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“Lazarus, Come Forth” |
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The Lord is calling forth His Body! On Memorial Day weekend (May 28, 2000) I had an experience many in the Body of Christ can relate to. My husband and I were at the church we attend when visiting his mom. At the end of his message, the pastor felt led to pray for all of the out-of-towners (there were quite a few there that day) and asked us to please come forward. As people prayed for my husband and myself, nothing unusual was taking place until suddenly I collapsed to the floor in what can only be compared to intense labor. Although I had done this before, it had been almost a year since it had been this strong. (I’m thankful the church we were at understood what was happening to me.) I
was going through all the motions of labor, including the breathing. I
kept hearing the Holy Spirit say, “Come forth, Lazarus.” The spirit
led me to roll over and lay my hands on my husband’s arm and I was
barely able to whisper, “Come forth”. Moments later, the pastor laid
his hand on my shoulder and said, “come forth” to me. There was no
way he could have heard what I had said to my husband. The travail
continued for well over ten minutes and as time went on the scope of the
message “come forth” grew from pertaining only to my husband, to the
church we were at, to where it seemed to apply to the entire body of
Christ. Towards the end I began to asked the Lord, “what are we
doing?” He replied, “Bringing forth the kingdom of God”. When
we got home, I read all the scriptures in the Bible that have anything
to do with travail, birthing, Lazarus, and the words “come forth”.
Wow, talk about a powerful study. Although I knew that Jesus had
travailed before He spoke the words, “Lazarus, come forth”, it now
took on new meaning. The Lord was showing me throughout the study that
He is calling forth His people and His kingdom. While reading the story
of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the Spirit caused me to see the
importance of the fact that AFTER Lazarus was raised from the dead, he
was still wrapped with grave clothes that had to be removed. He showed
me that we too have grave clothes wrapped around us that must be
removed. On
Forth of July weekend we again visited my husband’s parents. Since
they have the Internet and we didn’t at the time, I enjoyed looking at
it while we were there. As I was looking at a web site the computer
suddenly kicked me out and there seemed to be no way to get it to work
again. Out of desperation, I clicked on an icon at the bottom of the
page that indicates a file is still open in hopes that it would make
things start working again. It took me to a screen that showed both the
home page of the church the travail had happened at and below it a
prophetic page that featured various articles by various people. After
looking at the church site, I clicked on the prophetic site. In it was
an article based on a promise a woman had received from the Lord based
on “Lazarus, come forth”, which she had received on May 30, 2000,
just 2 days after mine. The article was fascinating and said so many
things that the Lord had been showing me. There was also an article that
stated that the birthings that are taking place among many of God’s
woman are for the purpose of bringing forth the Army of God. I was then
led to a response to the Lazarus letter that contained even more of the
same things the Spirit had been showing me. After
I was finished, I mentioned to my mother-in-law what had happened
thinking I had opened a site she had been looking at. She told me she
had never been there before but perhaps her husband had. He too denied
ever looking at either site. Things suddenly got even more
interesting... Upon
returning home, we unpacked and went to the store. On the way back, we
listened to a message based on Hosea 6:1-3, “Come, and let us return
unto the Lord; for He hath torn, and He will heal us; He hath smitten,
and He will bind us up. After two days will He revive us: in the third
day He will raise us up, and we shall live in His sight To hear this
particular message on the station in was on since it was usually quite
conservative with it being presented in the way it was being presented,
struck both myself and my husband as very unusual. As we walked into the
house I was prompted to continue to re-read the Lazarus article where I
had left off and found myself staring at the exact same passage from
Hosea. For the church web-site and the prophetic site with the Lazarus article (which have no links to each other or to the site I was looking at prior to the computer messing up) to appear on the screen next to each other is impossible to say the least. To find an article that talked about the travail in the church referencing birthing of the Kingdom of God at the same time added to the wonder. To hear the message being spoken on the radio and to find the same message included in the Lazarus article less than two minutes later was just icing on the cake. But we know that nothing is impossible with the help of God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit Right before Jesus said “Come forth, Lazarus”, He made the statement “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Our God is a very BIG GOD and NOTHING is impossible for Him. It is us who must expand our willingness to believe and to hunger for the all that God has planned for each one of us. To our Lord be all glory, Amen.
This is the article that appeared on my screen: "LAZARUS COME FORTH" The Quickened Word - Sandy Warner's Site The Latter Rain Page Archives - This is the site that the article was posted on when it appeared Cornerstone Church - The web site of where this experience took place - look it over. Remember, I was a quest there and knew nothing about Sandy Warner when this first took place. Prophetic promise given to Sandy Warner 5/31/00 Hi Loved Ones, Sixteen years ago the Lord gave me a promise about Lazarus. He said, "I will raise him up." Now is the time! I want to tell you about Lazarus and his long journey, for you may have loved ones who fit this category. The following are the scriptures the Lord gave me at the time of the promise. They dove tail together to tell his story. 1) The story of Lazarus is likened unto the 200 men who stayed behind at the brook of Besor where David was told to take back what was stolen from them. When others were moving forward in the Lord and flourishing, "Lazarus" was too tired to go on.
