Caution re Transcripts
The transcripts are nearly complete in draft but must still be proofread. Given that they run to over 1,100 pages it will take time for me to do this. There may therefore be minor typographic errors and errors where the transcriber misheard what I said or did not understand it. Regrettably I have used up all available Annual Leave producing this Book Set so it is likely to be a year or longer before I have time to proofread the entire set. However, Father has stated to me that He has been waiting a long time (19 years) for me to make these documents available and that He would rather I publish them now in their present form than wait for a further indeterminate period for me to proofread and publish.
This set provides a comprehensive analysis of the current spiritual dispensation and also why marriage in this age is such a mess and HOW to fix it. I therefore encourage you to read these texts allowing for the possibly of minor mis-transcription to a limited degree.
These recordings were made in 2000 at a time when I was receiving considerable revelation on diverse topics with the result that my doctrine changed substantially during and after the recording of these teachings, nevertheless the fundamental message of these teachings is sound and very important and inspired at a significant level.
Accordingly I must advise caution in reading these texts – there ARE MANY important truths but they are intermingled with significant error relating to the Name of the Almighty, the Name of Yahooshua {Jesus}, the Person of Yahooshua, the Bible and related topics that mostly do NOT impact the overall marriage teaching.
Introduction
This is the introduction to the set of tapes entitled "Judgement in this life," incorporated into the suite of tapes "God's plan for healing marriage in the seventh millennium." These set of tapes were recorded by this Ministry about a year ago as an initial set of 10 tapes with two additional tapes added recently derived from the developments at the Foundation for Living Ministry.
The basic content of the set of tapes is a comprehensive analysis of the scriptural basis whereby Satan gains foothold to attack us in this life and the catalogue of aspects which open the door for Satan to gain legal right in the judgement will of God to kill, steal and destroy in our lives in the process of accusing the brethren and executing judgement against us for our sin. It is incorporated into the suite of tapes at this point in order to lay a solid foundation for the teachings on marriage to assist listeners to understand how absolutely essential it is for a Christian to walk in holiness and sanctification, to walk in quick repentance, to walk in the love of God and put the Word of God and the Commandments of God first in one's life in order to minimise the extent which Satan is able to use legal means to attack us. With that background and with the revelation of the coming tribulation out of the first set of tapes, it is my hope that you will be in a place having listened to this series on judgement to have a good understanding of how the Devil attacks you and then as you walk down the road of coming to greater and greater revelation in the area of marriage seeing your marriage healed, you will be able to better understand what the Devil is doing to understanding that since marriage is such a fundamentally important truth and that Satan has fought so hard for so long to steal marriage the way God intended it to be.
He is not going to give up on your marriage without a fight. He is going to use whatever legal means he can to distract you from putting these teachings into effect and from coming into a place where there really is Heaven on Earth in your marriage, particularly if he has had you in a situation where your marriage has been less than fulfilling where there perhaps has been talk of divorce, whether there has been regular argument, etc. Satan knows that as you start walking through these teachings, his hold on your life is going to be substantially diminished and therefore he is likely to pull out all the stocks to seek to prevent that from happening. With these teachings behind you and dealing with obvious sin that the Holy Spirit reveals to us as you listen to this series of tapes, I truly believe that the Lord will enable you to stand strong with the onslaught that Satan will bring against you.
And equally, as we move into great tribulation, the sin in our lives is the basis whereby Satan is going to obtain judgement against us and kill, steal, destroy, persecute, do whatever he can find to do against those who truly are committed to serving the Lord God. So with that background, I encourage you to listen to the series on judgement before moving into the series on marriage purely in order to lay a solid foundation. This is not to say that you could not start listening to this series on marriage concurrently with or before the series on judgement but I was very impressed with the Lord this morning as I was finalising this pack of teaching tapes that it should be in this sequence that people should lay a foundation of a revelation of the coming tribulation and the tribulation that is at hand and revelation of judgement which is the mechanism through which Satan brings tribulation and from there going into dealing with the issues of marriage understanding the full significance and the impact of adopting and scriptural practices in the area of marriage and other areas of our lives. So with that in mind, I pray that you will be blessed and benefit from what is contained in this particular subset of the teaching tapes.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen.
02_01 Judgment in this Life
Morning on the subject of Judgement in this Life. You can turn to 1 Peter 4:17, and I am reading from the New King James unless I indicate otherwise. 1 Peter 4:17 says: "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now 'If the righteous one is scarcely saved, where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator." If we go on then to, what I would like to do then is to read from the book, "The Final Quest" by Rick Joyner. There is a report of this series of five visions by Joyner, experienced by Joyner and during this progression of visions, Joyner sees himself ascending the Mountain of God. He sees the demonic battle that is taking place in the world at the moment and he sees into the spirit realm. He sees large numbers of Christians taken prisoner by the enemy, by Demons and fallen Angels and placed in considerable bondage and fighting amongst one another. He subsequently climbs to the top of the mountain and experiences pure worship such as he has never known before and he experiences a particular change in the situation when he reaches Galatians 2:20, which is crucified with Christ and reaches a place where he is no longer conscious of self and subsequently given the mantle of humility which allows him to seek more clearly what is going on.
He subsequently goes into one of the rooms in Heaven and from there he finds himself in the judgement hall in Heaven and having gone through a very taxing progression of meetings with people who have previously died, he comes before the Judgement Seat of Christ and in the process of the dialogue that takes in place between Joyner and the Lord Jesus Christ, he reports the following conversation in response to the Lord Jesus asking Joyner whether you want to sit on one of the high thrones in Heaven with Christ for eternity. In page 118 Joyner responds: There was no way that I could answer "yes" to the Lord's question if I considered myself worthy to sit here. I was not worthy to sit in the company of any who were there. I knew I had been given the opportunity to run for the greatest prize in heaven or earth, and I had failed. I was desperate, but there was still one hope. Even though most of my life had been a failure, I knew that I was here before I had finished my life on earth. When I confessed that I was not worthy, He asked: "But do you want this seat?"
"I do with all of my heart," I responded. The Lord Jesus then looked at the galleries and said, "Those empty seats could have been filled in any generation. I gave the invitation to sit here to everyone who has called upon My name. They are still available. Now the last battle has come, and many who are last shall be first. These seats will be filled before the battle is over. Those who will sit here you will know by two things: they will wear the mantle of humility, and they will have My likeness. You now have the mantle. If you can keep it and do not lose it in the battle, when you return you will also have My likeness. Then you will be worthy to sit with these, because I will have made you worthy. All authority and power has been given to Me, and I alone can wield it. You will prevail, and you will be trusted with My authority only when you have come to fully abide in Me. Now turn and look at My household."
I turned and looked back in the direction I had come from. From before His throne I could see the entire room. The spectacle was beyond any earthly comparison for its glory. Millions filled the ranks. Each individual in the lowest rank was more awesome than an army, and I knew had more power. It was far beyond my capacity to absorb such a panorama of glory. Even so, I could see the only a very small portion of the great room was occupied.
I then looked back at the Lord and was astonished to see tears in His eyes. He had wiped the tears away from every eye here, but His own. As a tear ran down His cheek he caught it in His hand. He then offered it to me.
"This is My cup. Will you drink it with Me?"
There was no way that I could refuse Him. As the Lord continued to look at Me I began to feel His great love. Even as foul as I was He still loved me. As undeserving as I was He wanted me to be close to Him. Then He said: "I love all of these with a love that you cannot now understand. I also love all who are supposed to be here but did not come. I have left the ninety nine to go after the one who was lost. My shepherds would not leave the one to go after the ninety nine who are still lost. I came to save the lost. Will you share My heart to go to save the lost? Will you help to fill this room? Will you help to fill these thrones, and every other seat in this hall? Will you take up this quest to bring joy to heaven, to Me and to My Father? This judgment is for My own household, and My own house is not full. The last battle will not be over until My house is full. Only then will it be time for us to redeem the earth, and remove the evil from My creation."
So we see that the emptiness of Heaven and the emptiness of the thrones in Heaven is related back to the judgement. We have also seen that based on that report, 99% of all people who have called on the Lord who could have been there are not in fact in Heaven. I really believe that we have to see that as a very, very sobering warning to the Body of Christ today. We are so prone to assume that just because we obeyed a decision for Christ that this all going to be planned early. In the same book on page 106, during the judgement process and Joyner is meeting various people who he either knew off during his life or he actually met or people who had died before his life and in the meetings and the conversations that take place, he is coming to realise how little he actually knows about the Kingdom of God and how many mistakes he has made and how much sin there is in his life, even though he has been serving Lord permanently for something like 25 years and published numerous books which are widely considered to be highly anointed and highly prophetic. Page 106 Joyner makes the remark: How could all of those who have not been given the grace of this experience have any hope at all I asked. I heard a new voice, "What you are experiencing here has been given you on Earth. Every relationship, every encounter with another person could teach you what you are learning here if you will keep that cloak of humility on and learn to always keep your attention fixed on his glory. You are given this experience now because you will write the vision and those who read it will understand it. Many will then be able to carry the glory and the power that they must carry into the last battle."
I was amazed to recognise this man as a contemporary of mine and I did not know that he had died. He goes on later to say that this man had become so proud at the end of his life that he was doing the Lord's prophets harming the disciples of others to the point that the Lord had to take him away early to humble him. That again the message there is that we can learn on Earth. The challenge is to understand how we learn on Earth and what mechanisms the Lord has provided for us to learn on Earth. Just by way of what I consider to be another salutary warning on page 94, page 95, he had a discussion with a man that he refers as the great reformer. He does not identify the man but it is apparent that this is a man who lived quite some time before Joyner and is widely regarded as a great reformer and in that conversation it transpires that this man was taken to Heaven and sits in Heaven today amongst the foolish virgins, those who only just made it into Heaven in relative terms, sitting in outer darkness in Heaven.
"As he talked, his words were striking me deeply. I, too, was guilty of everything that he was relenting of. Many young men and women who I had brushed off as not being important enough for my time were now passing through my mind. How desperately I wanted to return now and gather them together! This grief that I began to feel was even worse than I had felt about wasting time. I had wasted people! Now many of these were prisoners of the enemy, wounded and captured during the battle on the mountain. This whole battle was for people, and yet people were often regarded as the least important."
In another discussion with regard to Paul in which it is said that if Paul have not learnt in his life that the magnitude of his sinfulness he would not be sitting today on one of the greatest thrones in Heaven. So we see a whole panoply of information that should lead us to very carefully examine our hearts and to very carefully examine our understanding of the Word of God. And when I am seeking to develop in this teaching is to share my understanding in terms of some of the things that I perceive the Word of God shows us in dealing with this life and in a sense correlating what we experience in day-to-day living with what Joyner reports in 'The Final Quest' in what appears in the word and my personal life experience and seeking to serve the Lord and finding the many things that did not seem to work as I expected. We go to 1 Peter 5:8, the word says "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour." And I want to stress the word 'may devour.' It is permissive. In other words, Satan cannot devour just because he feels like devouring. He must have permission to devour and by implication, he must have some basis on which to gain permission to devour. Verse 9 says, "Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world." So we are clearly told to resist the devil and to resist him in such a way that he may not devour us.
