Gregory Dickow - From Passive to Prophetic
That’s very powerful. When I see land like that, that belongs to God — well, it has always belonged to Him. But you see the land in that video, and the Bible says, «Wherever the sole of your foot treads, it will be given to you.» The Bible also says, «The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof.» The earth is the Lord’s, but He gives it to the sons of God. You know, this earth does not belong to the devil. It doesn’t belong to demons. It doesn’t even belong to angels. It belongs to us. And we have the power, as you heard Rob share earlier and as you heard the Life Changers worship declaring earlier, that we have the power to speak to the dry bones, «Come alive.» We have the power to speak life. We have the power to prophesy. You say, «Well, I’m not a prophet.» You don’t have to be a prophet to prophesy. The Bible says, «And the sons and daughters of God shall prophesy.» All you have to be to prophesy is a son or daughter of God. But I just command this city, this community, this area, this region-wake up! Amen. I’m not saying that to you; you’re already woke. Not woke in the bad way. Not woke in the political way. We’re woke in the revival way! Amen.
We live in the heavenly realm. We live in the heavenly place. We operate from the heavenly places. We operate from above, not beneath. We operate from being the head, not the tail. We operate from the perspective of heaven. We operate from a place where every demon and every devil and all the forces of darkness-all the principalities, strongholds, and vain imaginations-are under our feet. They’re not over our head, reigning on us or reigning over us; they’re under our feet, where we reign. So when I prophesy to this city and to Chicago, Illinois, America, and the regions of the world, the region you’re in right now, you’ve got to know that you can make a difference with the words you speak. Amen. I need everybody here telling this community, «Wake up!» I need everybody here saying, «I prophesy to the dry bones in our cities: Come alive!» That’s your part. That’s your chance to say, «Come alive! Come alive!» Okay, you missed it, so we gotta do it over again. I’m saying you and I both have the power to say to the dry bones, to say to the dead, to say to the revivals gone by, to say to the revivals that have passed, to say to the dry bones that have died-and the spiritual forces of good, and God’s power, and God’s spirit-to bring them back to life with our words.
There have been revivals in Chicago. There have been revivals in America. There have been revivals in Europe. There have been revivals in Africa and Asia, and Australia, and all over this world. And the revival around us is going to happen by us, through us, because God has put His spirit in us. And we have the very same spirit. Romans 8:11 says the very same spirit that raised Jesus from the dead dwells inside of you. It dwells inside of you. So when I can say to this city, «Wake up,» you can say to this city, «Wake up.» When I say to the dry bones and the dry spirituality of our communities, «Come alive,» you can say, «Come alive.» And don’t just say it here. When you walk out, say it in the parking lot. When you get on Beverly Road, say it on Beverly Road. When you get back on 90, if you’re going on the highway, say it on 90. When you get to the city, say it in the city. When you get to the field, say it in the field. When you get to your house, say it to your house. When you get to your family, say it to your family. Prophesy, prophesy, prophesy!
In fact, my message today is called «From Passive to Prophetic.» We’re about to see a shift. We’re about to experience a shift. We are experiencing a shift. You know why I pray and why Paul says to pray with thanksgiving? It’s because he believes, and I believe, and I want everybody here to believe that when you pray, pray like you believe you got it! Amen! Jesus said, «Whatsoever things you ask when you pray, believe you have received them, and they shall be granted to you.» It’s Mark 11:24. He doesn’t say, «Believe you will receive them.» He says, «Believe you have received them.»
The reason that you pray and remain in the same mindset of doubt before you prayed, or of incompletion before you prayed -like if there’s something missing, pray. If there’s something going in the wrong direction, pray. If there’s something making you anxious, pray. But when you pray, don’t remain in that previous prayer condition or in that position prior to your prayer. But once you pray it, give God thanks for it-that you got it the moment you prayed and asked for it. Believe that when you say, «Come alive» over your body, when you say, «Come alive» over your body, believe! Thank God! Dance! Woo!
