SOP: SPIRITUAL SIGNS – AN INTRODUCTION

(Spiritual Perception Series-1980)

Lesson XXV

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In II Kings 6 we read an astonishing story. And when the servant of the men of God was arisen early, and gone forth, behold, a host with horses and chariots was round about the city. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! How shall we do? And he answered, Fear not; for they that are with us are more than they that are with them. And Elisha prayed, and said, Yahweh, I pray Thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And Yahweh opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha. II Kings 6: 15-17.

This story begins in the eighth verse, which tells that the king of Syria was warring against Israel. In those days the Syrians and the Israelites were at war with each other and the Syrians would come down and make raids upon the Israelites. But a strange thing was happening every time they came down to strike at any army, the army was gone. When they came to a raid a city, everyone had moved out. When they came to steal come cattle, the cattle were all gone. So the king of Syria called his servants together and said, “Every plan we make is revealed. Who is the information?”

One of his servants said, “Master, there is no spy; there is not traitor among us. However, there is a man in Israel by the name of Elisha, a prophet in Dothan. He tells the king of Israel everything you are thinking.” The king answered, “All right, let’s go after him.” He gathered all the armies of Syria together and they went down and surrounded Dothan, where Elisha the prophet and his servant were staying.

Early in the morning, the young man came out and looked over the wall of the city. He was horrified to see all the armies, ready to take the city. He cried, “Alas my master, what shall we do? “Then Elisha to the young man something that is important for us to know? “They that are with us are more than they that are with them.” The servant had no eyes to see what Elisha saw. All he could see was the enemy.

That is the way it is with many people today. All they can see is the enemy and the circumstances and the problems. We should not fear the spirit realm, or talk about demons fighting us. Although we face these harassments, we must realize also that the angels of the Lord encamp round them that fear the Him (Psalm 34:7). The angels of the Lord move in authority as ministering spirits to those who are heirs of salvation. The devil, at best, has only the remnant and the vestiges of a bygone power that he once had before the fall, then you could fear, but not now. However, people too often acknowledge the devil as having power when in fact, it is the acknowledgement that is reinforcing something that was dissipated thousands of years ago. The agreement and acknowledgement of people giving such misdirected energies only keep the illusion of a bygone power contiguous and so a ‘focus’ is created that sustains the energy veil (evil). This focus becomes a mesmerism that locks people into duality thinking. Break the hypnotic hold and the people are then free to come into the revelation that God is the only Power and Authority. Unfortunately, the world is influenced by the Christian belief in the devil having power is the key sustaining force.

Turning the telescope around and minimizing the psuedo-power will help greatly in magnifying the Lord as the only authority and power. He was given ALL authority in heaven and earth, so where can there possibly be a power or an authority that isn’t His? After all, can there be more than all, apart from God? Greater is He that is in you that he that is in the world (John 4:4). Do not worry about your children, for greater is the hovering presence of the angels of God over your little children that the presence of the enemy. Their angels do always behold the face of the Heavenly Father (Matthew 18:10).

Elisha prayed, “Open the young man’s eyes so that he can really see.” Then the Lord opened his eyes and he could see all the armies of God surrounding them. Elisha was safe because the armies that were with him and his servant were greater than those of the enemy. The story has a beautiful ending. Elisha went down there and smote all the men with blindness. Then he told them, “You men are going in the wrong direction, to the wrong place; follow me.” And they groped their way down the road, following Elisha. He led them from Dothan and down to Samaria, the capital of the northern kingdom of Israel.

When their eyes were opened, they were surprised to see the armies of Israel completely surrounding them, full armed. The king of Israel said, “Shall I smite them with a sword? Shall I kill them now?”

Elisha said, “No, do not kill them. They have come to visit us. Prepare some food.” So they prepared a big meal and everyone ate. Then they sent the Syrians on their way. The Word says that the bands of Syria came no more against Israel. The king of Israel had killed his enemies with kindness. It was a miracle of God and Elisha went on his way rejoicing.