If we go back a couple of verses, verse 6 says, "Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you." Again, we see that He does not exact us when we feel like being exalted. He exalts us when the exaltation is dear that more significantly verse 5 says, "Likewise you younger people, submit yourselves to your elders. Yes, all of you be submissive to one another, and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud,
But gives grace to the humble," which is quoting Proverbs 3:34. So we see the same thread of humility versus pride encapsulated in these verses of Scripture which sum up a lot of the message that Joyner has for us that if we are proud, Satan will recreate havoc in our lives. So let's try and understand a little bit more about what it is that may cause the devil to be able to devour in our lives. We turn to John 10:10, the Scripture says and this is Jesus speaking, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep." Then we see that pertaining to the passage in 'The Final Quest' that I read a moments ago where the Lord is saying that he laid down his life for the sheep. He went after those that were lost and yet in the church today, this somehow seems uncommon with anybody who considers himself to be in a position of leadership lays down their life in a way that is particularly noticeable. But the key part of this verse that the thief does not come except to steal and to kill and to destroy and the thief that has been referred to there is Satan. And he is coming to kill, steal and destroy those for whom he has obtained permission. We will go back to the verse which says "Seeking him whom he may devour."
If we go then to the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, and we seek to understand the process whereby Satan may gain permission to kill, steal, and destroy in our lives. We turn to Revelation 12:10, "Then I heard a loud voice saying in heaven, 'Now salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God day and night, has been cast down.'" It is important to see there first of all that Satan is referred to as the accuser of the brethren that is confirmed in verse 9, which says "So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him." So it will seem from that verse given Revelation refers to the end of the age that as it is today, Satan is still before the Throne of God and he is still accusing the brethren which is every believer night and day and it would appear that the accusation may have something to do with this issue of Satan claiming permission to devour those whom he has permitted or whom he may devour.
If we consider John 6:70, there is a footnote in Lamb's translation of the Bible, from the Aramaic which says that Satan is one who causes to slide to slip or to miss the mark and sometimes I think we lose sight of who and what Satan is if we recognise that his objective in life is to cause us to slide or to slip or to miss the mark. In other words, to cause us to backslide to miss the mark and not to reach our high calling, not to reach what God has called us to do. Perhaps it reduces the mystique roundabout Satan. Again, what I am seeking to do is to understand how he goes about doing that. If we turn to Book of Job chapter 1, we begin to see the picture developing of this accuser of the brethren who is before the Throne of God night and day seeking whom he may devour. Job 1:6, "Now there was a day when the sons of God came to present themselves before the Lord, and Satan also came among them. And the Lord said to Satan, 'From where do you come?' So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'From going to and fro on the earth, and from walking back and forth on it.' Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil?' So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Does Job fear God for nothing? Have You not made a hedge around him, around his household, and around all that he has on every side? You have blessed the work of his hands, and his possessions have increased in the land. But now, stretch out Your hand and touch all that he has, and he will surely curse You to Your face!'
And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, all that he has is in your power; only do not lay a hand on his person.' So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord." And in the verses that follow, we see that all of Job's possessions are taken away and destroyed that his sons and daughters are killed by great one and that everything that he has, is taken from him barring his wife and himself, and he is not harmed in any way. Then it continues in chapter 2 and again Satan is before the Throne of God and in verse 3, "Then the Lord said to Satan, 'Have you considered My servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, one who fears God and shuns evil? And still he holds fast to his integrity, although you incited Me against him, to destroy him without cause.' So Satan answered the Lord and said, 'Skin for skin! Yes, all that a man has he will give for his life. But stretch out Your hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will surely curse You to Your face!' And the Lord said to Satan, 'Behold, he is in your hand, but spare his life.' So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord, and struck Job with painful boils from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head. And he took for himself a potsherd with which to scrape himself while he sat in the midst of the ashes. Then his wife said to him, 'Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!' But he said to her, 'You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?' In all this Job did not sin with his lips."
So we see a situation here in terms of which we clearly see Satan coming before the Throne of God. We clearly see a dialogue taking place and we clearly see Satan making certain assertions and requesting that certain things are done and we see God acceding to certain of those requests. The impression one gets from reading those verses of Job is of a capricious and God who in response to provocation from Satan will simply allow Satan to do whatever he feels like doing in a person's life as some form of a test. If that is the case then one is faced with some difficulty in understanding how to live the Christian walk. But if we turn to Job 3:25, we see what I certainly consider to be the pivotal verse in understanding what happened to Job. And it says, "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, and what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet; I have no rest, for trouble comes." We see earlier on in Job 1:5 that his sons and daughters were inclined to have significant parties which went on for some time, feasts which went on for days. In Chapter 1 Verse 5 it says, "So it was, when the days of feasting had run their course, that Job would send and sanctify them, and he would rise early in the morning and offer burnt offerings according to the number of them all. For Job said, 'It may be that my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.' Thus Job did regularly."
What is important about that particular verse is that Job did it because his sons may have sinned, not because they had sinned. So we see the manifestation of the fear. He did not have complete confidence in what the situation was. He was taking almost enormous precautionary measures in saying, "Well, maybe my children have sinned, so I better sacrifice for them." Instead of trusting God to shame if they had sinned and responding to the sin and confessing it. If we start getting into a situation where we are apologising for things that our children may have done when we do not know whether they have done it, I think that that is indicative of the fear that he refers to in chapter 3 in verse 25. Now, there is a verse in Scripture which says that without faith it is impossible to please God and elsewhere it says that God has not given us the spirit of fear but a spirit of love, power, and a solemn mind, and therefore we see that fear is not the same as faith. It has been taught quite widely and I believe that is in fact true is that faith is the opposite of fear. I cannot have faith and have fear at the same time. If I have faith in God, I will not fear and Scripture repeatedly tells us not to fear. Again, I have had it taught and it does seem to be correct that fear is in fact faith in the devil. So once we have fear, that means that in a certain area, we do not have faith in God. If we do not have faith in God, that is sin. It is not pleasing to God and furthermore it is fear in the devil and on the face of this particular Scripture, according to my understanding, it very clearly indicates that if we have fear, we have faith in the devil and that grants Satan a legal right to do what we fear.
So we see here that notwithstanding the fact that Job was righteous before God, he had on the face of it at least one sin in his life and that was that he had fear and that fear was fulfilled in the same way that if we have faith, the faith comes to pass if we have fear, that which we fear will come to pass. If we begin to understand that even though it is not explicitly mentioned in Job and it seems to me that many of these deeper things about the Word of God are not explicitly revealed possibly because they may have been removed from early manuscripts because Satan was not just prepared to have those things continue or because the Lord knew that if they were made explicit, they would be rejected or the documents would be destroyed. So for whatever reason, the Lord has chosen to obscure these things, but if one follows a process of systematic deductive reason, I believe that one has to conclude that Verse 3 Chapter 25 is the key to the basis of how Satan gained the right to attack Job, taken in the context of 1 Peter 5:8. If we then turn to Lamentations, Chapter 3:38, "Is it not from the mouth of the Most High That woe and well-being proceed? Why should a living man complain, a man for the punishment of his sins? Let us search out and examine our ways, and turn back to the Lord; Let us lift our hearts and hands to God in heaven. We have transgressed and rebelled; You have not pardoned. You have covered Yourself with anger and pursued us; You have slain and not pitied. You have covered Yourself with a cloud, that prayer should not pass through. You have made us an offscouring and refuse in the midst of the peoples."
So here we see that punishment for sins comes from God or the judgement which leads to the punishment at the very least comes from God and it obtains from the sin that we have in our lives from the transgression against the Word of God. If we turn then to 1 John 2:1-2, we read, "My little children, these things I write to you, so that you may not sin. And if anyone sins, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. And He Himself is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the whole world." So we see that Jesus is our advocate with the Father. If we take all of these verses together and put together the jigsaw puzzle which I believe the Lord has given us in these Scriptures, we see God the Father sitting on the Throne of Judgement, we see Satan coming before the Throne of Judgement as the accuser of the brethren, the prosecutor if you like in modern legal parlance, the individual who brings the charges and demands a sentence, we see Jesus before the Throne of God or on the right hand of God, as the advocate pleading on our behalf, pleading in our defence and pleading for remission of the sentence or for the sentence to be waived or for us to receive forgiveness and then we see ourselves effectively in the dock before God being judged and Satan is bringing our sin before the Throne of God in a very rigorous legal basis. He is standing there effectively, one can almost perhaps imagine him standing there with the Bible in his hand and pointing at a specific verse or series of verses in Scripture which the person being tried has transgressed and it seems to me that in dealing with such a situation, an advocate can only plead on the basis of the evidence and if the evidence is such that the accused is in fact guilty and just advocate cannot plead against the guilt has to acknowledge the guilt and the only defence that is left in him is to plead for a remission of sentence or a reduction of sentence or extend in circumstances and I think we come to understand that and we begin to understand why Jesus died on the cross for us to receive forgiveness of sins, because once we confess our sins, he is faithful and just forgive us and so the minute we realise we sin if we immediately go on our knees before God and confess that we have sinned and we repent of that sin, we confess that it is wrong and we receive the forgiveness that Jesus brought for us on the cross, then that sin is washed away and if Satan then comes before the throne, it would seem that the advocate would then say that person has confessed and I paid the price in full. If we do not confess our sins, then it would seem to me that we do not have the covering of the blood of Jesus with regard to that sin. That sin is open, it is exposed. We are guilty because we have not paid the price and we have not taken the step of confessing the sin, repenting of the sin, and in that process, transferring the sin under the blood and receiving forgiveness and receiving grace.
It also would seem that in the same process that grace extends to incorporate on the one hand that the level of the judgement and the level of the sentence and whether in fact we found guilty is a function of our maturity in Christ. A newly born believer who does not know the world, does not know the ways of God, it seems that there are many things that I seem to envisage Jesus standing before the throne and saying to the Father, I urge you to extend grace to this individual at this time because he does not have the knowledge and he is a child in Christ, in much the same way that if a 3-year-old child takes hundred rand note off a table and he goes and puts it in the piggy bank or whatever, we will explain to him gently that it is wrong and just take it back from him and maybe just smack to his hand, but if a 40-year-old man does a similar thing in a business situation, we would expect him to receive a disciplinary hearing possibly to be dispersed possibly even for criminal charges to be placed against him depending on the sum of money involved. As I understand it is a form of grace as we mature in Christ, the graces is in a sense real black and at some point we are called to account for our lives fully without hiding behind the sacrifice that Jesus made and I think that is part of growing in Christ.