2) As the years grew, "Lazarus" grew dryer and without refreshment.
3) In the process of waiting for God’s refreshing touch, "Lazarus" grew sick and hopeless. But the Lord gave "Lazarus" a promise.
4) "Lazarus" grew so sick that his loved ones made desperate pleas to the Lord on his behalf. But even though the Lord heard the pleas, He delayed answering.
5) In the process of waiting, "Lazarus" became so weary that he and his calling were finally put to spiritual sleep.
6) This sleep caused great disappointment for those that loved "Lazarus." But the Lord continued to reassure with His promise.
7) When the day came, God sent His Word and the door of hope was opened. The tomb door opened by removing the stone of hopelessness. Hope was once again stirred among disappointed and waiting hearts.
8) "Lazarus" rises to the Word of the Lord. He hears the Word, he obeys the Word, even though he is still bound in personal captivity.
9) The company of "Lazarus" is bound in grave clothes.
10) And the Lord said, "Loose him and let him go!"
11) The reward given to Lazarus for waiting.
12) What is the purpose of "Lazarus’" journey?
13) Word Study
If you are among the statistics or have loved ones that fit this description, have hope! For Lazarus is stirring, as the Lord is calling, "Lazarus, come forth!" Lovingly, Sandy The Quickened Word - Sandy Warner's Site The Latter Rain Page Archives - This is the site that the article was posted on when it appeared Cornerstone Church - The web site of where this experience took place - look it over. Remember, I was a quest there and knew nothing about Sandy Warner when this first took place.
The Lord led me to this article the same day in response to above: "Lazarus and Jonah" Joseph Herrin Heart 4 God - Joseph Herrin's website End Time Prophetic Vision - This is the site that the article was posted on when it appeared. Recently, as I read the word “Lazarus, Come Forth” by Sandy Warner I was struck by the similarities to what the Father was speaking to me through Jonah. I have felt like a candidate to be a Jonah or a Lazarus in recent days. I have felt that my steps and my ways have been confined by the Lord. Even as Lazarus was wrapped in grave clothes and placed in a tomb, and Jonah was confined to the belly of a fish, I have felt confined in my movements and activities. Sandy
Warner spoke of Lazarus having his head wrapped up with the windings of
the grave cloths even as I was hearing of Jonah having his head wrapped
about with seaweed. “Water encompassed me to the point of death. The
great deep engulfed me, Weeds were wrapped around my head” (Jonah
2:5). Sandy
Warner gives these insights into the meaning of having the head wrapped
up: The
company of “Lazarus” is bound in grave clothes. “Lazarus”’ face
is bound. He can not see what is going on, even though he knows something
radical is taking place, for suddenly God is speaking into his life and he
is once again responding. No one can see him either, for even though he is
rising up to the Lord’s Word, his calling is hidden to himself, and to
the world. He
is wrapped with grave clothes symbolic of death and preservation.
“Lazarus” followed the Lord’s will even to the point of death to
self. In the process of death, in order to preserve “Lazarus” from his
own self destructi6~ during the wait, “Lazarus” was allowed captivity,
enough to severely restrict his movements. In
my spirit the Father has been making known that great things are afoot. I
have not perceived clearly what they are, but I know that things are
transpiring out of sight, in realms unknown to the physical senses, that
are beyond the scope of anything the world has seen previously. In a very
real sense my head has been wrapped and my senses obscured. Part of this
is the bringing about of a death to living by what the physical senses
report. There is a realm of walking in the spirit that the Father is
leading His chosen ones into in this day. Isaiah prophesied of Christ: Isaiah
11:3 And He will delight in the fear of the LORD, and He will not judge by
what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear... (NAS) As
God prepares His chosen ones, He too will cut off our dependence upon our
physical senses, forcing us to venture out in realms of the spirit. We are
being conformed to Christ’s image, so it could equally be said of us
“he will not judge by what his eyes see, nor make a decision by what his
ears hear.” This is a completely new paradigm for most of us. Our whole foundation for living, action, movement, word, and thought is being restructured. This is a difficult process and at times it produces fear as all that has been familiar and comfortable is removed from us. It
is similar to Abram being called to go to a land that he knew nothing
about. After a while all of the familiar landmarks were gone and
everything was new and mysterious. The only resource left to Abram to
guide him was the voice of God. Interestingly, it was the voice of God
that brought both Jonah and Lazarus out of their places of bondage and
death. We are told that Jesus cried out, “Lazarus, come forth!” It was
God’s word that also brought Jonah forth. Jonah
2:10-3:2 10
Then the LORD commanded the fish, and it vomited Jonah up onto the dry
land. 1
Now the word of the LORD came to Jonah the second time, saying, 2
“Arise, go to Nineveh the great city and proclaim to it the proclamation