We had a wedding the other night. Congratulations, Neil and Karen. And I don’t know if Kevin’s family is here today, but if you are, congratulations to Kevin and Rachel-two of our worship team. By the way, I don’t know about you, but I can’t get enough of Life Changers worship! Even when two of our core team members are gone, a bunch of others just rise up. And that’s what needs to happen in all areas of our church, multiplying ourselves. Remember we said at the beginning of the year, do you remember? I want you to understand that God is a prophetic God. He has created a prophetic church and we are prophetic people.
Now at times, myself included, we’ve been pathetic, not prophetic, but we’re making a shift. But you know what? At this wedding, just about everybody was dancing, celebrating, rejoicing. And listen, we didn’t need wine. We had the new wine! In fact, they poured some in my glass! Honestly, I didn’t even drink it; I took a little tiny bit. It was about this big-tiny bit. I just tasted it so I knew if Neil had to change water into wine, I could ask him to if it wasn’t good. I just tasted it because if it wasn’t good.
Now, some of you are wondering: «Oh, these men?» Peter said, «Are not drunk as you suppose» (Acts chapter 2). He said, «These men are not drunk this early. It’s only the third hour of the day.» If it had been the sixth hour, maybe you’d be right. He said, «These men are not drunk as you suppose.» They were acting drunk, but they hadn’t been drinking alcohol. They were just baptized in the Holy Spirit. And the Bible says, «Do not be drunk with wine, but be filled with the Holy Spirit.»
But I love this verse where he says, «These men are not drunk as you suppose, for it’s only the third hour of the day.» You could understand if it was the ninth hour, but it’s the third hour. So no, they haven’t started drinking yet! Just kidding. It doesn’t say that. But you understand the point: they were prophesying. They were praying in tongues. Man, if you want a church that’s stagnant and dead or near dead, this is not the church for you! That’s right. But if you want a Holy Ghost place, where speaking in tongues is revered and valued, where giving generously is not apologized for but is encouraged and inspired, where prophecy is not something that a prophet does but is something that everybody does, where winning souls is not something for the staff to do but is something for everyone to do, where developing leaders is not for the leaders to do but for every member of the church to reproduce themselves, to make disciples, to multiply exponentially-if you would only know that you have the power to do it, you would leave here today on a mission! You would leave here today on an assignment! You would leave here today different than how you came!
Because I believe everybody came with a need in their life. But needs aren’t met. Needs are not met from need. Needs are met from seeds. And today you’ve got to be willing to take in the seeds, and you’ve got to be willing to plant the seeds that produce the fulfillment and the provision for your needs. Seeds meet needs. When Olivia showed us that video, I couldn’t help but start to get choked up. These people are reaching their country in the regions of the world that we all do not live in and can’t get to and wouldn’t even want to in many cases. So you know what? If you’re not planning to go on the mission, support the mission. If you’re not planning to be the missionary, give for the missionaries. This church is a missionary church. It doesn’t mean that we just produce a lot of missionaries; we are the missionaries. We are going into all the world and preaching the gospel and making disciples.
So remember at the beginning of the year we said this: God has called us this year to know Him intimately, to love one another generously, and to multiply ourselves exponentially. That can’t happen with just a handful of people doing it; it happens when everybody takes it on as if they were the only one that had to do it, as if they were the only one that could do it, as if they were the only one that would do it. This city lacks. This nation lacks. God is shaking things in this world. He’s shaking things. And it all happens through prayer, through churches that preach unashamedly that Jesus is the fullness of grace and truth. That by grace are we saved through faith, and that not of ourselves; it is the free gift of God, not a result of works, lest any man should boast. But we are created in Him, by Him, for good works-not saved by good works but created for good works.
And winning the lost at any cost is a part of the good works. Making disciples is a part of the good works. We’re a part of the Acts. We’re a part of the book of Acts church. We are an extension of the book of Acts. Every church that believes the Bible, every church that proclaims Jesus as Lord, is an extension of the church of the book of Acts! Amen! Amen!
So today I want to say this again and repeat this: You’re about to hear something that won’t just be heard; it will break things open. It’s going to shake the room, it’s going to wake hearts, and it’s going to set people in motion. So if you’re ready to be shook, if you’re ready to shake up the ground of all our tradition and break down the walls of all the religion, then you are going to leave here changed. You’re going to leave here transformed.