And we then see a situation where if we are not conscious of our sins, if we are not seeking God to reveal our sins, if we are not confessing and repenting our sins and receiving forgiveness when we make those sins, we open the door to Satan to go before the Throne of God and one then begins to envisage a situation where there is sin in one's life and Satan goes before the Throne of God, God considers the case, Jesus is unable to argue that the sin is not there, the sin is manifestly there and Jesus is unable to argue or is unable to extend his blood to cover the sin because there has been no confession and no repentance and no receiving of forgiveness and he is also unable to argue extenuating circumstances because the person has been born again for some years. They have plenty of time to read the scriptures, that have plenty of time to understand what the Scriptures say and they show no interest in dealing with the sin or understanding that what is happening in their lives is a consequence of sin and at that point, it would seem that the Father will then grant Satan permission to devour or to kill and steal and destroy in that person's life. So one can envisage him saying touch their finances but do not touch their bodies and one can envisage him at a later stage in the person's spiritual development saying he might touch his body but do not take his life and it would seem that one can perhaps even argue that why people who are relatively young in the Lord tend to possibly obtain and keep healing but may go through a lot of financial and personal loss in other areas and that in some way those people who are very mature in the Lord seem to suffer more with affections and one hears reports from time to time that people who regarded as great men or women of God, who have infirmities that they are just not able to be healed from even though they are laying hands on people and those people have been healed and it would seem that following this chain of thought, what happens there is that as they mature and perhaps deal with other areas in their lives, God then wants them to deal with things which are much more personal and which gives Satan the right to attack their health and so forth.
I really believe that we have to look at each and every instance whether it is illness, whether it is problems with cars, whether it is problems with finances or anything else. We need to seek the Lord to find out where the sin maybe. It does appear that one could draw a conclusion that may be there are certain Scriptures which say that trials and tribulations arise in any event but if we consider the scriptures which deal with the various instances where people were plotting to kill Jesus. For example, when he spoke in the synagogue of Nazareth and they took him to the top of the mountain to throw him off the mountain and it says that Jesus walked through the crowd because it was not their time, it really does seem that if there is absolutely no sin, Satan is unable to touch that person without God's expressed permission in exceptional circumstances. But it does seem to me that it is inconceivable that there is a single person on Earth who is without sin, therefore there is always an opportunity for Satan to attack that person. In Timothy it is Paul who refers to himself as the chief of sinners and in the interview with Joyner in 'The Final Quest' Paul makes the point that at the end of his life, he saw himself as the chief of sinners because there was so much that he knew to do that he did not do and so much that he knew not to do that he did do.
As we come to revelation of sin as anything which is not in the perfect will of God as we come to revelation of understanding that if we do not do what the Word of God tells us to do that is sin and it potentially opens the door for attack and conversely if we do anything that we know that the Word of God says we should not do that also potentially opens the door to attack. Again, I believe that one should not interpret this in a legalistic sense. One has to recognise that that is the practical reality of the spiritual dispensation under which we currently operate. Satan is the God of this world. He is the lord of this world. He is the king of this world. He is free to do what he likes on this world, except with regard to Christians and Jews, those people who have committed their lives to God and serve God and where they have come under the protection and therefore Satan requires some form of permission in order to deal with that. I think a lot of people will have a lot of difficulty with this teaching. A lot of people will say, "Well, what hope have I got?" And the hope that we have is that we have the hope in the blood of Jesus. We have the hope in the sacrifice of Jesus and if we are aware of our sinful natures, if we are aware that our righteousness is filthy rags in the sight of God, and that Jesus Christ is our righteousness. If we continuously stand on the Scripture that Jesus Christ as our righteousness, not as an excuser or a cop out to dealing with the sin in our life, but as a spiritual reality and if we constantly cry out to God to show us the sin in our lives to deliver us from that sin to show us what is required to deliver us from that sin, over time, we will draw closer to God.
If we see any trial or any situation which there is killing, stealing, or destroying in our lives, be it in our finances, be it in our health, be it in our families or whatever, if we immediately become sensitive to the fact that that can only be happening if Satan has permission to do it and he can only get permission if he has gone before the Throne of God, if the advocate has had to admit that the sin exists, if the advocate has to say that there is no repentance and there is no confession and therefore the sin is not covered by the blood. If the advocate has to say that the level of maturity of the believers is not at a level where grace can legitimately or reasonably be extended to them, and if the advocate has to admit that the person is not seeking to deal with sin in their lives and therefore there is no good basis on which the judge should not grant the prosecutor his petition in terms of judgement and sentence. If we can come to understand that, then we can understand that all that is required in the event of any form of attack in our lives is to immediately examine ourselves in the Word of God to immediately go before the Throne of God and to ask the Lord to show us exactly what it is and what we need to do. In my own experience that can very frequently give rise to having to deal with legacy issues, legacy sin, things arising out of adultery, fornication, lying, deception in one's lives before coming to salvation or going back into previous generations down the blood line. Many blood line curses will pass down ten generations.
And none of those things are simply just summarily washed away when we come to salvation as far as I can determine. Some of them, may be, but many of them are just covered for an interval by grace until we have the opportunity to come to the point where we can actually deal with it. But if we not prepared to deal with the blood line issues, if we are not prepared to deal with the sin of our forefathers and to confess it and repent, those sins of the forefathers which have brought curses on the blood line will continue to manifest themselves in our lives. I believe a very classic example of that particular principle which is I believe is starting to manifest in the church now, we see increasing numbers of people saying by the Holy Spirit that God requires the Christian church to confess and repent of the sins that have been committed against the Jewish people in the name of Jesus Christ. I had to do that in Israel in 1995 at two conferences. I read various articles which report other people saying the same thing themselves by the name of Christ have in fact touched the Lord's anointed the Jewish people and done them harm. I believe that is heaped up massive wrath collectively on the Body of Christ for everyone who does not come to a revelation that that is sin in the Body of Christ and that sin must be confessed and repented of by every individual that calls himself by the name of Christ, otherwise it would be passed down through the Body of Christ and the body of the church.
I think there are many other instances like that that we have to examine ourselves. But the positive side of that is that it provides us with an understanding for what is going on. The document that I have written entitled 'Poverty in the Church of Jesus Christ' is a diagnostic document, which just lists dozens of different aspect which I have identified as indications of symptoms of different types of sin and just in broad terms how to deal with it. If one prays about that and deals with it, certainly in my own life I have seen algebraic solution in that area. I think the last thought that comes to mind is people are inclined to see a teaching like this as indicating that it is too hard to be a Christian, and I believe we really have to bring this back to our life experience. We are called Children of God and that is a metaphor, parable if you like, but a metaphor that God has given us that we may better understand that one dimension of being Children of God.
We are also servants of God and that brings in another dimension to which there are some parallels in that metaphor. We are also brethren of Christ that we need to understand that the nature of our relationship [inaudible 00:49:14] is incredibly complex and in a sense multidimensional. He is omnipotent, He is omnipresent, He is omniscient. He knows everything. He is everywhere at all times and He can do all things. Our human understanding is totally incapable of even beginning to comprehend God and Jesus and the Holy Spirit and to differentiate between them and to understand the way He works, and for that matter to understand the way Satan works in our lives. If we can just roll back to this very simple metaphor of being children of God, then we need to recognise that the day we are born again, we are like a baby that has just come into the world that is incapable of protecting itself and therefore God extends extreme grace to us in the same way that would happen with the baby, but when that baby is a year old, and is calling around and starting to pull things off table, eventually it has to learn that if it pulls the corner of the tablecloth, the tablecloth will come off and fall on it and it will get hurt and it will probably get a hard hit. When it is a couple of years old and it is toddling around and it taking things it should not take, it needs to learn that it will get disciplined and when it gets to school it will receive more extensive discipline and it will discover everything that it could do at home is no longer permitted to do. When it is in the first rugby team, it will find out that mother is not there to protect it when 180 pound lock or somebody is tackling him and he is going to get hurt.
By the time he has gone on to the army, his parents are able to do very little for him and when he is a reconnaissance commander dropped behind enemy lines, he is pretty much on his own. He need to understand that as we grow in Christ, as we progress in Christ, we move from being that newborn baby wrapped in soft linen cloths protected from everything around us to if we are sincere about following our calling in Christ that we will eventually find ourselves as effectively the reconnaissance commander behind enemy lines in this world which is ridden with evil and with Satan's work and we will find ourselves at a point having to stand on our own two feet having to give account for our actions and if we make mistakes, we will have to pay the price. If a reconnaissance commander fails to maintain his rifle and it jams at the critical incident, he will not be able to win that engagement. At worst, he may be killed, injured, taken captive and brutally tortured or one of those, and therefore we need to understand that as time goes on, as we grow in Christ, we have to accept more and more accountability.
I think really enclosing, there are two prayers that come out of 'The Final Quest' that Joyner mentions which I think are really, really critical to walk in Christ in these days and the first of those is Father, show me the level of my present deception and what to do about that deception and lead me into more truth, recognising that all truth is a journey. Not one of us will reach all truth until we have lived this life and we been judged and found worthy to spend eternity in Heaven and if we do not reach that point, one would assume that we will never ever know all truth. The second prayer is Father, in the name of Jesus I ask you to judge me severely and correct me harshly that I may serve you more perfectly and the essence of that is that unless we receive judgement in this life, we will be judged at the end of our lives on the day of our judgement and we will pay the price for all our sin on that day.
So we should actually welcome the opportunity to be judged in this life. We should welcome the opportunity to experience Satan's killing, stealing, and destroying in our lives as a diagnostic that our lives are not where God wants them to be and we should respond instantly to any incident like that by going before the Throne of God and asking Him to show us the sin and diligently seeking to find the sin and how to deal with the sin in order to be cleansed in order to get a remission of sentence, in order to bring that sin under the blood of Jesus and the sacrifice of the cross. If we are not prepared to do that, we should not be surprised to find that our lives on Earth are pretty miserable. We should also not be surprised to find that at the end of our lives, we come to the Throne of Judgement and we find that perhaps we find ourselves amongst the foolish virgins, we find ourselves amongst those who are cast into outer darkness with the weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth or even in extreme cases we find ourselves amongst those who in fact have lost their salvation, and are given their part in the lake that burns with fire and sulphur which is the second death which is spoken about in Revelation 21:8, so I think imposing the key point is we need to seek holiness and sanctification. We need to see anything that goes wrong in our lives as an indicator that there is sin and that if we deal with the sin, we will walk in the full blessing and provision of Almighty God. But if we do not deal with the sin, we will continue to experience distraction in our lives.
