I. Intro: Sharing a prophetic dream, biblical basis for dreams, etc.
A. Something a little different today.
1. This morning I want to share with you a dream i had recently that I believe offers us guidance and instruction on the work the Lord is doing right now both on a personal level and a
corporate level.
2. I know this is a little different from what we are used to, but I believe its important. I ask you to consider this dream and it’s interpretation and pray into it for confirmation and how to apply it in you own life.
3. Dreams and prophetic words are just one piece of a larger puzzle.
a. 1 Cor 13:9 “For we know in part and we prophesy in part.”
b. So I’m just offering the part that I was shown, hoping that it fits into the whole.
4. Like a piece to a puzzle. If I offer my piece, hopefully it will fit and fill in a blank space, helping us to see more of the big picture.
B. Biblical basis for receiving guidance and instruction in dreams.
1. Dreams are biblical, dreams can be instructional but dreams are always supplemental to the authority of God’s Word.
2. Biblical: Throughout scripture God has given guidance and instruction through dreams.
a. Ex: Jacob’s Ladder; Jospeh’s dreams as boy; Pharoah’s dreams; Nebuchadnezzar; Daniel; Joseph (Jesus’ stepfather); Wise men; Pilate’s wife, etc.
3. Scripture indicates that in the last days, dreams and prophecy will increase.
a. Joel 2:28
“And it shall come to pass afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions.”
b. Acts 2:16&17 Peter says “This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel…” and quotes Joel 2:28.
4. Dreams are often Instructional:
a. Job 33:14-16
14 For God may speak in one way, or in another, yet man does not perceive it. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falls upon men, while slumbering on their beds, 16 then He opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction.
b. Psalm 16:7 “I will bless the Lord who has given me counsel; my heart also instructs me in the night seasons.”
c. This is one of the verses I was given after receiving this dream.
5. Supplemental: Dreams do not create new doctrine or replace scripture. They simply illuminate scripture, warn us or help us to apply what God has already said in His Word. Dreams can
illustrate or show us how to apply doctrine, but they never replace it.
6. Every dream and prophetic word must agree with scripture (Gal 1:6-9), must be tested (1 Thess 5:21&22) and be confirmed by godly counsel. (1 Cor 14:32&33).
B. Four step process to test dreams and prophecy.
1. The four steps are:
a. Revelation: the dream or the prophecy. (Part I)
b. Interpretation: what does it mean? (Part I)
c. Confirmation: is this the correct meaning? (Partially done, this week)
d. Application: how do we apply it? (Part II)
2. The first three steps we will cover in this message today. We’ll see glimpses of the application today, but we’ll send more time on the application next week.
II. The dream.
A. Three scenes and common themes.
1. I had this dream in three parts, or scenes, and we will look at each one sequentially. You will notice some common themes in all three parts.
2. For the sake of clarity, I’m going to just share the main parts. (Daniel 7:1) Try to look for themes and jot them down if you can.
3. NOTE: The main character in this dream is my friend John Cava. He functions like an apostle without calling himself that. Had a career in ministry, teaching, church planting and predominantly missions. Oversees missionaries all over the world. Working now all throughout Italy.
B. Scene I: Resting on the Forgotten Door.
John Cava sat down to rest by the side of a road at dusk and leaned back against a dirt embankment. As he leaned back, he felt something so he brushed the dirt away and uncovered a small, forgotten doorway buried in the hillside. Excited, he opened it, but before going inside, he went to his truck to get a flashlight. I grabbed packing tape and a trowel to search for artifacts. In the dream, I knew this was an ancient doorway.
C. Scene II: Door of Discovery.
While John was at his truck, I could see inside the ancient doorway into a hidden chamber. Inside were several people waiting to ambush him, including a young man who I knew was one of his sons, but not one of his natural sons. When John entered, these people jumped on his back, but they appeared small compared to him. He easily shook them off, rebuked them, and they became ashamed. He stood up to his full height and the chamber expanded. The low ceiling lifted so he could stand at full height with room to spare.
D. Scene III: Recovery of God’s Design.
The dream then shifted to a massive ancient building that was built on top of the chamber in the embankment. Two young women, who claimed to be experts in old architecture, tried to take control of the discovery and told John to leave, but he ignored them. John took a sledgehammer and removed two structural supports that had been added long after the building was originally constructed. Instead of collapsing, the ceiling rose higher each time he struck. When the second support was removed, two exterior walls fell away and revealed a sweeping view of a city. The women were amazed, but one of them tried to claim the building for herself.
III. Observations. (What do you notice?)
A. Scene I: Resting on the Forgotten Door.
1. Rest: the ancient doorway was revealed during rest.
2. Tools: flashlight, hand trowel and packing tape.
B. Scene II: Door of Discovery.
1. Ambush: young man, a Christian, one of John’s ‘sons’
2. Small compared to John: he shook them off, rebuked them and stood to full height.
3. The ceiling expanded, went higher.
C. Scene III: Recovery of God’s Design.
1. Ancient building on top of the chamber.
2. Young women who calmed to be experts tried to claim it and kick John out. (Similar to the young man and his henchmen in scene 2.)
