multitudes followed Him – but bigger multitudes didn’t.

Let’s go back to the little man on the donkey.  Time has passed since Jesus lived – this story isn’t recorded by Dr. Luke in the Book of Acts until chapter 9.  Jesus has died, been buried, rose again, lived 40 days so everyone could see Him and give witness to it.  Those who saw Him after the Resurrection were proof of it (Ac.1:2,3; 1Cor.15:6).  Then He went up to Heaven (Ac.1:9-11) and just before He ascended, He said to His disciples, “You go do it now” (Ac.1:8; Mt.28:18-20; Mk.16:15; Lk.2446-48; Jn.17:18; 20:21).  “You should be able to do greater works than I, because I’m going back to the Father (Jn.14:12) – and you’ll have a longer time and there are more of you.”  Funny the things we miss – like what “greater things” may mean.

But this little man wasn’t there among the witnesses – he was studying the Law – the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots.”  What will it take to change such a person?  Unfortunately, he is extremely successful at what he does!  So successful is he that he’s known among all: “That’s Saul of Tarsus.”  Saul means “sent for.”  And whenever the people or Jewish leaders saw Christians rising up in these “home groups”… 

How many of you are in a home group?  You can look for a powerful anointing to hit that home group because that’s where it is right now!  The power of God being displayed.

Every time the Jews would see a home group meeting, speaking of Jesus and His power to forgive sins and cleanse men and women, Saul would walk in and disturb the gathering (ekklesia).  So, they would send for him: “Get Saul.  He’ll take care of this!”  And he would.  He’d go in and disrupt the whole thing (Ac.9:2c).

Now, he’s riding along with the power of the Law in his hand and on his side.  I want you to get this!  If you catch the meaning of what I’m saying, I know you will take it on.  We’re so afraid of the power of the law!  We’re afraid of “majority rules.”  We are too much like this defeated attitude: “What’re we going to do, Pastor?  The law says…”  What I’ve learned throughout all these years is: God plus one always has been a majority!  Now I’m not suggesting you break the laws of the land – that would be contrary to Scripture.  I’m saying that we need to have a spiritual perspective in every area of our lives, and not give in or up just because the media has reported some dire statistics.

But here’s the Law – it’s there in his hand – and Saul’s riding along with purpose.  Suddenly, the glory of the Master hits him!  Now the Bible describes it as a “bright light” (Ac.9:3; 26:13).  And it was a bright light.  It was so bright that instantly, he was blinded and knocked off his donkey.  Plus, he heard a voice – and understood what it was saying (Ac.9:4) – “Saul, Saul!” 

I’m reminded of a vision from the Lord I experienced recently (for a full description of the vision with commentary, see the message on www.iverna.org – “They Ought to Know Me!”).  It’s interesting when you hear and understand what you see.  It’s just a fascinating thing!  Saul was blinded, but he heard a voice.  Those traveling with him did not hear with the same understanding Saul heard (Ac.9:7; 22:9).  They heard only the sound of a thunderous noise.

The voice asked him a probing question: “Saul, Saul” (now, when the Lord uses your name twice, He’s serious! :-)).  “Why persecutest thou Me?” (Ac.9:4).  And little man said, “Who art thou, Lord, that I persecute you?” (vs.5a). 

Here’s a message we can glean from this: the very people you’re so afraid of (like the Christians were of this Saul) – the ones that you think are so mighty and that they would be so rejecting of the Gospel if you tried to share with it them – the truth of the matter is, they’ve never heard Him.  They’ve never seen Him.  Never really heard about Him.  “Oh, well, in America, everyone’s heard about Jesus.”  Not really!  And certainly not in the midst of the glory! 

That’s why I spoke to the home groups prophetically just moments ago.  The glory of God is going to hit you there, because there you’ll have time to talk about what has happened – and realize what it is and what it isn’t.  You’ll have time to take it all in and receive from it and walk out of there like Moses with your faces glistening with His Presence and His glory! (see Ex.34:29ff). 

When that happens, when He pours out His Spirit in such powerful revelation and then we gather together in the Church on Sunday, you aren’t going to be able to hold us down!  It’s going to be the power!  The manifested power of His Presence!  That’s what makes the difference!  The glory of God blinded Saul of Tarsus!  And the voice said, “Why do you persecute Me?” 

Now listen to it: Saul responds: “Who art Thou, Lord?”  The transfer of power begins right there – in acknowledging lordship.  Before that, “little man” was the power.  He’d just walk into a situation believing: “I’ve got the writ.  I am the authority here.”  Now, he says, “Who art Thou, oh ‘Greater-one-than-me’?”  And the answer to that is: “I am Jesus, Whom thou persecutest” (Ac.9:5b).

I think the Bible is terribly kind, by the way, in its silence, don’t you?  Especially chapter 11 of Hebrews – “By faith…”  “By faith Noah built an ark…” (Heb.11:7).  It doesn’t tell us (there) how many years it took him to accomplish that!  The boat wasn’t all that big.  And then, “by faith this one.…”  and “by faith that one…”  But when you go back in the Scriptures to read about their lives and discover the details: “Oh, boy.”  :-)   I like it though because it’s going to do the same thing for me!   :-)   “By faith, Iverna heard the word of the Lord and obeyed Him and was blessed.” :-)  You see, that’s all anyone needs to know. :-)  But I can hear all the angels saying, “Oh brother!” :-)  That’s okay.  I get a new angel every week because they quit! :-)   I hear them: “I had her last week!”   :-) 

Listen now, this will help you: God never blinds you to everything you think you know, or everything you’ve planned for, without giving you a new way to go (cf.1Cor.10:13).  Are you with me?  None of the people with Saul heard anything! (Ac.9:7).  He turned to them and inquired, “Did you heart that?”  “Yeah, we heard – thunder.”  “No.  Didn’t you hear…?  Didn’t you hear – the voice?”  “Oh man!  The guy can’t see and now he’s daft – besides ugly.” :-)  But the word of the Lord that came to Saul was this: “Go into the city you were headed for.  Go to a certain street – there’s a certain man there.  Knock on his door – he’ll receive you.”  God gave him the way to go.