"Father in the name of Jesus we pray that that which has been spoken in this teaching that is of you Lord will reside in the hearts of those who have heard it or read it and I pray Lord that if whatsoever in what I have said here is in error, is incorrect is in any way not of you Lord, I ask you just to blow it away as chaff before a wind, but only that which is pure and of you will remain in the hearts of the hearers of this message, and I pray that you will help them to discern and put into effect that which applies in their lives, in Jesus name."
Recorded on Saturday, November 13, 1999.
02_02 Responding to Developments in the Church
I want to follow on today from 1 Peter 4:17 again, where we were last weekend, last Saturday. 1 Peter 4:17: "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? Now 'If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?' Therefore let those who suffer according to the will of God commit their souls to Him in doing good, as to a faithful Creator." We went into some detail in the last teaching with regard to what is meant by the judgement and how it appears that the judgement actually manifests in the life of believers today in the sense of Satan identifying our sin according to the Word of God, going before the Throne of God, the Judgement Seat of God as the prosecutor of the accuser bringing charges against us before the Throne of God, God the Father sitting in judgement and Jesus Christ, the son seated at the right hand of the father as our advocate pleading our case, forced in many instances to admit that we are sinning and that we have not confessed our sin and have not repented and therefore we are guilty as charged, but in some instances, pleading that the grace be granted to us on the basis of spiritual immaturity or lack of knowledge, but as we mature in Christ what could be visualised as a sort of rolling back of grace in the sense of maturing children being required to take more and more responsibility for their actions. And so ultimately as we mature in Christ finding that for the same sin in a later date in our lives, we may face a harsher judgement because we should know better and we should have dealt with that sin in our lives.
This is part of the process of growing in Christ. Today I want to talk a little bit about the way that that actually manifests in the life of believers and particularly how we should respond to it and what I envisage is that over the next few weeks, I will do a series of teachings which will address some of the things that are actually happening in the church today, what the scriptural basis of those things are and how we should be preparing ourselves for those developments, how we should be responding to the developments that we now already be aware of and also where that will lead us ultimately in terms of great revival and perhaps even the second coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, whether that is in a few years or in a thousand years. So we will develop that thinking in the weeks ahead.
I want to turn to 1 Timothy 4:1-3 chapter for and dressings 1 to 3, and in my Bible, the heading for this section is "The Great Apostasy" in the New King James translation. That is not part of the Scripture, it is just the heading that man has applied to this Scripture and it says: "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth." We particularly concentrate on the first two verses there, we see reference to some departing from the faith and giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of Demons, the King James says doctrines of devils, speaking lies and hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron and all of that relates to heretical doctrines and demonic teachings and demonic manifestations, the other Scriptures will lead us to conclude that there will be a wide range of deception and demonic manifestation, counterfeit miracles, etc. I do not propose to go into that aspect today. God willing, in the next week or two, we will address those issues. But what is really important here is to recognise that in association with judgement beginning in the house of the Lord, we should anticipate great apostasy in the church.
One could go into a lengthy historical analysis and in fact identify that apostasy began within a few hundred years of the death of Jesus Christ and by the Council of Trent in 312 AD, there was already a great departure from pure doctrine and that in the ensuing centuries as the Roman church became stronger, the teachings of the church deviated more and more from Scripture and what I anticipate is in the months ahead in the teachings that follow this, we will go into a variety of these doctrines of Demons, many of which are still being taught in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ as bring Scripture today. I again reiterate I do not want to go into detail on these issues today. I want to lay a foundation in terms of how we should be responding to them.
Many of the people who listen to this teaching or read the transcription, I anticipate all have observed a variety of manifestations in the church. They are likely to be aware of teachings which they just are unable to reconcile with what appears in their Bible, questions that they have asked and answers that they have obtained from the Holy Spirit, which just do not accord with what they are being told by a well-recognised men and women of God, manifestations in churches of allegations of gold dust falling from Heaven, people receiving gold fillings and other things, which do not seem to make any real logical sense with Scripture in terms of what the blessing is associated with gold filling or amalgam or something being converted to gold, particularly when reports indicate that some of these fillings are not of good quality. So there is a lot of discussion, there is a lot of questions being asked about what is happening in the church. A lot of people are very unsettled and rightly so and discussing these things and talking about these things and there is an increasing tendency for people to speak out against these things.
Really what I want to deal with today is what guidance the Scripture give us in dealing with a situation where somebody is teaching heresy or whether a demonic manifestation. The tendency, the natural reaction is to run forth and to warn people of the danger, naming the name of the leader or the pastor or whoever is associated with that teaching or that manifestation, seeing videos of television broadcasts where specific individuals are publicly named where their footage is shown of manifestations and their congregations things that they have said and these things are debated and condemned in public forum. It is my prayer that through this teaching today you will come to realise that the people who are doing that are in fact themselves falling into a situation of sin which will bring about judgement in their own lives and it is my fervent prayer out of this teaching that you will begin to realise that we have to respond differently to developments of this nature and the church, we have historically being lead to believe that the world will have us believe.
I will ask you to turn with me now to 1 Samuel 15:10-35 and I want to take you through a process throughout the balance of 1 Samuel to demonstrate to you the basic outline being that at a fairly early stage in his reign as king, Saul was rejected as king because of his repeated rebellion and disobedience to the Word of the Lord through Samuel that this brought about demonic oppression presumably as a consequence of this judgement that we talked about last week. It brought about a situation in which having rejected Saul as king, God through Samuel selected David, anointed David as King. David found favour with Saul, served Saul for a number of years. Eventually Saul thought to kill David, David fled to the wilderness and was an outlaw in the wilderness for some years, during which he had several opportunities to kill Saul, but elected not to touch the Lord's anointed and ultimately, having consulted a witch or a medium about the future because God would no longer speak to him, Saul eventually died in battle and sometime later David was made king. But we see a substantial period of time elapsing between Saul being rejected as King and David being anointed as King and David actually assuming the throne. I am not clear what the period of time was but I am under the impression that it was a good few years and during which David conducted himself in a way that was pleasing to God and according to Scripture and from which I believe we can learn many lessons. So the beginning of what I want to address this morning addresses that.
So we go to 1 Samuel 15:10, "Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 'I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.' And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, 'Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.' Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, 'Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.'
But Samuel said, 'What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?' And Saul said, 'They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.'" There is a lengthy teaching that one can develop just out of that passage in terms of Saul erecting a monument to himself for him blaming the people for his failure to obey the Word of God which said he should utterly destroy everything to do with Amaleke and also the manner in which he refers to God as the Lord your God as rather than Lord my God. I do not propose to address that but it is just symptomatic of the manner in which Saul was backsliding from what the Lord had called him to do.
If we turn to verse 22: "So Samuel said: 'Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, As in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, And to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, And stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, He also has rejected you from being king.'" And we see the reference there to witchcraft manifesting itself throughout the rest of Saul's life culminating in 1 Samuel 28:6-25 where Saul consults a medium. Saul apparently repents of this point, and recognises that he fear the people but we see in verse 26 that it is too late. "But Samuel said to Saul, 'I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.' And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. So Samuel said to him, 'The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbour of yours, who is better than you. And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.' Then he said, 'I have sinned; yet honour me now, please, before the elders of my people and before Israel, and return with me, that I may worship the Lord your God.' So Samuel turned back after Saul, and Saul worshiped the Lord." Then we see that Samuel then kills Agag, the king of the Amalekites.
We carry on to chapter 16, "Now the Lord said to Samuel, 'How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons.'" And we see then how Samuel goes to Jesse's family and eventually they identify that David who has not even been seen fit to call to the assembly is in fact the one that God has called to be anointed and so we see in verse 12, "So he sent and brought him in. Now he was ruddy, with bright eyes, and good-looking. And the Lord said, 'Arise, anoint him; for this is the one!' Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David from that day forward. So Samuel arose and went to Ramah." And again, there are many teachings about God looking on the heart and not on the outward appearance and David was the man after God's own heart, the statement which is made right at the beginning of David's appearance in the Book of Samuel in which it is reiterated in the teachings in the book of Acts, from which we must conclude that not withstanding some things which did go wrong in David's life, throughout his life David was a man after God's own heart. We should take note of that and note that those who preach against some of the things that David did and condemn and judged David may well be conducting themselves contrary to what the Word of God says regarding these matters as I have to make visible in this particular teaching.
We carry on in verse 14 and we see that the heading in New King James is "A Distressing Spirit Troubles Saul" and it says in verse 14: "But the Spirit of the Lord departed from Saul, and a distressing spirit from the Lord troubled him." I had a light from a teaching that I heard some years ago which says that this is not a correct translation but it actually means that an evil spirit that God permitted to come upon Saul troubled him and that reinforces the teaching of last week. One envisages there a situation in which part of the judgement for Saul's disobedience was demonic oppression. That certainly appears to be a very prevalent form of judgement that is being experienced in the Body of Christ today that by virtue of unrepented sin many, many Christians are demonised. In many cases they do not even know the sin that lead to the demonization because of false teachings or because of sin in previous generations or incidents in childhood which because of ignorance were not understood to have given rise to a situation where demonization could take place.
We see there that Saul's servants identified the need for somebody to play soothing music. They identified that David is anointed of God as a musician. They go and they sent to Jesse and request that David come and we see in verse 23: "And so it was, whenever the spirit from God was upon Saul, that David would take a harp and play it with his hand. Then Saul would become refreshed and well, and the distressing spirit would depart from him." In chapter 17, we read about the whole episode of David and Goliath, how David was sent to visit his brothers as they were in the camp of Saul fighting the Philistines and Goliath had been defying them for some time and eventually David says in verse 26: "For who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?" And he was taken before Saul and we see in verse 37: "Moreover David said, 'The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.' And Saul said to David, 'Go, and the Lord be with you!'" And we see David's faith in the covenant that he has with the Almighty God and David goes out eventually just clad in his shepherd's clothes with his shepherd's stuff and sling and he picks up five stones and we read in verse 49: "Then David put his hand in his bag and took out a stone; and he slung it and struck the Philistine in his forehead, so that the stone sank into his forehead, and he fell on his face to the earth." Logically a stone thrown from a sling is unlikely to sink into the forehead of a three metre tall giant with a helmet on and so again, it would seem that we should conclude that God brought a miracle there in ensuring that stone that was slung by David utterly killed Goliath. So we see that David is now acknowledged as a mighty warrior but Saul is still king we also see that Saul does not recognise David as the same young man who played music to him sometime previously.
