AN OPEN HEAVEN

Jesus turned to Nathaniel and said, "Verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man" (John 1:51). The Greek phrasing here comes from a root meaning that suggests "repetitively." In other words, Jesus was telling Nathaniel, "God is going to open up to you continuing revelations."

Likewise, God makes this covenant with every minister of the gospel whose life is above reproach, with no hidden sin or dark secrets. Such a servant receives a continuous flow of the revelation of Christ's glory. And he acts as an oracle of God, continually receiving a fresh word from heaven.

I am often amazed by the fresh, anointed words I hear these days from a number of unknown young preachers. We receive scores of preaching tapes from all over the country, and occasionally a tape will contain such a message. When I hear this kind of pure vision of Christ, I sometimes call the minister who preached it and ask for more tapes.

If the tapes prove consistent in vision and message, the preacher might be invited to speak at Times Square Church. In fact, that is how we got our Senior Pastor, Carter Conlon.

Such servants are straightforward and simple in their walk with God, and their lives are open books. They are devoted to their families and do not exhibit even a hint of ambition. Instead, they happily pastor small congregations, spending many of their waking hours alone in prayer. Their very presence is full of God's Spirit and revelations of Christ flow out of them like rivers of life.

Our church is also staffed by godly elders. Often when I hear these men teach, I shake my head in awe, wondering, "Where did these servants get such incredible revelations of the glory, power and sufficiency of Christ? They have no theological training, yet they're teaching pure, holy streams of revelation!"

Like Nathaniel, these are servants in whom there is no guile, no secret habit or sin. Therefore, they can see, hear and discern God's voice to them and recognize His heartbeat clearly!