Because I’m young at heart but not in body. I’m getting old, not in a bad way. My youth is renewed like the eagle, but I’m way more picky about what I spend my time doing. So if it’s not producing disciples or producing wealth to produce more disciples, I’m not involved. I don’t want it. I don’t have time for it-not coming because I don’t have anything to do. I’ve got more to do than I can do in my lifetime. But I’m not having church to have another service, to preach another message. I don’t need affirmation. I don’t need applause. I don’t need recognition. I don’t need any approval. Humanity’s approval means nothing to me. Nothing. Nobody impresses me in this life. Nobody scares me in this life. Nobody’s unreachable if we’re willing to reach, and if we’re willing to sweat a little, and if we’re willing to break out of our tradition.
There are some great traditions! Taking communion is a great one. I’ll never stop doing it. But limitations-anything that limits, anything that puts a ceiling on what God can do in my life-that is not a tradition I’m okay with. Well, we just gotta do things the way we’ve always done them. I’m not okay with that! «Well, you know we just gotta be patient.» You know what? Love is patient, but patience isn’t just waiting around. Patience is applying truth and applying the seed-planting principles of God until the harvest starts showing up! Patience doesn’t mean waiting around for the harvest; it means planting the seeds until the harvest starts overtaking the new planting of the seeds.
I’m getting to a place in my life where my harvest is starting to get ahead of my seeds because my harvests are from my 30s-the good ones, anyway. The bad ones, I’m just praying for crop failure. I speak death over the bad seeds I’ve sown. I speak life over the good ones. And you have the power to do that too! Say, «Oh, that’s not fair!» You’re right! It’s not fair. It’s a gift from God. It’s mercy. You’re right; it’s not fair. It’s mercy! Oh, don’t tell people that they can, you know, pray for a crop failure. That would just encourage them to sin more. I really don’t think so. I think it’s going to encourage them to love more. Because when you realize how merciful God’s been towards you, you’re pretty merciful towards others. That’s good!
You know, when you’re judgmental towards others, it’s because you feel judged. When you condemn others, it’s because you feel condemned. I’m not condemned; I’m not condemning anybody. I’m actually now catching up to who God created me to be. I’m catching up. I’m not there, but I’m catching up. So these moments matter to me.
So look in your Bible to Matthew chapter 28, and let me tell you how to go from passive to prophetic. Now after the Sabbath, as it began to dawn toward the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary came to look at the grave. And it says, «And behold, a severe earthquake had occurred.» There was a shaking, and there was movement, and there was the rolling away of the stone.
Now imagine this: a severe earthquake occurs. The angel shows up, comes, and rolls away the stone, and then sits on it. Now, I don’t know about you, but that reminds me this is a story that people can imagine and picture in their minds-something you conquer that you then sit on and revel in the finished work. So this angel, he does the work. He creates this earthquake. Well, the resurrection of Jesus creates this earthquake. And the angel comes from heaven to roll away the stone for the man who’s living behind it. He’s not dead; he’s alive. The angel’s just coming out of courtesy to roll away the stone for Jesus-not because Jesus couldn’t roll it away, but because God was creating a dramatic moment-something that could be remembered and something that would be memorable.
And then once he rolls it away, the angel just sits on top. You know, I can imagine him just crossing his legs and just kind of being like this: «Yeah, I did that!» You are going to roll away some things that have blocked you, obstructed you, and limited you, and you are going to find yourself sitting on top of the very stone that kept you dead, and you are going to cross your legs. You know, if you could just imagine a guy smoking a pipe-not the ones that you guys have been smoking. I’m talking about from back in the'50s, you know, those old-school ones — just kind of, I’m not encouraging you to smoke or to vape or any of that. Get filled and baptized in the Holy Spirit, and those things will fall off of you.
And the things that are gray areas, you sort those out as you walk with God! Yes! You don’t make sure everything is black or white, that everything is fixed, that everything is perfect, and now let me walk with God. No, it’s a journey in your weakness and in your imperfections.