We carry on in chapter 18, the heading in this translation is "Saul Resents David" and we read in verse 7: "So the women sang as they danced, and said: 'Saul has slain his thousands, And David his ten thousands.' Then Saul was very angry, and the saying displeased him; and he said, 'They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed only thousands. Now what more can he have but the kingdom?' So Saul eyed David from that day forward. And it happened on the next day that the distressing spirit from God came upon Saul, and he prophesied inside the house. So David played music with his hand, as at other times; but there was a spear in Saul’s hand. And Saul cast the spear, for he said, 'I will pin David to the wall!' But David escaped his presence twice."
So we see that notwithstanding the fact that Saul has been rejected by God as king for some time, he still is king and secondly we see that notwithstanding the fact that David has been anointed as King, he is still not in the throne, holding the throne and while David is widely recognised as a mighty warrior and could quite conceivably have taken the throne by force, David is content to serve Saul even when Saul tries to kill him and to do nothing to bring to reality that which God has already promised him and that is to be King of Israel and I think there is an enormous lesson there for us to learn in terms of not seeking to cause God's promises to come to pass in our lives in our own strength and to recognise that even if God has rejected a man from a particular position in which he has anointed him, it is not for other men who are aware of that to do anything to bring that to pass. It is up to God having rejected Saul to remove Saul from the throne at the time that elects. We carry on and if we carry on to chapter 24 and I just want to touch on this and I am going to come back but it is important that one sees this in context. In chapter 24, David has an opportunity to kill Saul and yet he does not do so and in verse 10 he says: "I will not stretch out my hand against my lord (Saul), for he is the Lord’s anointed." And we carry on and we come through to chapter 28. In chapter 26 that David has a second opportunity to kill Saul, which he does not do and in chapter 26:9: "But David said to Abishai, 'Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?'" In chapter 28 we see Saul consulting the medium and in verse 6: "And when Saul inquired of the Lord, the Lord did not answer him, either by dreams or by Urim or by the prophets. Then Saul said to his servants, 'Find me a woman who is a medium, that I may go to her and inquire of her.' And his servants said to him, 'In fact, there is a woman who is a medium at En Dor. So Saul disguised himself and put on other clothes, and he went, and two men with him; and they came to the woman by night.' And he said, 'Please conduct a séance for me, and bring up for me the one I shall name to you.'"
We see in the next verse that Saul had at one stage cut off and killed all the medium and the spiritists. So this woman is reluctant to accede but ultimately she calls up Samuel and in verse 16: "Then Samuel said: 'So why do you ask me, seeing the Lord has departed from you and has become your enemy? And the Lord has done for Himself as He spoke by me. For the Lord has torn the kingdom out of your hand and given it to your neighbour, David. Because you did not obey the voice of the Lord nor execute His fierce wrath upon Amalek, therefore the Lord has done this thing to you this day. Moreover the Lord will also deliver Israel with you into the hand of the Philistines. And tomorrow you and your sons will be with me. The Lord will also deliver the army of Israel into the hand of the Philistines.'"
So we see that the final execution of judgement on Saul is delayed for seemingly many years and finally we see that in chapter 31 Saul goes to battle against the Philistines and in verse 3: "The battle became fierce against Saul. The archers hit him, and he was severely wounded by the archers. Then Saul said to his armorbearer, 'Draw your sword, and thrust me through with it, lest these uncircumcised men come and thrust me through and abuse me.' But his armorbearer would not, for he was greatly afraid. Therefore Saul took a sword and fell on it. And when his armorbearer saw that Saul was dead, he also fell on his sword, and died with him. So Saul, his three sons, his armorbearer, and all his men died together that same day.
And when the men of Israel who were on the other side of the valley, and those who were on the other side of the Jordan, saw that the men of Israel had fled and that Saul and his sons were dead, they forsook the cities and fled; and the Philistines came and dwelt in them." And subsequently in 2 Samuel we read about David's reign as king having been made king first by Judah and then by the rest of Israel. But we see a substantial period of time elapsed between Saul being rejected as King and David being anointed as king in a very short space of time in 1 Samuel 15 and 16. Before that actual prophecy is fulfilled and comes to pass in 2 Samuel with the death of Saul in 1 Samuel 30, again I want to make the point that throughout this period, David had opportunities to give effect to that prophecy himself at all times he was faithful as a servant of Saul. He fled rather than have conflict with Saul. He never once is reported as saying that reminding Saul that God has rejected Saul and that God has anointed David as king. David simply worked passionately and just takes defensive action where necessary to survive.
If we can go back now to 1 Samuel 24, in verse 1 we read: "Now it happened, when Saul had returned from following the Philistines, that it was told him, saying, 'Take note! David is in the Wilderness of En Gedi.' Then Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and went to seek David and his men on the Rocks of the Wild Goats. So he came to the sheepfolds by the road, where there was a cave; and Saul went in to attend to his needs. (David and his men were staying in the recesses of the cave.) Then the men of David said to him, 'This is the day of which the Lord said to you, 'Behold, I will deliver your enemy into your hand, that you may do to him as it seems good to you.'' And David arose and secretly cut off a corner of Saul’s robe. Now it happened afterward that David’s heart troubled him because he had cut Saul’s robe. And he said to his men, 'The Lord forbid that I should do this thing to my master, the Lord’s anointed, to stretch out my hand against him, seeing he is the anointed of the Lord.' So David restrained his servants with these words, and did not allow them to rise against Saul. And Saul got up from the cave and went on his way.
David also arose afterward, went out of the cave, and called out to Saul, saying, 'My lord the king!' And when Saul looked behind him, David stooped with his face to the earth, and bowed down. And David said to Saul: 'Why do you listen to the words of men who say, 'Indeed David seeks your harm'? Look, this day your eyes have seen that the Lord delivered you today into my hand in the cave, and someone urged me to kill you. But my eye spared you, and I said, 'I will not stretch out my hand against my lord, for he is the Lord’s anointed.' Moreover, my father, see! Yes, see the corner of your robe in my hand! For in that I cut off the corner of your robe, and did not kill you, know and see that there is neither evil nor rebellion in my hand, and I have not sinned against you. Yet you hunt my life to take it. Let the Lord judge between you and me, and let the Lord avenge me on you. But my hand shall not be against you. As the proverb of the ancients says, 'Wickedness proceeds from the wicked.' But my hand shall not be against you. After whom has the king of Israel come out? Whom do you pursue? A dead dog? A flea? Therefore let the Lord be judge, and judge between you and me, and see and plead my case, and deliver me out of your hand.'
So it was, when David had finished speaking these words to Saul, that Saul said, 'Is this your voice, my son David?' And Saul lifted up his voice and wept. Then he said to David: 'You are more righteous than I; for you have rewarded me with good, whereas I have rewarded you with evil. And you have shown this day how you have dealt well with me; for when the Lord delivered me into your hand, you did not kill me. For if a man finds his enemy, will he let him get away safely? Therefore may the Lord reward you with good for what you have done to me this day. And now I know indeed that you shall surely be king, and that the kingdom of Israel shall be established in your hand. Therefore swear now to me by the Lord that you will not cut off my descendants after me, and that you will not destroy my name from my father’s house.' So David swore to Saul. And Saul went home, but David and his men went up to the stronghold."
So we see something which in terms of the way I think most people today would have reacted to that situation which really requires our attention. We see that the servants of David saw that it was a miracle the way Saul came into the cave in a way that they could kill him. They immediately assumed that that was an opportunity for David to kill Saul, but David was absolutely adamant that he should honour the word of the Lord, the Scripture which says that you should touch not the Lord's anointed and so he simply takes an action, which in its own way is miraculous that he could come up behind Saul in a cave and actually cut his garment with a sword without Saul being aware of it as a means of demonstrating his innocence and that even then David's heart is grieved that he should even have cut Saul's robe and so he does absolutely nothing other than to say that the Lord judge between you and me and to leave the judgement in the hand of God and to [inaudible 0:33:37] that he will not touch his family.
The message that I really want to stress out of that is that it seems very clear from this passage of Scripture that where we become aware of a man of God or a woman of God who may have a well-known and well-respected ministry, who falls into error whether it is minor error or major error, who may be even turns away from God, it is not for us in our own strength to speak against that man to do any harm to that man or to speak against that ministry. We should be aware of it and we should flee from that evil and not condemn the evil and not participate in the evil, but we should not set out to bring about the fall of that man or that ministry. We should leave it to God to do in His time.
I think we can also conclude from these passages of Scripture that even though God had rejected Saul, it took considerably more sin on Saul's part before judgement was actually executed on Saul in the fullness of the prophecy that had been spoken against him. We have to accept that there is much that we do not really understand and that we cannot see in the natural concerning men of God who seem to turn away from serving God, whether they have been rejected by God or whether they can still come to repentance. It is not for us to determine less prophetically or apostolically. We are sent to advise that person and even in that case, it is not for us to do anything further about it to bring about that full. If we go to chapter 26, we see virtually a carbon copy in principle of the previous instance. David comes to Saul's camp. Saul and all his people are sleeping. David walks right into the middle of the camp and in 1 Samuel 26:8: "Then Abishai said to David, 'God has delivered your enemy into your hand this day. Now therefore, please, let me strike him at once with the spear, right to the earth; and I will not have to strike him a second time!' But David said to Abishai, 'Do not destroy him; for who can stretch out his hand against the Lord’s anointed, and be guiltless?' David said furthermore, 'As the Lord lives, the Lord shall strike him, or his day shall come to die, or he shall go out to battle and perish. The Lord forbid that I should stretch out my hand against the Lord’s anointed. But please, take now the spear and the jug of water that are by his head, and let us go.'"
So we see an absolute reverence on the part of David for that Scripture which says "Touch not the Lord's anointed." Even though from that passage we see quite clearly that David knows that God has rejected Saul as king but he is at peace leaving that judgement to the Lord and all he seeks to do is to protect his own life by again demonstrating to Saul that he has no intention of killing Saul. And yet David does not feel safe to trust Saul and we thus conclude that David was well aware of the fact that Saul was demonized, that Saul had sacrificed his integrity and was in fact serving Satan and yet David still refused point-blank to do anything to harm Saul. So I really believe that one of the critical lessons that we need to learn out of this is that we should not in any way speak against or do anything against any child of God that in our opinion is sin or error, other than where it is absolutely the Will of God to speak directly to that person.
I want to carry on and I want to touch on some points in a document that I read some time ago, which is called some thoughts on dealing with current developments in the world and the church and it deals with some other principles which I had identified prior to really getting a revelation of the passage that I have just taught on, but it develops the same principle and I just want to pick up some headlines out of that document. That document is available should anybody want to obtain a copy. In Ephesians 5:1-17, I just want to pick out a few headlines, it says: "Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Therefore do not be partakers with them.
For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. Therefore He says: 'Awake, you who sleep, Arise from the dead, And Christ will give you light.' See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be unwise, but understand what the will of the Lord is."
