What I am about to relate will be a paradigm bender for many of you, and your tendency will be to dismiss it as foolishness. As a "recovering rationalist" I understand. Others of you will respond with what I can only describe as a "fatal familiarity," characterized by an attitude of "Oh, yeah, been there, done that. No big deal". For these, their "familiarity" with the supernatural will prove "fatal" due to their failure to appreciate the gravity of what occurred. There is a large kernel of wisdom behind the ol’ adage that "familiarity breeds contempt." In order to appreciate the significance of what I am about to relate you will need to avoid both extremes.

The following took place at a recent house church gathering, but I will not divulge where, when or who. I will only say that I know and trust the people involved, people not given to "pushing the envelope" or "flights of fancy". The meeting lasted approximately four hours. What I am about to relate began roughly an hour into the gathering. According to half of the people who were present and actually witnessed this, three angels appeared, each bearing a specific message.

The First Angel. According to those present who witnessed this, the first angel was clothed in crimson and purple and had a regal nature about him. His message, as recorded by one person present, was as follows:

The Second Angel. According to those who witnessed this, the second angel was clothed humbly and "non-descriptly" with simple robes. His message was as follows:

The Third Angel. The third angel was . . . well . . . read on:

The people involved in this meeting/visitation were deeply affected both then and for several days afterwards (well, duh!). One of them called me on the verge of tears, "I’ve been pondering this all day. Maurice, what does this mean?" Good question. I believe it means several things, and I want to try and summarize what I think is happening.

First, throughout Scripture angelic appearances for the purpose of delivering messages are significant events. It is like placing an exclamation point at the end of a divine sentence; like driving a "stake of remembrance" in the ground so we will not forget or take lightly what He has said. A good example of this is found in Daniel Chapter 9 where Daniel prays for wisdom, knowledge and discernment. God answers by sending an angel to deliver a message to Daniel. I have written about this episode in my fasting devotional book, "Not By Bread Alone" (page 148). Here is what I wrote there about this event: "God delights to make Himself known to those who seek Him. But Daniel’s experience also teaches us about the gravity of the things which God reveals, and this reflects God’s Holiness. Although God delights to reveal Himself to those who seek Him, He requires that those who receive His revelation exercise humility in prayer, that they respond to His revelation with prudent and circumspect behavior and with discernment ("What does this mean, and how does God want me to use this?"). We are to treat God’s revelations as holy, because they partake of His character." As in the case of Daniel, angelic visitations are intended to emphasize the "gravitas" of both the moment and the message.

Second, God is still calling His people to repentance (two of the three angelic messages contained exhortations to repent). As one of the participants told me later, "The Lord seemed to be emphasizing the message of repentance which He has given you recently." God has been calling His people to repent, but they have resisted the "staff of correction" and so He is preparing to send them one of the worst forms of judgment; He is going to stand aside and let them have their own way: "I will now let them pursue their own lusts and (I will now) stand out of the way!" It is a terrible day when God gives us over to the lusts and desires of our own heart.

This encounter reminds me of the angelic messages to the seven churches of Asia. And along that line, the "1^st angel" of the "1^st church" could suggest the Church of Ephesus (first of the seven churches of Asia). What was the problem in the Church of Ephesus? It was a church which had substituted activity for intimacy and had left their first love. Hmmmm. This seems to lead to the next point (a convenient segue).

Third, God is calling His people to quietude and listening to His still small voice. This speaks of pursuing humility and intimacy. Are we listening, or are we too busy pursuing "great things" to hear the still small voice?

Fourth, God is calling His Church to holiness, and He is going to do this by returning "the fear of the Lord" to the Church. It is a terrible but needed "gift". How serious is this? Read the last line again: "Tremble in fear for I am coming!"

O.K.. at this point your spiritual pinball machine should be on "TILT" (feel free to sing "Pinball Wizard" from the rock musical "Tommy" by the Who at this point. It’ll buy you a little time while you work to spiritually assimilate all of this!). This is a lot to absorb, but I think I understand where we are. We are entering a season of divine visitation and God is driving a stake in the ground (one of those "Remember this day!" moments). He is calling His Church back to repentance, to intimacy and to holiness. These three messages are not new. We’ve heard them before over the past several months. But apparently we need a "refresher course" on how important they are to the heart of God in this unfolding season, so He chose to repeat them via a "delivery vehicle" designed to burn them indelibly into our spiritual consciousness. Three prophetic exhortations delivered with three divine exclamation points for emphasis. Get it? Got it? Believe it?!

A season of divine visitation is unfolding, a season built upon repentance, intimacy and holiness. Where it goes from here only He and He alone knows. He’s God. We’re not. Get over it! The River of God’s Spirit, the River of Ezekiel 47, is preparing to flow in power . . . and holiness, the likes of which we have never seen before, at least not in the living memory of the Church. Are you and your house church a vessel through which He can flow? Are you pursuing repentance, intimacy and holiness? If not, now would be a good time to start.

For the past several months (seems close to a year) the Lord has had me in Revelation Chapters 2-3, studying "The Seven Church of Asia." I’m beginning to get a sense of how those churches must have felt when the Risen Christ sent angels to deliver messages of admonition and correction to those churches. I would like to encourage you to download my study notes and spend some time preparing for a "divine visitation" by looking at these churches. Perhaps my meager thoughts can be a starting and launching point for something more that God might want to show you. Click here to access and download my notes as a PDF file.

Get ready, and "Tremble in fear for I am coming!"