14 December 2008

Apostle Andre Pelser

Acts 26:14, 19

There are 2 kinds of visions from heaven: the mystical and the practical.

The one tells you what heaven looks like, which is like a travel brochure, and the other kind is a vision that shows you what to do on earth. Paul refers to a practical vision. Jesus says: “I appeared to you for this reason, to tell you what to do…”.

Acts 22:17-21

Heaven is definitely involved by using visions and dreams to tell us what to do tot spread the Gospel. The world tends to speak about spiritual things as if it's very mysterious. People quote: “God works in mysterious ways, His wonders to perform”. This is not Scripture. Someone wrote this quote, and people use it like it's Scripture. It's not. God does not work in mysterious ways. He tells us how He does things. He wants us to know His ways. The mystery of the Gospel has been revealed to the apostles, and they make it plain to the people. It's not a mystery, it's very natural. The more spiritual someone is, the more natural they are. You don't have to be weird or spooky to know God. God is not weird. People might call you weird because you are natural and they're not. It's natural to serve God. He made you. It's natural to speak to God – He's your friend. Isn't it natural to talk to a friend? Religion pushes God so far away, and makes everything so mysterious that they now have to play a certain role, and put on certain things, and change their voice. Some ministers scream at the people and then suddenly they whisper: “the Holy Ghost is here”, as if everyone must now hush. The Holy Spirit is a Person. He is not a dove that will fly away, or be frightened. He is not a dove. It was just a symbol. He is a Person. But, people want to talk mysteriously about Him because they think He's a ghost. You don't have to be spooky to talk about spiritual things. You are spirit, you live in a body, and you possess a soul. You are a triune person like there is a triune God. And you are made in the image of God. It doesn't mean God looks like you. It's like a lock and a key. The key fits into the lock – the key is cut in the image of the lock so that it can open. We are made in the image of God. We fit into God nicely. We are cut to fit into Him. God has a place within Himself just for you – you are cut in His image.

God wants to relate. We want to hear God speaking to us. In movies, they make the voice of God sound weird and mystical, but actually He speaks to us all the time in many different ways. He speaks to us through people, nature, preaching, prophesying, and visions. We need to realize that when God gives you a vision, it's not to make you more spooky or more mysterious, it's to tell you what to do. The appearance of Jesus didn't make Paul more mysterious, strange, or spooky. He didn't go grey over night because Jesus appeared to him. It's normal! It should be normal to relate to the One who created you, but religion makes it far removed.

The anointing is within us – wherever we live, and move, and have our being. There are times when there is excess anointing, but normally it's anointing to do something. It's not just anointed to have feelings. “I appeared to you to tell you what to do.” (Acts 26:14-19)

God is very practical. Most people that say God never speaks to them is because they don't want to do anything, but it's amazing how the same people can hear the devil talk to them. Will the devil tell you to do something good? No, that is why he is called the devil. God alone is good, and He will tell you to do good things to people. To hear God's voice is the desire to hear, so that He can tell you what to do. God will speak to you in the area of your influence; in the area of your responsibility; in the are of the talents that He given to you.

Paul was doing everything for the wrong motivation, and Jesus appeared to him, and that swung around, and started doing the same things but for the right motivation. God can change things around in your life. Paul says: “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision…”.

What is our vision? Our vision in the church is very simple: Commissioned to go, Commanded to love. It's our mission statement and our vision.

We are Commissioned to go. Where to? First of all to your neighbor, to people that you see everyday. Then to other nations, other towns. What to tell them? God sent you to tell them that God can deliver them. God can turn them from darkness to light, from the power of satan to the power of God. God can help them receive forgiveness for sins, and give them an inheritance. You can say to people: “do you know that you have a spiritual inheritance that you know nothing about? Do you know about your spiritual inheritance?”. Don't ask a sinner: “do you want to come to church?”. A sinner doesn't want to come to church. Only after you are saved do you want to come to church. You first have to get them saved, or bring them, or drag them, or compel them to come. Sinners don't just walk into church because they want to be there. They avoid it. The devils keep them from coming. First tell them what benefits there are. Like having a spiritual inheritance among those who are being sanctified by faith. Not through laws and rituals, and not through works. How are we sanctified? By faith in Christ Jesus Who is our Sanctification, our Righteousness, our Redemption. He is Everything to us. If He grows in stature in us, our sanctification increases. It's not an effort, it is Christ increasing. It is growing in His grace.

We are sanctified by faith in Him. Everybody can believe, it puts us all on the same scale. You can believe, you can use your faith to receive from God whatever He promised in His Word. You are sanctified by faith in Him. If you are sanctified by your works, it means that some weeks you'll feel fine, but some days you won't. Your faith can be permanent sanctification, permanent right standing with God. That's why He included verses like “… if any man sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous… (1 Jn 2:1,2); If you confess your sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness (1 Jn 1:9)”. Why does He include them? Because it happens. But if you want to hook your sanctification on your performance, then you'll like a see-saw life – one day up, and one day down.

We are talking about a vision that God has given this body, a heavenly vision, and Paul says that he was not disobedient to this vision. “I did what He showed me to do.” We can translate that on a personal level too.

What is there that God showed you to do in this life?

What must we do with the vision that God gives us?

Hab 2:2,3

You must write your vision down. People without vision perish. It's scriptural to write it down. It's what you see. If you make the vision plain, somebody can run with it. If you don't have a vision for you life, people walk right past you because you are going nowhere. You might as well grow roots and just exist, like a vegetable. If you have vision, and you write it down, what you are thinking and what you are hoping and wishing for and believing God for, in anything, somehow your subconscious take that. When you write something, you are more honest than when you just speak. Many times when you talk, you babble, but if you have to go and sit and write, you won't write that, because you weren't honest. Writing brings you to the level that