The Lighthouse Vision Revisited
Late July 1994, Bob Jones was told in a revelatory experience that pastor Cho of South Korea had a word from the Lord involving a move of God that would be birthed in Pensacola, FL. He was told that this deposit of God’s Spirit would have a threefold relevance.
The first anointing would generate repentance. The second would mark a season of establishing righteousness in the hearts of God’s people. Right standing with God is fundamentally essential for individuals to be utilized by Him in powerful ways. Although repentance will be a vital component until the end the age, we are now in a passage from repentance into standards of righteousness.
And finally, the third application of this word would open the door to power evangelism. There is a present call to maturity within the body of Christ. Writing to the Hebrews, the apostle admonished them to advance beyond the elementary principles into a place of spiritual adulthood. With maturity, we are poised to taste the good word of God and the power of the Kingdom age. Power evangelism is another way of expressing a wave of harvest through demonstrations of God’s Spirit and His power.
The Lighthouses of God
Furthermore, another unique quality of this outpouring of God’s Spirit was prophetically symbolized through the establishment of a spiritual “Lighthouse.”
This allegorical picture portrays a release of the Holy Spirit to establish considerable spiritual “light” in the Gulf Coast region and throughout the Church. There will be a strong emphasis in this aspect of the visitation directed initially toward Church leadership. It will mark a season of healing, restoration and equipping on an escalated level for pastors and leaders.
Light is produced by the merger of the Word and Spirit. The letter of the law alone produces death; but mingled with the Spirit it gives Life and Light. This combination generates Light for the lighthouses; these will be the “guardians of the Gulf!” A lofty standard of purity and excellence must be set.
Naturally, this will not be the only thing the Lord is doing in our nation. There are various works of God being established throughout the Church each with a quality of its own and yet all vitally necessary.
A Day of Restoration
We are presently living in a season of restoration. God has remembered His promise from Joel 2:25. In it he declares, “I will restore!”
The Lighthouse of God will be a re-establishment of a previous work that was initially built upon solid virtues. However, the adversary somehow entered and caused the early “lighthouse” to lose its effectiveness and thereby extinguish the light needed for “leader-ships” to navigate turbulent times. The revelatory light of God was exchanged for a form of religion that denied God’s supernatural power and promoted the precepts of man.
This time, there will be a pure demonstration of God’s written word and the validation of His Holy Spirit. Jesus is the light of the world and the source of all illumination. Those that follow this light will not walk in darkness but will possess the light of life. (See John 8:12)
This aspect of the prophetic word was identified according to Isaiah 33:22. In this passage the prophet declares, the LORD is our judge, the LORD is our lawgiver, the LORD is our king; He will save us — Isaiah 33:22
Schools of the Spirit
Spiritual light is often a referral to the inspired Word of God that separates the precious from the profane and the clean from the unclean. The sons of Zadok qualified for this duty by first ministering to the Lord and then functioning in a priestly role to the people. (See Ezekiel 44)
It was expressed in the original vision that equipping centers would emerge as a focal point. Schools of ministry that center around the Lord’s manifest presence will be established to prepare a fresh ministry model to lead the church into this new millennium.
Radical worshiping warriors are being prepared to give articulation to the hidden manna set apart for this age to beckon the militant bride. There will be diverse expressions of this truth but it will all come from a “presence” based emphasis with ministry as an overflow from fellowship with the Lord’s Spirit.
Healing, deliverance, signs and wonders and diverse miracles will earmark this company of sold out men and women with totally abandoned hearts of devotion. They will be an Isaiah 22:22 company with enlarged capacity in their hearts for the Lord. The revelations of 1994 gave several Scripture references to identify this day.
One was Acts 13:22 highlighting David as a token of this form of leadership saying, “He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will.”
Psalms 89:20 and Isaiah 44:28 were also emphasized to give clarity to the attributes and qualifications sought-after for this form of spiritual leadership. The Lord found David and anointed him for leadership with a Holy anointing. It was also spoken of Cyrus that, “He is My shepherd! And he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.”
The Overcomers
A wonderful virtue is promised to those who overcome and are victorious in this spiritual struggle. They are given access behind the veil to hidden manna set apart for God’s strategic timing. (See Revelations 2:17)
We have a biblical promise to “taste” the good Word of God and the supernatural power of the kingdom age to come. Hebrews 6 provides evidence of the pyramid of graces and the call to maturity among God’s people to function in this noteworthy prophetic fulfillment.
The Lord’s written word will be illumined with Spirit and Life and utilized as the “light” for the spiritual lighthouse providing direction for the future. A true knowledge of God’s mysteries and hidden treasures will be experienced.
According to Colossians 2:2-3, “That their hearts may be encouraged, having been knit together in love, and attaining to all the wealth that comes from the full assurance of understanding, resulting in a true knowledge of God’s mystery, that is, Christ Himself in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.
The Lord is revealing His desire to restore the “ancient paths” and the “old temple” which is the lighthouse of God. This work will be mingled with the fresh and unprecedented things set apart for this generation.
This anointing will establish the lighthouse that will keep ships, “leader-ship’s”, from shipwreck in the times to come. It will provide adequate light and illumination for God’s leaders to carry their spiritual goods and cargo across to the other shore and imparting life to a needy people. In this fashion, the wine skins are not destroyed nor the precious wine lost.
Church history has proven our propensity to squander our spiritualinheritance. The short duration of most revivals is evidence of this fact. In this day there will be a perpetuation and long-term sustaining of our heritage and the fulfillment of God’s grand design.
Natural Proclaiming the Spiritual
As a further validation of this prophetic word, the Mobile newspaper has reported on the construction of a large building directly adjacent to Mobile Bay. The project is called the Battle House Restoration and marks the renovation of an historic site dating back to 1852.
The article highlighted the fact that this building will be Alabama’s tallest building once complete. Additionally, the author also emphasized that the plan exists for a lighthouse to be mounted on the top of this building with enough light generated to be seen for a great distance. In talking with the builders, I discovered that this decision has not been finalized. Nevertheless, they did indicate that the building will be illuminated at night providing a notable landmark that can be seen well into the Gulf of Mexico.
This is the natural proclaiming the spiritual.