This is more than a beautiful story. It is an account of something that we can probably expect to see repeated in this generation. Long ago, before prophets were called “prophets,” they were called “seers.” Samuel was a seer. When Saul wanted to find out where his donkey were, he went to Samuel, for he could tune in to them and find out where they were. Samuel also told Saul, “You stand still and I will give you a word from the Lord,” and he told him that he was going to made king. Those seers could see the events that were going to come to pass.

It is interesting to compare two different translations of Proverbs 29:18a. The KJV reads: Where there is no vision, the people perish. The RSV says: Where there is no prophecy people cast off restraints. Both translations are correct, because the Hebrew word for vision is the word for prophecy. There were men who actually saw their prophecies. This is what God is bringing to pass again. I prophesy almost entirely by vision. I see the things as I prophesy. When Elisha said, “Open the young man’s eyes so that he can see,” he was talking about a quality that God brought to the eyes of these seers and prophets so they could see in the spirit. But how rare that was.

Joel prophesied that this what will come to pass in the end time: And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and you daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, you young men shall see visions: And also upon the servants and upon the handmaids in those days will I the pour out my spirit. Joel 2:28-29. This great prophecy of Joel concerning the end time is referring to a number of things; among them are prophetic utterance and the dreaming of dreams, which means the subconscious mind is and other aspects of the ‘soul’ are in tune with the Holy Spirit so that direct revelation can come to the very depth of your understanding. The spirit vision will be opened up. This is exactly what is taking place in this day. God is bringing signs, revelations, and the restoration of ministry. We distinguish sever or eight different classes of signs and revelation. Although some of them seem to overlap a little, yet each is a distinct type and kind of sign.

Brother Stevens spoke that the signs in the Spirit are given as ‘guides’ to help stimulate our senses to what is taking place in the spirit realm and have expression in the following ways: symptomatic—sympathetic—symbolical. I would add that they are also: symbiotic, in that they can integrate; synergistic, in that they can work together, and synchronistic, in that they can confirm what the Lord is speaking or doing at any time.

1.) Symptomatic Signs: The symptomatic signs often come to those who have the gift of healing or some such ministry. As they stand before a sick person, they feel the same symptom within them. One of the best ways to be in a diagnostician is to have symptom signs. You can stand before a person and feel what he feels. When you pass by someone who has a headache or some other physical alignment, you feel the same symptoms. You may not always be able to identify what is causing the symptom, but you can feel it just the same.

2.) Assault Signs: Those you feel when Satan is battling you or when real warfare of demonic power is coming against you. These signs can come in profusion. Sometimes it is quite uncomfortable to live with spiritual battles. You can be ready to minister at a conference and find that you get assailed by religious and scientific spirits all day. I have had this happen, but after walking into the service the Lord began to anoint and we ministered. It was a beautiful service and the people were met in a way that changed the whole congregation of that church. Satan had anticipated this and therefore we were under the assault all day long.

3.) Ministering Signs: I receive signs when I am going to impart to someone, but there are also ministering signs that might not be related to impartation at all. For instance, there are signs you can receive by the Spirit of God when you are being inspired to worship and you are ministering to the Lord. There are signs that I sometimes get when I am bringing the Word (lets begin to substitute the word, preaching with ‘teaching’ or ‘bringing the Word’—preaching per se is coming to an end and the teaching anointing is coming on stronger and will be the mode of imparting a Word as we move more and more into the Kingdom). I do not pay much attention to them because I am concentrating more upon the Word. But if I give it a thought, the signs give that sweet comfort and confirmation of the ministry that is flowing out.

4.) Devil Signs: The origin is not from God, but from lower entities. There can actually be times when you walk into the presence of a demon and feel its presence. You will sense it. It does not have much significance, nor should you fear it, or give it any real acknowledgement, but you should know that it is present. The sign does not mean that you are particularly anointed to minister, but it does mean that you are aware of the demonic presence. When you walk into the presence of a devil-possessed person, you may experience very uneasy feeling, emotions, or harassments. I think most people are familiar with devil signs.