which I am going to tell you.” (NAS) Sandy
Warner states that “Lazarus followed the Lord’s will even to the point
of death to self.” Part of this death to self is death to our own
understanding and the habit of forming judgments and making decisions
based upon what our senses are telling us. For a while it seems that
confusion reigns because we hear God’s Spirit speaking to us in one way
and our mind speaking to us in another manner. We are placed in the grave
and confined in our movements until we learn to bring the mind into
submission to the Spirit. As Sandy Warner comments, this is for our own
protection. What
is happening is that maturity is being brought forth. This maturity is
described in the following scriptures. Hebrews
5:14 But
solid food is for the mature, who because of practice have their senses
trained to discern good and evil. (NAS) Romans
8:14 For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are [mature]
sons of God. (NAS) As
our heads are wrapped and our physical senses obscured we are coming to
the place where we will no longer ‘judge by what [our] eyes see, nor
make a decision by what [our] ears hear.” The
Lord has described the process He has me in as both crucifixion and
circumcision. It is both a putting to death of the flesh and a cutting
away of the flesh. This process is preparation for promotion in the
kingdom of God. Many
of God’s children today know that they have a calling upon their lives.
Many have known this from their youth. Moses sensed the calling of God on
his life when he was young. When he slew the Egyptian he was attempting to
fulfill this calling, wrongly assuming that others would recognize the
calling on his life. Moses had not circumcised the flesh, yet, and flesh
cannot accomplish the purposes of God. It
took forty years in the wilderness to bring Moses to the point where God
could use him. It took forty years to bring Moses to the end of relying on
his own strength, wisdom, and abilities. The wilderness was Moses’
grave. It is where his flesh died. At the end of forty years Moses had no
confidence left in his own abilities or talents. When God appeared before
him at the burning bush Moses told God that he had chosen the wrong man
for Moses had nothing in himself to qualify him for the task set before
him. He asserted that he could not even speak. This is the purpose of the watery grave, the tomb, the wilderness; to remove all reliance upon flesh and our innate abilities. God is seeking men and women who confess, “In my flesh dwells no good thing” and “apart from Christ I can do nothing.” However, God wants us to add to this a confidence in His ability, so that we also say, “Through Christ I can do all things.” When God calls us out of our graves He wants us to come forth dead to the flesh and alive to the spirit. For
a season, the Father allowed many of us to pursue our calling with a
mixture of flesh and spirit. The results were not what we desired. After
allowing us to see the utter failure that comes from this unwholesome
mixture, He then told many of us that promotion was coming to us. This
promotion comes only after the flesh has been circumcised. After
God told Moses of his new calling, his promotion, we are told that Moses
set out to Egypt. The angel of God met him on the way and attempted to put
him to death because he had not yet physically circumcised the flesh.
Moses’ wife Zipporah had to perform the circumcision. Outwardly, Moses
had to indicate that his flesh was circumcised, that he was no longer
relying upon his own strength to accomplish the task assigned to him.
Indeed, it was God, not Moses, that delivered the children of Israel from
the bondage of Egypt. Once the circumcision was performed, Moses was able
to go forward and be used mightily of the Lord. As
Sandy Warner describes, this preparation is not very pleasant. At times we
feel overcome by the stench and misery of our dying flesh. Jonah describes
his experience in his watery grave in this way: Jonah
2:2-7 2 and he said, “I called out of my distress to the LORD, and He answered me. I cried for help from the depth of Sheol; Thou didst hear my voice. 3
“For Thou hadst cast me into the deep, into the heart of the seas, and
the current engulfed me. All Thy breakers and billows passed over me. 4
“So I said, ‘I have been expelled from Thy sight. Nevertheless I will
look again toward Thy holy temple.’ 5
“Water encompassed me to the point of death. The great deep engulfed me,
Weeds were wrapped
around my head. 6
“I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was
around me forever, but Thou hast brought up my life from the pit, 0 LORD
my God. 7
“While I was fainting away, I remembered the LORD; and my prayer came to
Thee, into Thy holy temple. (NAS) If
this describes your situation, if you seem to be “fainting away”, then
call out to God in your distress. Be assured that he will answer you.
Great and mighty things are on the way. 1
Peter 5:10-11 10
And after you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who
called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm,
strengthen and establish you. 11 To Him be dominion forever and ever. Amen. (NAS) Heart 4 God - Joseph Herrin's website End Time Prophetic Vision - This is the site that the article was posted on when it appeared.
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