So in this passage we see that we cautioned that certain unrighteous things should not even be named among you. We are also cautioned that it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But then on the other hand in verse 11 we are advised to expose the unfruitful works of darkness. So there appears to be a certain degree of tension or contradiction. At best it appears that we have a responsibility to make others aware of information concerning certain occurrences which have importance to other believers, but at the same time, it appears that we are cautioned to avoid discussing these things at all. As best I can determine, it appears that an appropriate interpretation of this passage might be that we should make certain limited and critical information available to others who do not have that knowledge and only to the extent necessary to inform them in order that they may take responsibility for their own spiritual welfare. Thereafter it would seem that we should refrain from all further discussion of these topics.
It seems to me particularly in the light of what I have taught in the last few minutes based on the life of Saul and David that there is a very, very clear distinction here between making public the fact that there are manifestations taking place in terms of false doctrine and demonic manifestation but that we should scrupulously refrain from naming names when naming the ministries who identify people who may at some point in time be prisoners of Satan and in bondage to false doctrine. Thus we need to concentrate where we are aware of false doctrine not of criticising and condemning the false doctrine, but of preaching the truth and where there are manifestations which we truly believe not to be of God. It would seem that we have an obligation to state that these manifestations are taking place but at the same time, that we should not dwell on them, we should not go into detail, we should not discuss them in depth, so should just register the fact that they are happening.
If we look also at Luke 8:16-18 "No one, when he has lit a lamp, covers it with a vessel or puts it under a bed, but sets it on a lampstand, that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is secret that will not be revealed, nor anything hidden that will not be known and come to light. Therefore take heed how you hear. For whoever has, to him more will be given; and whoever does not have, even what he seems to have will be taken from him." That Scripture seems to show us quite clearly that God will make those things which are secret known to those who need to know what is going on, but again, the point is that we should use such information responsibly.
Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 states: "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, For this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, Including every secret thing, Whether good or evil." Again, we see that God will bring every work into judgement, not man. We need to tie this into other scriptures which tell us not to judge lest we also are judged. Proverbs 25:8-10 states: "Do not go hastily to court; For what will you do in the end, When your neighbour has put you to shame? Debate your case with your neighbour, And do not disclose the secret to another; Lest he who hears it expose your shame, And your reputation be ruined." This passage appears to caution us against taking up any matter publicly, against conducting some form of trial such as has taken place in a number of occasions on television. We are expressly warned to debate our case with our neighbour. Can there be any doubt that if God does in fact bring another man's sin to light, then He requires you take up the matter privately with that man. If he refuses to hear you, it does not appear to be any particular basis for publicity. If we look at Deuteronomy 29:29: "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but those things which are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."
That Scripture refers specifically to the secrets of God being revealed to His people. It is available whether this applies to the secrets of the evil one. Certainly it is important information that must be made available within the Body of Christ, that information about what Satan is doing, but just as military intelligence is not publicly debated and is quietly analysed to the extent necessary to formulate a plan of attack, such information should surely not be broadcast such that the enemy can formulate new campaign plans. It occurs to me that if we look at the subjects which are currently under discussion in this series of teachings, much of what I am teaching here is derived from inference of Scripture, is not explicitly dealt with. And it really does seem to me that the approach that God has adopted in the way he has designed Scripture is that the things which are necessary for us to understand the way that the enemy works are embedded in Scripture for those who have revelation by the Holy Spirit that they are not explicitly taught. In that fashion, it would seem that the scriptures are being preserved and are being made available without it being explicit what they are teaching and yet as we are lead into all truth by the Holy Spirit, we are lead into further truth by the Holy Spirit, we increasingly come to understand what the Scriptures are revealing about what is going on behind the scenes, what the enemy is doing and what God is doing. Out of this we can come to better understand the battle that we are involved in.
With certain limit, strategic information should be circumspectly disclosed as the Lord leads, but with the ongoing discussion of this information is to be avoided and that we should avoid naming the names of our brethren or others. It seems to me that we should never lose sight of the fact that the Lord is in command and that He is the commander-in-chief. We should never attempt to act on his behalf in the areas where he is much more competent to act. He has said that He will reveal the secrets. Surely we should leave that up to Him. Again, I refer you back to the passages that we read in 1 Samuel where we see that throughout the years that David was hunted and persecuted by Saul, David always left it in the hand of God to judge Saul and to make David king. And again, I cannot stress enough how important it seems to me that we should refrain from seeking to bring about judgement in the lives of others or speaking against them.
Surely if we really want desire to see Romans 8:14 manifest in our lives, for as many as are lead by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. We will concentrate all our attention on seeking to become spirit lead by the spirit of God and then we will not need large amounts of published information for He will show us what we need to know. I can just extend this into the area of tale bearing, judging what I would refer to as specs in eyes, there are many Scriptures relating to that. Leviticus 19:16: "You shall not go about as a talebearer." Proverbs 11:12-13 says: "He who is devoid of wisdom despises his neighbour,
But a man of understanding holds his peace. A talebearer reveals secrets, But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter." So we see a very clear scriptural injunction there, but it is not for us to go about talking about what is wrong in other people's lives to condemn them. Proverbs 18:8: "The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles, And they go down into the inmost body." So we see it is very seductive to listen to tale bearing and stories and to actually observe them. Proverbs 20:19 says: "He who goes about as a talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters with his lips."
There are other Scriptures, Proverbs 26:17-26, but it really is important that we recognise that if we report sin [inaudible 0:50:27] third party whether they believe in writing that report will persists even if the next person who has sinned comes to a revelation of their sin, falls on their knees before God and abject and heartfelt repentance, receives forgiveness and sees his whole life turned around by God in an instant. If one of the spirits, reports of earlier sin, those reports will persists long after repentance and in the process, potentially cause many to sin and even to reject what God subsequently may choose to sovereignly do through that man or woman. In such cases, we may well find our words and opposition to God for the rest of our lives and find ourselves judged accordingly.
1 John 5:16 says: "If anyone sees his brother sinning a sin which does not lead to death, he will ask, and He will give him life for those who commit sin not leading to death." So very clearly if God shows us that a brother is sinning a sin that does not lead to death, we are to pray for them and God will give that man life. Surely if we are all to make a point of praying and fasting for the deliverance of any brother whom we see in sin or error, instead of broadcasting that to the world or gossiping about it, we would see many more men and women of God restored to their calling without the losses that are currently taking place. Again, Galatians 6:1-5 says: "Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load."
Again, the message is very clear. We should take one another's burdens. We should help those who are overtaken by trespass. We should not think of ourselves to be something. We stand by the grace of God, but we have accomplished for good in our lives is by His spirit and His grace. We are unworthy of any reward or recognition. Truly, we should see ourselves as unprofitable servants as Luke 17 says. So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say we are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do. And perhaps the most important principle that we need to understand is to understand the full ramifications of what Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:15-16: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. However, for this reason I obtained mercy, that in me first Jesus Christ might show all longsuffering, as a pattern to those who are going to believe on Him for everlasting life."
Paul says this right at the end of his life having in the early days of his writing, considering himself as being not the least of the apostles to being the least of the saints to bring the chief of sinners and we read also it is reported by Joyner in the book "The Final Quest" that Paul confirms that right at the end of his life, he came to realise just how sinful he was and how little he did what God had called him to do and how frequently he did what was contrary to the Word of God. As we see ourselves in this light, we should cease to be concerned for others to know about our brother's sin and increasingly see the [inaudible 0:54:10] for the grace go by. As we come to this place, surely the only thing that matters to us is the welfare of our brother. Surely we will pray and fast and intercede. We will seek the face of God for the right opportunity to approach the person concerned and for guidance on how to present the information at our disposal in a scriptural fashion that will set them free. If we dare to assume any responsibility at all, it will be to protect our brother from his sin, to stand in the gap and to seek his deliverance. And increasingly I am coming to understand just how much God wants us to understand if we see sin in another, but He has shown us that for us to do something about it. If He shows us that somebody is oppressed demonically, the only reason He shows us that so that we can do something about it. Not so that we can judge them or shun them or speak ill of them, but that we can help them.
Matthew 18:15-17 reinforces this case of specific sin against himself. "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that 'by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.' And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector." How frequently has our conduct played a pivotal role when our brother sin against us? How frequently do we find miscommunication and misunderstanding at the root of disagreement? How much more will that applyi with regard to a brother who we hardly know or about whom we see a video clip, hear of a verbal report, read a document, or see something that he has written that we do not agree with? Have we considered a situation of a person who genuinely sins against us and will not repent? We are instructed to treat him like a heathen and a tax collector. Many who call themselves by the name of Christ take this as a licence to look down and despise the person concerned to speak evil of them and to shun them. However in the real world we are called by God to be courteous and to love our neighbours as ourselves even if they are not spiritually our brethren. We have to keep in mind Jesus' words in Luke 10:25-37, the story of a good Samaritan and we see that in response to the question who is my neighbour, Jesus says he who showed mercy on him is the neighbour. There can be no doubt from that that Jesus explicitly told us to treat all men as our neighbour. Taken in this context, the Scripture referring to treating neighbours as sellers or tax collectors and heathen does not mean that we should fraternise and socialise with them. Or even that we should indulge in idle conversation but it would certainly seem to indicate that we should always demonstrate the love of God to them no matter what they do.
Matthew 5:44 says: "But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you." If we are told to do these things for those who are our personal enemies, how much more should we do these things for those we hardly know who love God but have fallen into Satan's hands. For all of these things, Luke 17:1-5 warns us that offenses will come. It says: "It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones." That passage is not cause for prideful condemnation of those through which offences come. It is caused with prayer and fasting and humble petition to Almighty God that your brother or sister be afforded the opportunity to repent and turn around.
In considering these things, it is also vital that we keep in mind that Isaiah 4:6 says my people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. If we recognise that people all around us and quite possibly ourselves are being destroyed for lack of knowledge and we come to understand how vulnerable each one of us is that none of us has anything approaching the understanding and wisdom of our Lord that we see through it [inaudible 0:58:58] that we will only gain the real understanding of the extreme level of own ignorance and sinfulness when we see him face-to-face. Surely whenever we see a brother or sister fall into some sin of which we have knowledge, we should cry out, "Lord show me my error and my sin." At the same time, we must keep in mind Luke 6:35-37 which cautions us to love our enemies and to judge not lest we are judged and condemn not lest we are condemned and forgive that we may be forgiven. Matthew 7:1-5: "Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you. And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me remove the speck from your eye'; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye."
Surely this Scripture should leave us in no doubt, we can any assist our brother to remove the speck from their own eyes if the plank is first being removed from our own eyes. If we are honest with ourselves and consider the revelations that God has given us over the years we will recognise how confident we were of our own freedom from error prior to the discovery of newly recognised sin and error. We are engaged in the like journey to become more like Jesus as we draw closer to him, sin that previously seemed irrelevant or was not even visible to us suddenly looms like a titanic iceberg right in front of us and we start to see our sin and our own righteousness as God sees it. Having experienced this even once, how can we ever again condemn a brother because we think that we can see something clearly that they cannot see at all. Brothers and sisters, such things ought not to be so. Finally, Romans 14:4 sums it up as follows: "Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand."