5.) Angel Signs: This is a newer sign to me and I am thankful for it. If God would restore to us completely the prophet’s vision, we would not need signs so much. I think the signs are a intermediary provision of God until the fullness of vision comes. I am anticipating the restoration of the individual child of God to the state God wants him to have. I am anticipating the day when you will actually hear spirits with your physical ears and see spirits with your eyes. You will experience them with all of your senses. I say this because it has happened to me in the past. I do not always literally see a devil or a spirit as it moves about, but I can discern it. My spirit is so aware that it registers even what my eyes fail to see. Although I ambelieving for you to come into this I am also believing that when you do you do not put much emphasis on the negative. What we really want is to be able to have the Elisha focus where we can see that they who are for us are more than they against us. I always rejoice in angel signs and the presence of angels.

When I lay my hands upon the head of a child, I can always tell the type of angel and what his work has been over the child. I can tell if a child has been rebellious, because the sign of rebellion will be upon the child and the angel will be gone. The angel does not stay around a rebellious child. If that little child is being submissive and has gone through a time when devil power was trying to destroy him by creating accidents, usually there will be evidence of strong angel protection over that child. This is especially true in Hawaii and Brazil where devil (psychic) power (witchcraft) is unusually strong. God balances it out by giving extra strong angel protection to these young Christian children that would be destroyed otherwise. Isn’t God good in the way He takes care of His people? He watches over them and builds up their defenses.

6.) Divine-Presence Signs: This to me is wonderful—to stand and sense the presence of the Lord. Sometimes the natural sight is opened up and one can see the Shekinah glory cloud hovering over the congregation. The cloud comes as a representation of the presence of God over that place. There have been worship services in which I could see rain falling, and the rain was multicolored droplets; the Lord was coming unto His people as rain—the latter rain upon the earth (Hosea 6:3). Like little pricks of electricity, the spiritual rain was falling upon the uplifted faces of the people, and they were entranced. I have seen the presence of the Lord manifested in different way. Sometimes I can sense the glory of God resting on me—it is like a weighted light-cushion. Sometimes it is so heavy I can hardly stand under it. These are the presence-of-God or divine-presence signs, and they are very rich and very wonderful.

7.) Impartation Signs: These signs come as an indication of an anointing of the Holy Spirit to minister to people, to impart something to them. For instance, a burning sensation in the hands often comes because the Lord has anointed you to lay your hands upon the sick and to pray for them. You may just be standing by and believing, and you will still get that sign in the palm of your hand because it is a sign of healing power.

8.) Restoration Signs: These signs are difficult to describe, but we could compare them to growing pains in a child. We are becoming aware of a growing member, a growing muscle, we are beginning to develop. Sometimes boys grow so fast in their teens that they grow out of their clothes is a matter of weeks. When they rub their muscles, they actually feel pain. As a boy, I experienced these growing pains.

Let me describe the signs of restoration. Sometimes my eyes literally begin to burn and I know spiritual a new level of spiritual sight is coming. There are times when I am so aware of the presence of the spirit world that I can feel it throughout my body as though the wind were blowing. Sometimes the brothers notice me sniffing; my nostrils become so sensitive that I am able to sense the presence of devil attack coming against us. One can almost smell it, in fact, I have and it has an order very similar to rotten eggs or the smell of sulphuric acid. My nose acts like a dog smelling out quarry on the hunt. We are becoming sensitive and alert to devil power. In this restoration, it will not be long before the people of God will be so sensitive and have their faculties so completely restored that they will be fully familiar with any foreign or alien spirit coming against them and be able to cope with it. Praise God for that! The days of victory are coming, and that is why Satan is fighting this move of the Spirit so bitterly. He anticipates what the people of God in the remnant are coming into. There shall be deliverance in the remnant whom the Lord God shall call. No matter how strong the devil power, there will be deliverance in this remnant that God is raising up in this end time.