Now, I’m ashamed – well, not really full of shame, :-)  but it’s not a proud moment when I tell you the truth about me when God gives me that kind of direction.  When the Holy Spirit speaks to me and says, “Go to this church – even though I’ve directed you otherwise and you’ve not been going to church congregations these days but only are ministering at Pastors’ Conferences.  Go ahead and say ‘Yes.’ to this particular invitation.”  All too often my next response to His direction is: “And then what?” :-)   I’m sorry, but that’s the truth.  And I press Him for the rationale: “Why would You send me…?  Why do You want me to go there when I said ‘No’ to here – here – here – here – and here?”  Now He never answers that question!  Never!  And I…  Yes, I truly do praise Him for that – because if He would satisfy my curiosity, then I would be in charge.  And that is a very dangerous position for any Christian!  We, too, are in the “me” generation!

Paul makes his – still “Saul” at that time – but he makes his way into the city.  I personally think his companions led him into Damascus (Ac.9:8), deposited him at the appointed place, and were glad to get rid of him.  :-)   Strange things are happening to this little man!   :-) 

He goes into this house, and what shall he do?  He can’t do….  He just sits.  For three days, he’s just there (vs.9).  He can’t even eat.  I mean, can you imagine what’s going on in this brilliant mind?  I can.  I can imagine him questioning, wondering, and even muttering in despair, “I’ve wasted my whole life.  I’ve been…  And now I…  I don’t even…”  Everything he’d ever seen was blinded!  Every plan he’d ever made was stripped out of his hand, and now he’s being accused – by the Almighty!  Of persecution!

Imagine you are a newspaper reporter and go to interrogate or interview him: “What’s your name?”  “I’m Saul of Tarsus.”  “And what’s your occupation?”  “I have no idea.” :-)  “Oh, I see you’re in Judas’ home (vs.11), what are you doing here?”  “I have no idea.”  “Well, how did you come to get here?”  Same response for the third time – “I’ve no idea.”  “I see – you have no occupation, you don’t know why you’re here, and you don’t know how you got here.  So, how long will you be here?” :-)

I’m using humor, Church, because it anesthetizes you. :-)  But a lot of you are in that very place today – running from reporters, hoping no one asks – fearing that maybe you have spent years in preparation for something that really isn’t and hasn’t been in God’s plan for your life at all.  He’s now blinded you to the things that were once dazzling to you.  And now that glory has been lifted, and you’re just not really sure of anything.  You try to talk to people but like it was for Saul, where he’s staying, the people, his people, weren’t there.  They don’t know what he saw anyway!  His friends didn’t hear the voice as he did!  They saw it as a burst of some kind of lightning or thunder.  Suddenly he was blinded and then they brought him into this place and… “I don’t know what’s going on.”  Sounds a lot like despair.

“Where’s the hope in this, Iverna?”  Oh, I’m so glad you asked.   :-)   Across town, God has prepared – a home group leader   :-)   – Ananias.   And He speaks to him explaining the situation and then says, “I want you to go there, Ananias, and lay hands on this Saul” (Ac.9:10-12).  Now the response of this “chosen vessel” is to give God – unknown information.  :-)   “God!  I know this man!  And it’s good You called on me because You have no idea what You’re dealing with in him! :-)  He has persecuted the Chris…” 

You know there are people who follow you around with a mental pencil and paper – to mark down all your failures.  They save them for posterity! :-)  “Oh, you think she’s so great.  Yeah, well I happen to know this about her… and I happen to know that…”  That’s all you’ll ever know if that’s what you’re doing with information!  I see people do it about churches.  They say, “That church will never go anywhere, because – back at the foundation time, a hundred years ago, such and such and so and so and such and such…”  If that’s where you’re stuck – you don’t know anything about the Holy Spirit and His redemptive plan!  Hour by hour, He is exerting His sanctifying power – and that person, or that Church is under the Blood!

“I can’t go and pray for him!  Lord!  He’s a dangerous man!” Ananias proclaims (Ac.9:13,14).  And God declares, “I’m not going to talk about this.  You’re My servant – do it.”

That’s all, Church.  All we have to do is obey what He says.  “Just do it.”  You don’t have to get the “what ifs.”  “What if it doesn’t work?  What if I pray for the sick and they die?”  Hey!  They were going to die before you prayed – so what’s lost?   :-)   Let’s not add another problem to it – by your disobedience – because then you’ll have to answer for that.  If God says, “Do it” – then just do it.  If you don’t see the response you want to see resulting from that prayer (as in healing), or the prophetic word you spoke, it doesn’t matter – you obeyed.  Now, walk in victory.  Sing the song of the Lord.  You could even sound somewhat like a childlike chant, or something a little bit sing-songy: “I obeyed the Lord!”  Well, maybe it isn’t that way, but that’s how I feel sometimes: “Neener-neener-nee-ner.”  :-)

You see – no matter what you did with what I ministered in obedience to His explicit direction – I’m not responsible for that.  If you don’t receive the word given, that’s your responsibility.  Because I gave what God told me to give.  I gave what the Holy Spirit said He was going to deliver to you.  Does that make sense?

                                                                                   Go to Part 3