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The “NOW” Word
The Logos and the Rhema
The Word of God; how very powerful it is!
Or shall we say “how very powerful He is!”
I do not wish to debate the current issue between “mystic and doctrine” that seems popular today; that is not my intent here. We should all be of mature mind to know that we need both the written and the living Word in order to know Christ. Neither do I care to debate present-day prophesies vs. things that have passed away. Let us also be of mature mind to know that Jesus is our Shepherd, the sheep hear His voice, and the sheep follow him because they know His voice. (John 10: 1-5) My intent is to draw our attention to the uniqueness of the Rhema from the general logos read in the written Word.
Simply put, Logos is the written Word and Rhema is the spoken Word. It is how these two are applied today that makes life worth while and intensely interesting.
Jesus tells the disciples in John 14 that He was going away but that He would not leave them orphaned (an interesting word that declares Him as the Father) here – He would send a Helper, His Spirit. The Helper would be here in Jesus stead to do many things, but the primary thing I wish to focus us in on today is His task outlined in John16:
13 However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. 14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you. (John 16: 13-15 NKJV*)
I can think of no better way to describe the rhema than this.
Rhema is the Holy Spirit guiding you into all truth, speaking, and telling, and declaring (manifesting) the things of Jesus to us - whether these be present truth or things to come. This glorifies Jesus when the Holy Sprit speaks (rhema) to us AND tells us things to come.
Rhema most frequently occurs while we read the logos (written Word) and a passage is highlighted to us that speaks specifically to us and our situation. Often too the Word highlighted may relate to the future more than the present and our understanding of why He spoke it to us often comes much later on. This too is consistent with the scripture above. Although we do not rule out a direct rhema from the Lord through either prophecy or in a still small voice that we hear in our spirit; this basic “highlighting” is the most fundamental way we experience the rhema of God.
The bottom line is, God has spoken to us in the logos and God is speaking to us in rhema. We need them both – “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word (rhema) of God.” (Romans 10:17)
The NOW Word
So what exactly is “the NOW Word” of God?
When we say “the now word”, we a referring to God’s spoken Word – His “rhema”.
Rhema causes faith to come. We hear and often hear again the spoken word that brings us faith in the things that we hear. God does not seem limited in His resources when He gets His point across either – remember Balaam’s ass? The repeated (or confirmed) Word bears witness in our hearts and we have certain conviction about them.
Prophetic words are those spoken publicly in a gathering where two or three others may judge. They too should bear witness in your heart and be a confirmed word before you act on them. I’ve heard many a prophetic utterance in public that were nothing more than perception on behalf of the speaker and not a “thus says the Lord”. Perception is biblical but should be spoken as such as Paul did in Acts 27: “Sirs, I perceive that this voyage will be with hurt and much damage, not only of the lading and ship, but also of our lives.” This was not prophetic it was perception and Paul said so.
Prophetic word’s can be rhema to you. As a rule of order though they must be confirming what the Holy Spirit has already shown you or should be judged by other prophets sitting by.
The NOW word declares what God is doing and will do. They declare the intents of the Lord’s heart.
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