Let us lay a scriptural foundation to show why the signs work as they do, what their basis is, and why they are really important to us. Two passages of Scripture deal with symptom signs, the ministry signs, and restoration signs.

For we have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin. Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. Hebrews 4:15-16.

And whether one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are the body of Christ, and members in particular. And God has set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues. I Corinthians 12:26-28.

First of all, we see Christ, the great Head, as a high priest who is so sympathetic (empathetic sensitive) and so one with us that anything we are feeling or experiencing, He is experiencing too. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmity. In the human body the head is linked in through the nervous system to the rest of the body. If you smash your thumb, you react the eyebrows go up, the mouth opens, and sometimes naughty things come out of it. The head is expressing the pain that the thumb felt when the wrong nail was hit. When we see the way the human nervous system reacts, we understand that when one of us in the Body of Christ is hit, the great Head, the Lord Jesus Christ, also feels it. He is touched with the feeling of our infirmities.

I Corinthians 12:26 brings out another principle that applies to the physical body: if the thumb is hit with a hammer, the rest of the body feels it too. Not only does my head get excited, but I jump and down. Have you ever been hurt so badly that you felt it all through your body? When you were a child and your parents wanted to get your attention in regard to something you did that you shouldn’t have, you received a spank. It was administered to one end of the body to impress the other. The same is true of the Body of Christ. When one member suffers they all suffer with it. And when one member is honored, they all rejoice with it. The distinctive thing about the Body is that the member are so much a part of one another. A number of newcomers remark that upon entering in as part of the Body they begin to have dreams of communicating with other members of the Body. They recognize others in the Body in the spirit that they see physically in the services.

This is what God is bringing and intensifying in the Church today. We are becoming so one with the Lord that our worship is pure communion. The will of God is being conveyed to us by the moving of the Holy Spirit until the sons of God will be a people led completely by the Spirit of God, completely in touch with Him. There will come a day that when we want to communicate with one another, and though we may be hundreds or thousands of miles away that are spirits will come together with the same awareness and tangibility that we have in the physical. Christ is so linked with us that not only does He feel your need, but your brother and sister feel it too. Whatever you have need of, whether it is help in the time of trouble, or because some assault is coming against you, they are aware of it. Often when I walk by a brother I say, “Boy, you’ve been under the assault, haven’t you?” I am in tune with him. I am one with him. These symptom signs, ministry signs, and impartation signs come to us because we are sensitive to one another.

Most Christian do not know anything about this business of signs. They have never read about it in the Bible or heard of anything like this. I do not know exactly what it is, but I think it is a step that God is bringing between dispensations. He is bringing forth this remnant, preparing them for the Kingdom that is to come; and while they grow in God and come into the increase where their faculties are sharpened. He is making them sensitive through the signs the Holy Spirit is bringing (manifesting). Many of the signs will be unnecessary when we come to the place where the foundation is perfectly restored and we can see and know with perfect discernment and perfect revelation. In the meantime, it is wonderful that God does not let us stand alone, but He makes us part of one another in the actual experiencing of what our brother is going through, and he experiences what we are going through. What a wonderful victory we see in this!

If this is the case, then we ought to be able to understand the passage in Colossians where Paul make a very definite statement that he was completing in the sufferings of his body what was still lacking in the sufferings of Christ for His Body’s sake, for the Church. Paul was actually suffering for the Church. It is true that Jesus Christ died for the Church and His suffering was a perfect sacrifice. As far as sin is concerned, that is true. But as far as suffering for the Body, that is something else again. Let me explain it this way. We are in the days of travail when something is being born. When a brother or a sister is coming into the walk with God, there is going to be travail. You mothers rejoice in the birth of your children, but there was pain and travail involved with it. This did not mean that the judgment of God was upon you, it is just the way things are in this present order. We suffer for one another as the Body of Jesus Christ comes into what Christ has for it. We suffer with one another. We bear with one another.