In conclusion, I really pray that this has begun to open up a greater awareness of how God views these things. In summary, and I am speaking to myself as much as to my readers, it seems to me that in the event of realising that there is something wrong and exposing the works of darkness, it is not for us to dwell on them and to preach on them. It is for us to preach the Word of God to seek to become holy, to seek to know our own sin and our own deception and seek to be free of it and to recognise that Jesus died that we do not have to bear the consequences of our sin that we must recognise our sin and confess it to Almighty God, repent of it, and receive our forgiveness if we are not to give Satan massive footholds in our lives. If we draw close to God in this way, we truly may walk unharmed from the fiery furnace or the lion's den, but if we focus on Satan and what he is doing in the world, we will fall into his nest and may not even survive.
In cases where we discern error or sin in the Body of Christ and people that we hardly know, I think we should accept that if God shows us the error that we may fast and pray for them that we approach them privately and personally at the time that God appoints and do whatever else God ordains that we may be an instrument for honouring and deliverance. It is not for us to broadcast their sin and their error to others or to publish it on paper, the radio, TV or the internet. Rather we should seek a revelation of the level of our own sin and deception and seek to have planks removed from our own eyes. Then we should stand back and get out of the way so that God can do what He chooses in response to our spirit led prayers. If we have not done this, the chances are that we are the one with a greater sin and that we should be going to our brother and confessing our sin and tale bearing, repenting and asking for His forgiveness. In the case of sin against you personally, it is clear that we should go to him, the person who has sinned against us privately as scripture dictates and if we cannot resolve our differences, to walk away quietly to forgive and leave it to God or to get on what has God has called us to do and not to slander our brother or tell others about his sin against us.
Finally, as I was completing the documents to which I have been referring, Lord placed the following in my heart. Above all else, fix your gaze on Jesus, look for in his wonderful face and recognise how infinitely far you are from being even vaguely like him. Stop concerning yourself with fixing up the world, except where he has clearly called you to speak on a particular topic, at a particular time and place and to particular people and get on with seeking to know him more nearly and see him more clearly day by day. Seek a revelation of the verse which says there are many led by the spirit of God, these are sons of God. Sacrifice all that you have that you may possess this treasure and this deep secret of the most high God. Seek to know His ways to be His friend to come into the secret place of the most high. Do whatever it takes for you to return to your first love, to know Him through His word, to come into His presence and to know His gentle guiding hand and His favour and every single area of your life, every single moment, of every single day. There is no sacrifice so great that it should inhibit any one of us from seeking after this. That is what eternity is about. Why not seek it in this life? It has very, very, very few of us come anywhere close to this on a consistent basis. This truly is to love the Lord, your God with all your heart, all your soul and all your mind and all your strength and to love your neighbour as yourself. There is no other way. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, saviour of the world.
02_03 Judgment in this Life -- God’s Objective -- Revival
This morning I am going to continue with this series on judgement begins in the house of the Lord and the implications of the judgement and over the next few weeks, God willing, I hope to talk more about the actual manifestations of the judgement in the world today, what the scriptures have to say about that, and also how we respond to the judgement, how we draw closer to God and how we become more holy and sanctified. However, before I go into that, I would like to spend some time today talking about what is God's objective, what is God seeking to accomplish in us through tribulation, through judgement in the house of the Lord in this age and where is He taking us.
If I can just refer you to three passages of Scripture, 1 Peter 4:12-14: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. On their part He is blasphemed, but on your part He is glorified." So again we see a reference here to a trial and the indications are that it is a fiery trial and to an extent that we will partake of Christ's sufferings, that his glory may be revealed in us. And it seems to me that the part of the trial which is not directly related to partaking of Christ's sufferings relates to the judgement in the house of the Lord that we spoke about last Saturday as distinct from the portion of the trial which is opposition and persecution for the name of Christ. But it does seem to me that in some fashion the manner in which we respond to the persecution and the nature of the trial will be dependent on the sin in our lives at that time. If we can go to John 5:19-24: "Then Jesus answered and said to them, 'Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him. Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.'"
We see a reference there in verse 20 that God will do greater works than those that Jesus had demonstrated to his disciples and elsewhere in Scripture we find the passage where Jesus says that his disciples will do greater works than he did, because he goes to be with his Father. And it seems to me that some things have to happen before the Body of Christ does greater works than Jesus did. It certainly does not seem to me that overall around the world we are seeing Christians walking in the fullness of the anointing of Jesus as he walked the Earth and we are certainly not seeing much in the way of the dead being raised and consistent miracles of the nature that Jesus performed. We certainly are seeing such manifestations in limited cases in certain ministries, but even in those ministries it would seem that they are not doing greater works than Jesus.
In the same passage we see reference that judgement has been committed to the son and yet in other passages we see the son as the advocate. So we find some intellectual challenges in understanding exactly what the word is saying here with regard to judgement. In the last verse that I quoted, verse 24, we see that he says he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgement that is passed from death into life. Again, there are teachings which seem to build on that verse of Scripture to suggest that believers are beyond judgement but elsewhere in Scripture we find reference to judgement beginning in the house of the Lord and this whole issue of judgement is an area where it certainly seems to me that there is enormous complexity in terms of our limited understanding of what the judgement of God is about and it seems there may be a judgement which leads to death as distinct from a judgement of those who are passed into the kingdom of God. But again, that is not really the essence of the message that I have this morning. I just want to demonstrate that the glory and the judgement are closely associated with one another.
We turn to 1 Peter 1:6-19 we find it says: "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ, whom having not seen you love. Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls. Of this salvation the prophets have inquired and searched carefully, who prophesied of the grace that would come to you, searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow. To them it was revealed that, not to themselves, but to us they were ministering the things which now have been reported to you through those who have preached the gospel to you by the Holy Spirit sent from heaven—things which angels desire to look into.
Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, 'Be holy, for I am holy.' And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one’s work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear; knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things, like silver or gold, from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot."
We clearly see in verse 17 that the Father judges without partiality according to our works and what we have done and therefore we should conduct ourselves in fear of the judgement, recognising that we are redeemed for our sin by the blood of Christ. Earlier on we see that after the sufferings of Christ that glories would follow and then we see earlier in verse 7 that the genuineness of your faith being much more precious than gold that perishes that is tested by fire they be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ. If we accept the revelation of Jesus Christ in his fullness not yet taken place, then it would seem that the testing by fire is something that it could be argued that we are currently experiencing to a greater or lesser extent. It would seem that this is the fire that burns out the flesh, burns out the dross in our lives that we may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ that we may overcome to the end.
Out of these passages, there is some indication of a correlation between judgement and the blessings of God and I now want to take this further and just develop the thinking around that. The teaching that I am going to give here is based on some notes that I made after reading a book entitled "The world aflame, guidance from the greatest revival yet and the greater one to come" by Rick Joyner published by Whitaker House in 1993 and there is a summary of these notes available. What I am seeking to demonstrate is that there is a close correlation between the coming judgement and revival and quite possibly that revival is the greatest revival that there will ever be. It is a revival that will usher millions of souls into the Kingdom of God. It is a revival in which the believers will indeed do greater works than Jesus did during his time on Earth. In all of this, there is a close interrelationship which certainly seems to me to be demonstrated quite convincingly by this book. So the balance of my teaching today is going to make very little reference to Scripture. It is going to draw on what seems to me to be a very anointed document produced by Joyner. This teaching needs to be taken in conjunction with those which God willing, will follow and those which are preceded it in order to see the context and the scriptural basis of what is being taught today.
I purchase the book very shortly after writing a document on 2 Thessalonians 2:7, when he who now restrains is taken out of the way, which God willing, will be the basis of my teaching in the next couple of weeks and that paints a picture of great tribulation to come and great judgement to come. But then on reading the "World Aflame" I really found that there was a vivid expectation and grounds for a great hope that amongst all the distraction and the prophecies of tribulation and doom, there is also a basis for enormous hope that the birth of a massive outpouring of the Holy Spirit leading to revival and restoration on a magnitude such as man has never experienced was near at hand. It seems to me that as much as we would like to be specific about the dates and times that relate to the fulfilment of these prophecies, we will all be waiting expectantly until such time as it happens, but it does seem that there are grounds for it to happen sooner rather than later.
The book describes at length the progression of events immediately before and during the Welsh revival. There are accounts of thousands streaming into towns where the revival was breaking out of men and women broken by the revelation of this and coming to the cross to gratefully receive the salvation. There are reports of spontaneous prayer meetings and praise and worship in the streets and the coal mine, factories, offices, and homes. Meetings frequently started hours before advertised time as people gather to be sure of a place in the hall and the spirit moved in his [inaudible 0:13:36]. Meetings that started in the early evening regularly went on to well after midnight, often to early morning, only to be taken up new meetings.
People spontaneously marched downtowns and then the entire town came to salvation. The spirit moved with such power that entire meetings were conducted slowly at the leading of the Holy Spirit and thousands of people saying the same hymn that [inaudible 0:14:02] sometimes singing songs that have never been sung before. On occasion, entire town cease to trade for several days at a time the spirit moved with power. Jails were empty and policemen had nothing to do. The pubs and gambling houses closed their doors or become houses of prayer and football heroes were so busy preaching the gospel that matches were cancelled. The football stadiums were empty. Blind ponies were unable to take direction from their handlers since their only language that the ponies knew were cursing and suddenly their handlers ceased to curse. The schoolteacher was laid to the Lord by the four-year-olds who put up their hands and simply asked with all sincerity, miss do you love Jesus? Much of the preaching and praise and worship was led by youngsters in their teens. It was a time of incredible power and grace and the entire nation came to know Jesus Christ as real and powerful.
From Wales the flames of revival spread around the world to every corner of the globe. [inaudible 0:15:02] revival was ignited by spark from Wales. It is a profoundly moving and powerful account of God moving sovereign in His way, in His time using totally yielded vessels who offered him unquestioning obedience. What follows I have endeavoured to extract those components of the message which seem to me to be important in understanding how we can avoid obstructing revival and if possible, align ourselves more fully with the will of God in order to facilitate the coming of revival. In this message as I have said, I am not going to quote the Scripture, but my objective is simply to encourage you to seek God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind and with all your strength to assist in giving birth to that which seems to me is at the very portal of the Earth waiting to break at any time.
