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Fredericksburg Prayer Furnace- Studies in ChristologyChapter 6: The Forerunner Ministry

I. THE CALLING OF THE FORERUNNER

A. The Lord raises up this ministry to prepare the earth and a people before He releases the unprecedented activity of His glory and judgment on the earth. This unique calling is one of a life laid down in intercession, proclamation, and preparation for the Lord coming in glory. This ministry is only raised up a few unique times in history and holds a significant place in redemptive history and the purposes of God in the earth.

A voice cries: “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God. Every valley shall be lifted up, and every mountain and hill be made low; the uneven ground shall become level, and the rough places a plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD has spoken.” – Isaiah 40:3-5

“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; and the messenger of the covenant in whom you delight, behold, He is coming, says the LORD of hosts.” – Malachi 3:1

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! 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.” - Isaiah 62:10-11

B. There were unique dynamics in the generation that saw God manifested in the flesh. If the people of God did not respond to the revelation of God in their genera-tion they would actually work against the move of God, and reject Him in their midst.

C. There will be “unique dynamics” in the generation in which the Lord returns. The greatest number of people will be living at the time of the greatest manifestation of power (God’s/satan’s) and will require a unique focus and understanding. In this generation, history transitions to the Millennial Kingdom. This is the unprece-

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The Faithful Witness

dented new thing that Isaiah prophesied.

“Do not remember the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?” - Isa. 43:18-19

D. Forerunners participate in 3 unprecedented activities of the Spirit: restoring the First Commandment, gathering the Harvest, and releasing God’s judgments.

E. God is preparing forerunner ministries ahead of time in the wilderness, that they may prepare others for the Day of the Lord activities. It takes a clear sense of mandate and identity as a forerunner to stay faithful long term, and grow in understanding (Dan. 11:33-35).

F. Purposes of this Ministry

1. To prepare individually for His coming.

2. To prepare the people of God to receive and cooperate with the revelation of God in their generation so that, instead of resisting Him, they will share in the coming glory.

3. To warn the earth of the coming King and Judge; announcing the coming shift in the seasons of history.

II. TRANSISTIONAL GENERATIONS REQUIRE THE PROPHETIC VOICE

A. Elements of this ministry are seen in prophetic and apostolic ministries, but finds its most comprehensive expression in transitional generations. These are moments in history in which God is about to reveal Himself to the earth in an unperceived and unprecedented way.

B. Let us consider the life of Noah and John the Baptist, and what the Holy Spirit highlighted in their lives. Both of them embodied the ministry that prepared the way for great judgment and great glory. It is important for us to understand the lifestyle these men lived, so that we might know and understand how to orient our lives and ministries in the hour of Jesus’ Second Coming. The anointing that rested on John the Baptist will rest on an entire generation to prepare the earth for His return.


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Chapter 6: The Forerunner Ministry

C. God is about raising up vessels. There is a lifestyle and specific ministry set apart for forerunning vessels. The days of building ministries and programs are over; it is now the hour of vessels filled with the Word of God, endued with power, laying their lives down for love.

III. THE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LIFE OF JOHN THE BAPTIST:

A. Jesus gives us commentary on John’s life, on the one sent to prepare the way before Him. John’s uniqueness was highlighted by Jesus so that another generation would know how to respond in the hour when Jesus would come back to the planet. As John prepared the way of the Lord, so John is a prefiguring of a generation to come. (Matt 11:1-19)

B. The very weakest person in the kingdom has the ability to live, in the grace of God, a life greater than John, now that Jesus has opened the new and living way before us and given us full access to the Godhead by the Holy Spirit.

C. Prayer/Ministry to the Lord: the first thing that typified John’s life was a lifestyle of consecration and prayer. John spent 30 years in the wilderness, standing before the Lord and ministering to Him in prayer and intercession. Waiting for the Word of the Lord. John said of himself, “I am one who stands and hears” (John 3:29). This phrase is used to describe priestly ministry.

1. John described his ministry and lifestyle as, “a friend of the the Bridegroom who stands and hears the bridegroom’s voice.” – John 3:29

a) The friend of the Bridegroom – the best man in a wedding does not seek to draw the bride's attention and affections to himself, but seeks to prepare her to receive the embrace of the Bridegroom. Paul spoke of ministries who preached or showcased “themselves” (2 Cor 4:5; Phil 2:19-21). Friends of the Bridegroom prepare people to receive Jesus’ embrace as the Bridegroom God, empowering them to walk out the first commandment.

b) Who stands – diligent attentiveness to stand in God’s presence in prayer and Scripture; John learned first what it meant to stand before God before he stood before men.