Well, too much digging down now; I’m just getting too far away from the point. When Jesus rose from the dead, He rose not to prove a point. He did not rise to make you religious. He did not rise to keep you busy. He did not rise to leave you the same. He rose to shake every system that kept you distant, kept you passive, kept you stuck, silent, and small. And if you do not want to shake those things in the same way that Jesus came to shake them, I want you to invite God to change your heart’s desire, because He will give you the desire of your heart.
Sometimes you’re not getting in alignment with the right desires because you’re not asking God to give you the desires. Think about that. In Psalm 37:4, I think it is, He gives you the desires of your heart. He will give you the desires, and then He will give you the desires that you just desired. First, He’ll give you the desires to desire, and then He’ll give you the desires that you desire. Do you delight yourself in the Lord? Boy, there we could go deep on that.
But just take a moment and just get a word picture of this word for a moment: Delight-which, yes, it means to enjoy and to celebrate and to revel in. But let’s just use it as a play on words. Delight: take the light off of you and put the light on Him. Take the focus off of you and put the focus on Him. Take the flashlight of your phone. How many need to use that to read a menu in a restaurant? If that’s you, you’re 40 or older. But there’s hope! You could get LASIK! Delight! I’m taking the focus off of me and I’m shining it on what Jesus did, who He is, and what He has for me.
In Acts chapter 3, verse 1, this is not just a story of a healing. It is the announcement of God’s prophetic move that the church is supposed to make after Pentecost. Now, we are in the days of Pentecost. Traditionally, from the calendar year, from the resurrection of Jesus till 50 days later, is the day of Pentecost. After that 50 days, and on that day after Jesus' resurrection, on that 50th day, the Holy Spirit was poured out just like Jesus said He would be, and they were all baptized in the Holy Spirit in Acts chapter 2. He said, «Don’t leave Jerusalem until you’ve been clothed with power from on high.»
And He clothed them with power through the baptism of the Holy Spirit. When you get born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. But when you get baptized in the Holy Spirit, that’s you living inside of the Holy Spirit. So imagine a glass of water versus a pitcher of water, and you’re the glass. So being born again is God taking His love and spirit by the blood of Jesus and pouring His spirit into your glass. But His pitcher is still full of the Holy Spirit.
God’s pitcher is still full of the Holy Spirit. But now you’re full of the Holy Spirit. The moment you got born again, the Holy Spirit comes to live inside of you. But what is the difference between being born again and being baptized in the Holy Spirit? Because the word baptism means immersion. Immersion means to be completely immersed in or submerged in. It’s not a little dabble. A little dab will do ya! It’s not just a little water on your forehead-is not what baptism means. Nothing wrong with doing that if you’re christening your baby or all of that, but I’m talking about being immersed.
Baptism means immersed. So the baptism of the Holy Spirit is now taking the glass of water-which is you being born again with the spirit of God living inside of you-and God takes you and puts you in the pitcher! If you can imagine the glass full of water is now in the pitcher full of water, and the glass is submerged, that’s you-immersed in the spirit of the living God. So everywhere you go and every move you make, you are having the Holy Spirit not just in you but all around you. There is power, there is anointing, there is might! Jesus Himself was anointed with the Holy Spirit and power, and He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil. He didn’t just go and do good because that was His intention.
He didn’t just heal everyone that was oppressed of the devil because He was just a good guy and wanted everybody to be healed. He went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed of the devil because there was nowhere else for the spirit of God that was on Him. There was nowhere else for the spirit to go except since it’s in Him and it’s on Him-it rolls off of Him and flows through Him and rolls into every situation that’s bad and turns it into something good and into every person who’s afflicted and oppressed by the devil.
And that Holy Spirit anointing and that Holy Spirit baptism is just that-that person that’s oppressed by the devil is just a consequence of coming into contact with the man who was baptized in the Holy Spirit, full of the Holy Spirit, and walking in the unlimited power of God’s presence in His life. So the consequence of being baptized in the Holy Spirit was that everybody that came into contact with Jesus felt the power and felt the presence; and as many as touched Him were healed, and as many as He touched were healed. And every demon went screaming out of Him! Every demon said, «Have mercy on me, son of David!»