In Colossians 1:23b-29 Paul spoke about laboring to present every man perfect in Jesus Christ, and I know that is why he went through his sufferings. Let us read the passage very carefully. Whereof I Paul am made a minister; who now rejoice in my sufferings for you, and fill up that which behind of the afflictions of Christ in my flesh for His body’s sake, which is the church: whereof I a made a minister, according to the dispensation of God which is given to me for you, to fulfill (complete) the word of God; even the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from generations, but now is made manifest to his saints: to whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory: whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus: whereunto I also labor, striving according to his working, which works in me mightily.

How effective he was. And yet, he was ready to complete the sufferings of Christ for His Body. He was doing this in his own body. I can understand that. No ministry will ever really be mature until it is willing to suffer for the people of God to bring them into the maturity and perfection that God has for them.

Paul must have know the assault signs, the symptom signs, the devil signs, the ministry signs, the impartation signs, and everything involved in this, because he was suffering for the Body. If something came against one of them, he was battled with it too. We learn to battle for one another. The strong learn to bear the infirmities of the weak. They learn to carry the load. The sense when a weak one is being assaulted and they get in the way and intercept it. They know how to stop the battle. This is really important.

Let us discuss briefly the quickening of the mortal bodies, because this principle is very important in regard to the signs. You must come to the deeper understanding of what it meant in the following scriptures: But if (Now, did you get that—“But if”?. Now if there is a ‘but if’ then that precludes the notion that there is a possibility of NOT having something. And, remember he is speaking here to the Christian. Let’s go on: But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwells in you (that is, the Spirit of the Father who raised up His Son Jesus Christ from the dead), he that raised up Christ, Jesus (now notice it was Christ Jesus, not Jesus Christ—indicating that Divine Order that works from the Father through the Son to the very physical host) from the dead shall give life also to your mortal bodies through His Spirit that dwells in you. Romans 8:11. What does it mean that God is going to give life to your bodies by His Holy Spirit? He is going to quicken them. Does this mean that we are dead? (Perhaps some from the neck up)—No we are very much alive. Is this talking about the resurrection? No, it is talking about the walk in the Spirit now, not the resurrection of your body. God is actually explaining here is the fact that your body is dead to much of the divine realm and the spirit realm, and this is quite true. The Spirit of God comes to give life to your body, to quicken it and make it alive to a world to which it was dead. This is why Paul states to the dead heads (and I am not referring to a rock band) to “awake you that are asleep and Christ shall give you light.”

After Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden, there was a curse hanging over them “in the day that ye eat thereof, you shall surely die.” Adam lived over nine hundred years after that. They did not die physically that day, but their bodies dies as far as the sensitive to the divine awareness of their spiritual faculties was concerned. In Genesis 4 and 8, we read that men began to build altars and to call upon the name of the Lord. This is why all the religions began to come on the scene. There was enough of an innate knowledge of a higher Power/Creator, but the sensitivity to the spiritual faculties were cut off and gaps remained in place, even though the spirit, soul and body overlap. Prayer became a necessity because people could n o longer see God, or hear Him and talk to Him as Adam had waked and talked with God in the cool of the day. What something that must have been to walk on the level of communion with God! But that was past, and a veil hung over their spiritual perception. Man’s eyes could not see the Lord. His ears could not hear Him. His nose could not sense His presence. His body was dead to God.

The Spirit that had

raised up Jesus from the dead is beginning a resurrection work within your body. Suddenly you find you hands burning. What does this mean? What do the signs mean to us? We are becoming alive to God again. The restoration continues to all the five senses. (If there are six or seven senses, as there are, then all of them are going to be aware of God). This is the restoration. The Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead is quickening our mortal bodies, and it does not yet appear what we shall be, but we know we shall be like Him because we will see Him as He is (I John 3:2). In Romans 8:18, Paul wrote, “I reckon that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed to us.”