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“For who has stood in the counsel of the LORD, and has perceived and heard His word? Who has marked His word and heard it?” - Jeremiah 23:18

The seven angels who stand before God…to them were given 7 trumpets. – Revelation 8:2

c) Who hears Him – Day by day in the wilderness, John developed a listening ear and a tenderized spirit, to respond with obedience regardless of the price.

D. Consecration/Holiness: He would not be shaken by public opinion and the fear of man. He was consecrated and holy unto the Lord all of His days. He lived as a Nazirite, never settling for the lesser pleasures of his generation, and never partaking of grape products (wine). In the wilderness God removed all the props, and all the fleeting pleasures of the flesh. He was set apart to taste the superior pleasures of being clean and pure before the Lord. He was unmoved by the traffic and noise of the spirit of the age, and set apart for God and God alone--- he knew the superior pleasure of loving God and knowing Him. Only with this lifestyle of holiness could he preach the message of repentance he was called to preach . No one could buy him; no craving possessed him but one--the Word of the Lord.

For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, “He has a demon.”…But wisdom is justified (vindicated) by her children (long term fruit). – Matthew 11:18-19

1. Jesus described John as having a burning heart and a shining lamp of ministry that clearly and boldly made known God’s ways, and expelled misunderstanding about Jesus. He brought together the forerunner lifestyle (burning heart) with the forerunner message (lamp).

“He was the burning (heart) and shining lamp (ministry) and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” - John 5:35

He said: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD,’ as the prophet Isaiah said." – John 1:23

2. One crying in the wilderness – John understood his identity in ministry as “a voice” that was to be prepared in the wilderness of fasting and prayer. A forerunner voice is always prepared, and released, in the context of the


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wilderness.

3. John spent his life in the wilderness from youth until about the age of 30. He didn’t set aside a season of consecration; his life was consecration--he was set apart to God from the time he could read and speak. He was fully given to the purposes of God in that generation.

E. Extravagant Offering of His Life/Compassion: John’s ministry lasted at most a year and a half, most likely closer to 6 months. John laid down his entire life for his people to be prepared for their Bridegroom King. He spent 30 years preparing himself so that he could have the word of the Lord for six months of ministry, and so that those words could come out of his life in power and purity. He spent most of his ministry baptizing prostitutes, tax collectors and sinners in a dirty river so that their hearts would be ready to sit at a table with Jesus and receive His words. His whole ministry was focused on one thing, one man, one message.

1. His displayed such kindness and compassion that masses received his words with gladness, “The whole nation rejoiced in His light..” (John 5:35) The people loved John so much that Jesus trapped the Pharisees by asking whether John’s baptism was from man or heaven. John was the embodiment of the kindness of God towards his generation. - Matthew 21:23-27

…knowing that God's kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? – Romans 2:4

2. Jesus described John as the greatest man in history. No one ever obeyed God more consistently, nor prepared for ministry more diligently than John the Baptist. “Among those born of women there has not arisen one greater than John.” - Matthew 11:11

3. John described the joyful emotional impact that hearing the Bridegroom’s voice had on him.

“He who has the Bride is the Bridegroom; but the friend of the Bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the Bridegroom's voice…this joy of mine is fulfilled.” - John 3:29


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F. Prophetic: John positioned his life in such a way as to carry something from heaven. Through his lifestyle and years of ministry to the Lord, the Word of the Lord came out his mouth with such power that he launched his ministry from the middle of the desert by opening his mouth. The revelation of Jesus came from his life in such power that even his enemies listened to him with joy. He burned with holiness and power because of the years in the presence of the Lord.

He said: "I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Make straight the way of the LORD,’ as the prophet Isaiah said." – John 1:23

1. I am the voice – John prepared the people to respond to God in the unique dynamics related to Jesus’ first coming. More than just exciting oratory, he embodied God’s message. He was a voice! The forerunner’s voice speaks of the things that are yet to come with clarity, power and boldness. God is raising up forerunners who will be a voice and not merely an echo.

2. Make straight the way of the LORD – we are to make clear without any compromise what God is saying and doing. God is establishing a “prophetic information highway” on which people can walk and respond to God.

IV. THE REVELATION OF JOHN THE BAPTIST: HIS MESSAGE

A. When he emerged from that place he was at ease before the big crowds. The whole nation rejoiced in his light as he emerged with such an astonishing revelation of Jesus. John was the first among men to recognize Jesus' ministry, Jesus' identity, and Jesus' purpose.

1. Behold the Lamb of God who takes away sin of the world! (John 1:29-30)John understood what the Spirit was saying in his generation. John saw the coming ministry of Jesus clearer than any other prophetic voice of his generation. He knew that the revelation of God to his generation would be the Lamb who would be the sin offering.

2. I have seen and bear witness that this is the Son of God! (John 1:32-34) – John knew the identity of Jesus before anyone on the earth did. Jesus spent His entire ministry revealing His identity to His disciples, yet John had the clearest revelation of Jesus beforehand.