Jesus didn’t have to make a conscious decision, «Okay, I’m gonna do this person good because I see they’ve been done wrong, and I’m gonna do something good for them to make up for it.» Yes, He does have that intention, but He doesn’t need that intention to be the force that causes it to happen. It happens just by coming into contact. It’s called the power of proximity! When Jesus comes into proximity, when another human being comes into proximity with Jesus, the consequence of that presence is a healing — a bad thing turning good. A demon screaming and fleeing, asking Jesus for permission to go into the pigs.
And I’m going to tell you something right now. We’re not operating in that kind of power, but we have that kind of power to operate in. We’re not walking in it like we could, but we can if we would! I didn’t have that in my notes, but somebody ought to write that down and send it to me so I can repeat that, because if I try to right now, I’ll mess it up!
This moment in Acts chapter 3 shows what happens when people who were once passive receive power and step out to release that power. It’s the prophetic culmination of the journey from passivity to movement to ministry. What happens when you get up? Look, we see what happens in Acts chapter 3. Now Peter and John were going to the temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer. What is happening here, guys? What is happening here? They’re just walking to the temple to pray.
And a man who had been lame from his mother’s womb was being carried along, whom they used to sit down every day at the gate of the temple, which is called Beautiful. The gate to the temple — the history of Israel, the history of God’s chosen people-now, we who are in Christ are God’s truly chosen people, not just the Jews, although they still are of Abraham’s seed physically, and we are of Abraham’s seed spiritually. But this man was lame, and he comes every day. They carry him every day to this gate, this temple-the gate of the temple was called Beautiful. You have to understand how amazing the temple was!
You have to understand how beautiful the temple was! It was so beautiful that they couldn’t come up with a better name for the gate that they had to call it the Beautiful Gate. There was no other word to describe it because it was so beautiful. That’s what they called it. And he was coming there every day to beg for alms-to beg for money, to beg from everyone who was entering the temple. And when he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he began asking to receive alms. But Peter, along with John, fixed his gaze upon him and said, «Look up at us.»
And the man, the Bible says, began to give his attention, expecting to receive something from them. Now listen, he was expecting money, but they were carrying something greater. But he had expectation! If we just leave out of here with some expectation, we’re leaving out of here better than how we came! If we leave out here expecting to receive something-and if we leave out here knowing that the people in our life that we come into contact with are expecting to receive something; they need us to be people that are so baptized in the Holy Spirit that the mere consequence of coming into proximity with us changes their life for the better on contact -just on contact!
But Peter said to him, «Silver and gold I do not possess; I didn’t come here with my wallet, but what I do have, I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk.» Now listen! Peter and John are moving in power. They’re not headed for a stage; they’re not starting a crusade. They’re just walking to the house of God to pray! And God uses them in their ordinary path to release something extraordinary.
Today, tomorrow, this week, you’re going to be walking in your ordinary path, and God wants to use you by awakening in you the awareness of His power in you. Amen! But while they are just going on an ordinary walk to pray, a man is stuck. Every day, he’s carried to beg. Every day, he’s placed at the same spot. He’s not evil; he’s just been conditioned and trained by the system that he was born into. He learned how to function with dysfunction to survive near the beauty but never enter into it. He’s positioned at the gate called Beautiful. But what good is a beautiful gate when your life is stuck and you can’t even go through the gate?
So we have to understand passivity. If you want to turn-if you want to go from being passive to being prophetic-you have to recognize where you are giving into repetition without revelation, where you’re just going through the motion but you’re not looking for the revelation. You’re not coming with expectation. You’re not leaving with carrying something, aware that you’re carrying something that the people in your life need. We have to go out of here knowing that we have something that people desperately need. We have the power; we have the love. Everybody has tried everything else. None of it works. None of it lasts.
Look at the famous people in this world. They have fame. They have fortune. They have everything. They have popularity. They have followers. They have all that, but none of that makes a person happy, and none of it makes a person fulfilled. In fact, everyone that comes gets on the other side of it, recognizing that even having it wasn’t even where the fun is. But being on a journey, expecting something to happen in their life, expecting something good to take place, expecting every day that God’s going to show me something new, He’s going to surprise me with something pleasant again every day. And I’m going to go into this world surprising this world with something that they’ve never encountered before!