3. Sledgehammer: another tool.
4. False supports: everyone but John thought they were holding the ceiling up, but in fact they were holding it down.
5. Walls fell away revealing a view of the city.
6. One woman tried to claim the building for herself.
IV. Interpretation.
A. Summary of Interpretation.
The Lord is calling us to REST in the manner of Hebrews 4:10, “For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His.”
In this rest God will reveal the foundational doctrines of our IDENTITY in Christ, our TRUE AUTHORITY in Christ and our STATURE in Christ. This will require prayer for REVELATION,
SEARCHING the Scriptures and SEALING the Word in our heart.
But there is a warning. There will be people in our lives who are close to us but less mature in Christ who will try to keep us from realizing our identity, authority and stature in Christ. We need to shake that off, let it roll off our backs, rebuke them and stand to our full height in Christ.
This is Phase One. I believe this part of the dream speaks of a deep personal work that God is desiring to do in each one of us. If we obey the Lord in this, the CEILING will be raised— this means the upper limit of what we think is possible will go higher. For the church to reach its full potential, this work needs to be accomplished on a personal level in the saints, because scripture says “As a man thanks in his heart, so is he.” (Prov 23:7) So This personal work is crucial to what God is desiring to do in the church as a whole.
Phase Two involves the RECOVERY of God’s DESIGN, STRUCTURE and VISION for the church. This is why Phase One is so important, those forgotten foundational issues need to be addressed so the whole building can be restored to God’s original design and recover the vision that God has for us.
But again there is a warning. There will be people who are less mature but claim to be experts on how the church should be built who will try to take over and stop us from removing man made false pillars in the church.
We need to IGNORE them and apply the HAMMER of the WORD to these false doctrines so the ceiling can be raised, the walls fall away and our vision be restored.
B. Scene I: John Cava, secret door into an embankment.
1. Embankment and a forgotten door into an underground place— foundational issues. Specifically our identity, authority and stature in Christ.
2. I believe that we have been trying to comprehend our authority in Christ with our minds instead of STANDING in our IDENTITY in Christ by virtue of our new birth.
3. It’s like we’re saved and call Jesus Lord, but we still try to fight in our own strength, use our gift in our own wisdom, etc. We think Jesus is on the throne and I pray to Him, but I’m down here on earth, trying to survive.
4. Why John Cava?
a. John’s significant authority and mastery of the Word.
b. Cava means ‘cave’ in Italian. The secret chamber was similar to a cave.
c. The name carries authority for the place.
5. Key Identity Scriptures:
a. 1 John 4:17 “…as He is so are we in this world.”
b. Galatians 2:20
“I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
6. The secret door: humility, the ancient door, the narrow door.
a. John 3:30 “He must increase, I must decrease.”
C. Scene I: Tools.
1. Tools:
a. Flashlight: personal revelation from the Word
b. Trowel: personally digging in the scriptures
c. Packing tape: seal it up and take it with you
2. This work will require personal revelation from the Spirit into the scriptures that speak to our identity. The Lord knows what each of us needs and the Lord knows how to turn head knowledge into revelation that sinks to the bottom of our heart.
3. This is not something that I or any other pastor, author, prophet, etc. can do for you. The Lord is calling you to enter the forgotten doorway and so that He can reveal your true identity, authority and stature in Him.
D. Scene I: The forgotten door was revealed in rest.
1. Active rest: what does that mean? Hebrews 4:9-11 (Please turn here)
9 There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. 10 For he who has entered His rest has himself also ceased from his works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter that rest, lest anyone fall according to the same example of disobedience.
2. Rest is what made it possible to rediscover the ancient doorway into the foundational doctrines of our Identity, Authority and Stature in Christ.
3. Rest: to stop working, stop creating, stop striving and stop worrying to trust God so deeply that our soul enters a state of deep rest.
a. Heb 4:9 rest is sabbatismos a sabbath rest, a state of rest created by God
b. Vs 9-11 rest is katapausis ‘a calming of the winds’, putting to rest
4. TAKEAWAY: As we obey God’s command to rest, He will put us to rest by calming the storms in our life.
5. We have to labor, or work, exert effort to enter His rest, but when we do, He finishes the work and settles our souls and bodies with true rest.
V. Closing of Part I.
A. Remember the 4 part process for every dream and prophecy.
1. They are:
a. Revelation.
b. Interpretation.
c. Confirmation.
d. Application.
2. Today I shared the dream, the revelation, along with some interpretation. I ask you to take it to the Lord for confirmation.
3. I also ask that you seek the Lord for anything that needs to be left outside the secret door. Ask is there is anything that hinders the revelation of your identity in Christ. The lay it before Him.
B. We can always apply the Word.
1. Even as we seek the Lord for confirmation, we can always apply His Word. I ask that you spend some time asking the Lord how to enter His rest.
2. What keeps you from entering the place that God has prepared for you to calm your soul.