Soul Speakers

Only the Holy Spirit can do the work that needs to be done to raise up His Bride from the ruins of Christendom.  In the days ahead, there will be people in the Body of Christ whose words will not be their own, but the Holy Spirit.  God calls them “soul speakers.”  Their words will pierce through the darkness, bringing much needed light.  Their words will pierce through the confusion and lies, bringing much needed truth.  Their words will pierce stony hearts and sinful minds, bringing the much needed conviction of the Holy Spirit.  

Scripture says that Jesus sent His Holy Spirit to “convict the world about sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father, and you no longer behold Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged.” (John 16:8-11).  At Luke Chapter 4, Jesus reads Isaiah 61:1,2 in a synagogue at Nazareth.  He stops halfway through verse 2, rolls up the scroll, and doesn’t finish it.  In this pericope, Jesus is announcing the “year of the Lord’s favor” in which the good news of the Gospel is preached, the brokenhearted are bound up, freedom is proclaimed for the captives, and the prisoners are released from darkness (Is 61:1).  That “year of the Lord’s favor” (Is 61:2a) has been taking place for the last 2000 years.  The Holy Spirit has been convicting people of sin and righteousness for 2000 years so that they can receive the salvation offered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  But one day we will arrive at the rest of Isaiah 61, verse 2, and the year of the Lord’s favor will cease and we will enter into “the day of vengeance of our God” (Is 61:2b).  It is then that the Holy Spirit will bring the judgment of the ruler of this world to its culmination.

Today, the landscape of Christendom is a parched, cracked ground and the people languish for want of Living Water.  They receive a thimble-full of lifeless doctrine and a vat of platitudes on any given Sunday, and they may wander away with a full heart, their flesh may be filled, but their soul starves.  When God raises up the swords in the hands of these soul piercers, it will be an all-out war upon the kingdom of darkness.  There will be casualties, there will be blood.  But there will also be salvation unto eternal life.  There will be firebrands snatched from the fire and hinges torn off from the gates of hell, bars bent and in disarray from the onslaught of God’s swordsmen.  Do not glory in these men and women, but glory in the God Who shaped them by His own hand.  The God Who removed them from human institution and put them in the wilderness for a season to learn His voice, His heart, His ways.  They are simply vessels which have been prepared for times such as these, and all preparation has been done by God and God alone, Who alone should be gloried.

I see the feet of a woman. 

I keep seeing these feet in my mind’s eye, standing on a hill, on the precipice of a battlefield. 

The wind gently blows the bottom tendrils of a flowy gown, licking at her ankles as she stands there.  

I see a sword in her hand, loosely gripped, the tip of it resting on the ground near her feet.  

She stands silently, looking out over the battlefield. 

Waiting.

She waits, not because she doesn’t have the strength to pick up the sword, but because she has not heard the instructions to do so.  

She waits, not with fear or doubt or trembling, but with building courage and growing confidence and increasing strength.  

She waits, as a lioness waits along the edges of the savanna and watches her prey, observing, assessing, waiting for the opportune moment to make her move.    

Timing.

Whether hunt or battle, it is all about timing.  

Both prey and battle are lost without the proper timing.  

Should the sword be lifted too soon, the warrior fights unprepared, incomplete in training, swinging at anything that moves, reaching exhaustion too soon, and is then overcome by the enemy during a moment of weakness.

Should the sword be lifted too late, the warrior misses the most opportune time.

When you are waiting for the most opportune time to strike, you are silent.  You are observing, gathering understanding.

As a snake makes its approach, there is only a window of time to stand up and frighten it away.  

If you wait too long, it will get too close to scare away and will strike at you instead.  

If you stand up too soon, it will be startled away before it gets within reach of the sword.

Timing.

Knowing how long to wait and when to rise up.

Many bare feet stand on this hill, on the precipice of the battle field.

Swords loosely gripped, the tips resting on the ground near their feet.

They look out at the battle that rages on the plain before them.

Waiting.

For it is not they who will raise the sword in their hand, but God.

"..the Lord has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-- to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of His splendor. They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations." (Is 61:1-3)

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light and kings to the brightness of your dawn. Lift up your eyes and look about you:  All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip." (Is 60:1-4)

"His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Coming out of His mouth is a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. He will rule them with an iron scepter. He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty." (Rev 19:12-15)

"But what about you?" He asked. "Who do you say I am?" Simon Peter answered, "You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God." Jesus replied, "Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood, but by My Father in heaven. And I tell you that you are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it." (Matt 16:15-18)