Because when they come into my proximity, they’re going to come into my prophecy! And my prophecy is that God is going to use them; God is going to change them; God is going to fill them; God is going to heal them; God is going to multiply them if they’ll just recognize that He is on-that you are on His mind! Look, the guy at the Beautiful Gate is close to the presence of God but numb to the power of God. He’s familiar with movement, but he never moves. Until this moment, this man is expecting a handout, but Peter is carrying a bag of heaven with him!
«Look at us.» It’s not, «Hey, look at me! We’re great! We’re Peter and John! Don’t you realize?» Peter and John just 50 days earlier were like defeated. Peter was running. Peter denied the Lord. John was at the cross, but he didn’t think Jesus-he didn’t know what was going to happen! «Look at us!» It’s not pride; it’s permission! «Look at us! We have something! We have something!»
You have to look beyond routine! You have to look beyond religion! You have to look beyond survival! This guy at the gate-he’s routine, he’s religion, he’s survival. The prophetic awakens us from the routine, from the religion, from survival. The prophetic doesn’t offer charity; it offers clarity! When this guy encounters these guys, he goes from looking for charity to receiving supernatural clarity, and it changes his life. He asks Peter for silver, but Peter and John gave him gold refined by fire. He asks them for silver, but they gave him true gold! «What I do have, I give to you.»
This is not Peter talking about Jesus; this is Peter talking from Jesus! There’s no formula; there’s no hesitation. There’s just a command backed by a name above every name! «Look up at us!» I love what he says in verse 7: «And seizing him by the right hand, he raised him up; and immediately, his feet and his ankles were strengthened. And he leapt up and stood upright and began walking.»
But I want you to see Peter seizing him by the right hand. Listen! The prophetic doesn’t wait to be seized. It seizes! He seized him by the right hand. Peter grabs him and pulls him up. This is what your assignment is this week. I want you going out this week, and I want you to find someone who needs to be seized, who needs to be brought up, who needs to come up. There is every person in this world who needs somebody to help raise them up. My kids needed me and their mother to help raise them up.
Now they’re helping raise us up further, and we’re helping them raise up, and it’s back and forth, and it’s continual; and that’s who we are, that’s what this church is, and that’s what we’re called to be, and that’s who we’re supposed to be, and we’re becoming who we’re supposed to be. We are experiencing revival! We’re experiencing old people coming; we’re experiencing young people coming; we’re experiencing people wanting to get involved, wanting to volunteer freely because they sense we’re in the day of God’s power! I’m telling you — you gotta make a choice!
You gotta locate yourself! Are you the lame person that needs to be seized, or are you the Peter or John that has the power to seize? And I’m telling you, sometimes we’re both. And sometimes we’re one or the other. But ultimately, God wants us to stop being the one that has to be seized, the one that has to be pulled up. But we need to be the ones who are doing the pulling. We need to be the ones that are doing the grabbing. It’s not just going to happen; you gotta go grab them! You gotta go into the highways and the byways!
We don’t just preach; we don’t just preach to people, we don’t just preach over people. We reach into their life and we reach into paralysis and pull them into prophecy! Listen! We’re supposed to go out of here reaching and pulling people from paralysis to prophecy!
You know, the prophetic anointing that is on this church now-and that I want everyone to realize you have this on you-because you are a member! Prophetic ministry doesn’t wait for faith; it pulls people into faith! Peter seized him! Sometimes the spirit will have to pull people before they believe! After Peter seized him and raised him up, it was then that his feet and ankles were strengthened!
They weren’t strengthened, and then Peter’s like, «Okay, this is good! I see the miracle happen!» No! He didn’t see the miracle happen yet! But he pulled him up! And then it happened! Miracles happen when you’re pulling people up! I don’t think you hear what I’m saying! Miracles happen when you’re pulling people up!
And the Bible says he leapt up and entered the temple! It’s the church! We’re the Beautiful Gate! It’s time for us to seize and pull people up! If you’re ready to do that, come on! Let us stand together!