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3. The one who has the Bride is the Bridegroom. – (John 3:29-36) When John’s disciples came to him, worried that Jesus was stealing all of their converts and building His ministry, John gently replied, “A man cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven… The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase and I must decrease.”

4. John is saying, “Guys, I can only say and do what I have been given to do, and now He’s here to woo His wife. He’s been waiting 4,000 years for this; I’m done!”

5. John described what Jesus felt emotionally in saying, “He who has the Bride is the Bridegroom.” To understand John, they had to know who he lived before.

The marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. – Revelation 19:7

6. He who has the Bride – Jesus has a bride in His heart because the Father promised Him a prepared Bride at the end of natural history.

7. He is the Bridegroom – He has tender love and burns with desire for His people.

B. John’s message was both to the religious institution and an apostate culture. Although he addressed both very differently, his message remained the same, “Repent and be baptized, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand! There is One Who is coming Who will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire; prepare your hearts!”

C. John’s message was one of repentance. Many came out into the wilderness confessing their sins and being baptized. Preparing the way for Jesus was a movement of repentance and searching of the heart. John’s message caused men to search their hearts and turn from their wickedness. This softening of the heart would then prepare them to encounter the Beloved and follow Him.

D. He was an example of purity in righteousness in the darkest hour of human history; a burning, shining lamp.


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V. THE FORERUNNER MINISTRY AT THE END OF THE AGE

A. As we search out this man’s life and the calling upon him, we must ask ourselves: what does it truly mean to be a messenger ‘sent from God’?

There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. – John 1:6

This is he of whom it is written, ‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face, who will prepare your way before you.’ - Matthew 11:10

B. Later Paul speaks of this reality in quoting Joel 2:32.

For "everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they are sent? - Romans 10:13-15

C. This is speaking of much more than a local congregation blessing a short-term missions trip. This is the marvel of God-endorsed vessels who have responded to the word of God in their generation, and given themselves to the wilderness until that external prophetic word becomes in them like a fire shut up in their bones. They not only say the word of God--they are the embodiment of that word. They are prophets and they are Nazirites.

D. Joel 2:28/Acts 2:17- Peter declares that the generation of the Lord’s return would experience the fullness of Joel 2:28, just as they experienced the down payment in Jerusalem.

1. The spirit of prophecy will operate in every wholehearted believer at the end of the age.

2. Messengers will be raised up to declare the unprecedented activity of the Lord in the coming days, both in revival and in judgment.

E. The church will come into the full revelation of Jesus as the Bridegroom, King and Judge.

F. Isaiah prophesied of forerunners who would prepare the way for the Lord in the End-Times or at the time of Jesus’ Second Coming, when all flesh (all peoples)


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shall see Jesus’ glory together.

The voice of one crying in the wilderness: "Prepare the way of the LORD; make straight in the desert a highway for our God…The glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh (all nations) shall see it together (at Jesus’ Second Coming).” - Isaiah 40:3-5

G. Forerunners prepare the way for the Lord by preparing people to respond rightly to Jesus in the End-Times by making known His plans. God raises up forerunners as a “mercy ministry” to the multitudes before the intensity of the Lord’s End-Time upheavals begin in both positive (revival) and negative (judgment) ways. These activities express God’s love and wisdom.

H. As intense events begin to happen, many tend to lose their perspective and objectivity . Only those who see what God is doing as biblical, and as expressing His love and wisdom, are able to set their hearts-- resolving to participate with the Lord in His purposes, instead of resisting or neglecting them in fear, confusion and offense.

I. “A highway for our God” - The highway God travels on is the voluntary agreement of His people as they partner with Him. Forerunners make sense of what is to happen before the Spirit releases it in a worldwide way.

J. They are messengers who proclaim “now” what the Spirit is “soon” to emphasize in a universal way. They are one short step ahead of what the Spirit is soon to openly release. Forerunners bring new clarity to God’s End-Time movements.

K. The forerunner ministry does not make sense to the multitudes until the intense ac-tivities begin. The wisdom of Noah’s ark was not apparent until it began to rain.

L. Forerunners are “messengers” who function with a specific message in different spheres of life.

M. Forerunners are best trained in the context of the End-Time prayer movement. They understand the role of the prayer movement in End-Time prophecy and therefore build houses of prayer. (Rev. 22:17; 5:8; 8:4; Lk. 18:7-8; Isa. 24:14-16; 26:8-9; 30:18-19; 42:10-13; 62:6-7).

N. The Holy Spirit will emphasize 3 facets of the beauty of Jesus: as a passionate Bridegroom with tenderness and deep desire for His people, as a powerful King


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who confronts darkness and wins the lost and as a righteous Judge who upholds God’s standards (holiness).


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