Now is the time for greater awareness of the coming tribulation and of the current spiritual turmoil in the church, but it is also a time of travail in the spirit as God gives birth to that outpouring of His spirit, which is necessary for His plans to be finally accomplished on Earth. That outpouring may start tomorrow. It may take years, but I have no doubt that now is the time for us to enter into travail for the delivery of this new gift from God.
In the teaching that follows, I will simply cite extracts and headlines out of the book in order to really just demonstrate what to me seems to be some critical issues that we need to take into account as we seek God for revival on this Earth. I am just going to take the extracts as I have documented them without very much comment and I would urge anyone listening to this tape to take the trouble to try and get hold of the book if at all possible.
One of the key thoughts that come out of the outset is that it is profanity to seek glory at God's expense. We must give God all the glory and seek no glory for ourselves. We should have a healthy fear of man's planning as it frequently gets in God's way. We should recognise that the [inaudible 0:17:28] the spirit blazes he chooses and it is not for us to plan ahead for revival. God's true servants know we are not to speak, when to be silent, and let God move and led God speak. I was incredibly touched and moved with regard to the role of the children. God used the children. He even used four year olds to lead people to Christ and we must become like little children in order to be used by God in revival. My heart at the time might develop an intense burden that we must seek revival for the sake of the children who have brought into a world of such corruption and distraction. For their sake if none other, I would urge everyone to cry out and to seek revival.
We must learn to carry the arc of God's presence correctly and reverently and know that it is only after agonising intercession that power comes. It was mentioned that the book "With Christ in the School of Prayer" by Andrew Murray had a profound impact on Even Roberts, the person that was used by God to start this revival. The fire of the revival was started by the words: I love Jesus with all my heart spoken by [inaudible 0:18:55]. It is important to realise that Roberts had been faithfully seeking God for 13 years before revival broke out. And immediately after it broke out, the cry became: Bend me Lord. It seems to me that we have to set aside all our preconceived notions and allow God to use us as He would before revival will come.
There were immediate setbacks to this small beginning but they persevered and then came the breakthrough and with that an intense burden to cast off sin. At the outset of the revival, Roberts was preaching four great tenants. Firstly, all sin must be confessed to God and repented off. The church has to be cleansed. The Lord's bride would be without spots so there will be no room for compromise with sin. If there is anything in our lives about which there is even doubt as to whether it is good or evil, then cast it off. Secondly, there must be no pride between the believer and God, therefore forgive. Thirdly, we must obey the holy spirit, do what the spirit prompts you to do. Prompt [inaudible 0:20:13] and questioning obedience to the spirit is required if we are to be used by Him. Fourthly, there must be public confession of Christ to save you. This is not just a one-time incident after our salvation experience or baptism. For the Christian, it is a way of life. Roberts kept prophesying until the lights came on. But a vital element of the message was that revival depended on the acceptance of one messenger. It is suggested that many revivals have failed because God's church did not accept the messenger that God sent and therefore revival was never born. It is suggested that if Roberts had not been accepted in his home church when he did things contrary to tradition, there would have been no revival.
We are cautioned to bless those that God sent whether we like them or not. A point is made that Paul was born to defend his recognition by God as an apostle. It is not for a man to decide whether a man is a prophet or an apostle if God anointed that man, we see the Prophet in the name of a Prophet, [inaudible 0:21:31] the Body of Christ is a terrible form of spiritual pride. At the same time, there is a fine balance between wrong men, exalting men and receiving them properly. We are not supposed to humble others. We are told to humble ourselves. God will humble others. When Robert's mother grieved the Holy Spirit, he did not comfort her. He sought to help her to repent, which we often in this age went to seek to comfort people who have sinned, rather than to help them to repent. In the loops of the revival, God told Roberts to withdraw and not speak to anyone. God's ways are not our ways. During the week that he withdrew he made the following notes. One, do everything that the Lord commands, do not strike the rock as Moses did. Two, bring even the smallest things to God in prayer before you act. Do not make a pact with the Gibeonites as Joshua did. Three, total obedience. Four, give God the glory. It seems to me that those are four critical talents that any believer should take to heart.
To note that the spiritual realm is much greater than the natural realm and yet we focus all our attention on the natural. In the revival, the son, Jesus, was lifted up. People have been taught to death. They need to experience Jesus and their revival is about people experiencing Jesus. We need to experience Jesus. We need to become aware of our need to experience Jesus and to seek him. The cross was the centre of the revival as it indicated by the following recorded prayer of Even Roberts, which captures succinctly the central emphasis of elevation of the revivalists, evangelists.
Lord Jesus, help us now through the Holy Spirit to come face to face with the Cross. Whatever the hindrance may be, we commit the service to Thee. Put us all under the Blood, Oh, Lord, place the Blood on all our past up to this moment. We thank Thee for the Blood. In the name of Jesus Christ, bind the devil this moment. We point to the cross of Christ. It is our cross and we take it.
Reveal the Cross through the Name of Jesus. Oh, open the Heavens. Descend upon us now. Tear open our hearts; give us such a sight of Calvary that our hearts may be broken. Oh Lord, descend now; open our hearts to receive the heart that bled for us. If we are to be fools - make us fools for Thee. Take us, spirit, soul and body. We are thine. Thou hast purchased us. Reveal the Cross for the sake of Jesus - the Cross that is to conquer the world. Place us under the Blood. Forbid that we should think of what men may say of us. Oh speak - speak - speak. Lord Jesus. Thy Words are 'wine indeed': Oh reveal the Cross, beloved Jesus - the Cross in its glory.
Reign in every heart for the sake of Jesus. Lord, do Thou help us to see the dying Saviour. Enable us to see Him conquering the hosts of darkness. Claim victory for Thy Son, now Lord. He is worthy to have the victory. Thou art the all-powerful god. Oh, claim victory. We shall give all the glory to Thy Name. No one else has the right to the glory but Thee. Take it, Lord. Glorify Thy Son in this meeting. Oh, Holy Spirit - do Thy work through us and in us now! Speak Thy Word in power for Thy Name's sake. Amen - and Amen!
Love, sufferings, death, and resurrection of Jesus were the theme of every meeting, every ceremony, every prayer and became of passion of every heart. People were not being converted to a new doctrine, a denomination of personality or even the new movement, they were converted to Jesus. Being born again means a profound comprehension of [inaudible 0:25:28] condition. In this revival, a nation was born again. At the same time, the workers must pace themselves and learn to rest. It is vital that we equip the workers before the revival. There will not be time to equip them once it comes.
As [inaudible 0:25:46] was sparked from Wales, Jesus continues to be born in stables. When we embellish the gospel, we destroy its power. On the other hand, a holy desperation precedes new beginnings. Most of the great revivals in the world have come before judgement. Revival has preceded major walls. There was revival in the USA before each of their civil wars. The Welsh revival preceded the First World War. By extension it would appear that if we are truly about to see judgement poured out upon the Earth, as I have taught in the last few weeks and will teach in the next few weeks, God willing, we will see the glory of the Lord poured out first. In this case, those who are anticipating rupture before tribulation may in fact be anticipating revival before tribulation.
Revival starts with searching out sin in oneself, not in others. We must give what is born back to God. Holy desperation births, revival. Desperation because of sin. Revival also leads to restoration of truth. It is vital that we become conscious of the fact that there is massive error and deception, heresy preached through most if not all, church of Jesus Christ today. And therefore with revival will come a restoration of truth. Greatly it is revival have seldom endeared more than five years, some have only lasted for one. Revival renews existing churches and restores lost truths.
The trouble with the Welsh revival began as soon as people started to resort to form. It is important that we recognise that Jesus honoured the old order but at the same time, the old order must not dictate the shape and the form of revival. We should seek the recovery of truth without discord, but at the same time we must recognise that Satan will oppose the recovery of truth. We must bend to the will of God, but first we must intercede for intimacy with him. True revival is born out of love for the Lord. There is a distinction between prayer for judgement and prayer for revival and we need to know that difference. God is moved far more by relationship than by form. The Lord gives his people space to make mistakes. If we walk by faith, we are seldom absolutely sure. Again, I believe that that is a fundamental principle that we need to understand. Just walk by faith, not by sight. We cannot walk by rules. We have to walk by the spirit and the more we walk by the spirit, the more people will be offended by people who do things which are not conventional or traditional. We need to respect God efficiently to allow Him to move as He sees fit and we need to give His people space to make mistakes.
We need to accept that we will make mistakes and we need to be willing to make mistakes in order to serve God more faithfully. It certainly seems to me that it is better to go out by faith and make a mistake them to do nothing because we are afraid of making mistakes.
The book goes at some length into the issues surrounding idealism versus revelation. It makes the point that idealism can kill revival. At the end of the day, the man singular appointed by God remains accountable for the revival that has been sparked through him for which he was the instrument. It is alleged that the Welsh revival died prematurely because Roberts listened to an idealistic woman who said that he was becoming too prominent and therefore he completely withdraw from sight and involvement. If that report is correct, then he broke one of his fundamental principles of taking everything to God and pray first and he allowed Satan to use criticism to kill the newborn child because its earthly Father had raised it to a point where it could stand alone.
How easily we permit our intellect and respect for persons to get in the way of questioning obedience and application that the very revelation that God has given us personally. It is important that we recognise that criticism and accusation is one of the enemies for most weapons. It is also important to recognise that the apostles and elders did not gain influence by exposing darkness, but by manifesting light. For that reason, we must hold fast to that which is good. We should also not try and uproot the tears prematurely. We should recognise that love is passionate. Emotions do reveal us, but they should not control us. The difference between spiritual pioneers and spiritual settlers is distinct. The church needs both. Those who will break new ground and those who will look after the ground that has been broken. We need to prepare for our revival. We need to cast our crowns, our own ideas and objectives down before the throne of God. God does not anoint the vision. True unity requires that all doctrinal differences must ultimately be removed. This requires the removal of all the false doctrines and heresies which are rife in the church today. Those who have truth must share it. But God will water the seed and nurture its growth. We cannot force it.
Questions should be the most free and live people on Earth. And yet on the other hand, control is one of the greatest enemies of revival. Satan uses intellectual truths to control. God gave us freedom of choice. We have a choice whether to obey or not. Worship must enable our hearts to touch God's heart. We have the capacity to choose and that means from time to time we will make mistakes. The Holy Spirit through and with the Bible, not man or the Bible without the Holy Spirit is our teacher.
We must live by every word that precedes present tense out of the mouth of God, and the Word of God requires radical obedience, uncompromising, unquestioning obedience. We cannot compromise believer's freedom to disagree on non-core issues. And we must recognise the freedom to do what is not specifically banned. God wants us to use our own judgement, not to indulge in pharisaism and tell people what they cannot do based on our personal prejudice.
The book makes a telling case for relating the current teachings of hermeneutics and pharisaism. The sum of the Word of God is truth and we must be very careful about building doctrines on individual Scriptures. True Christianity promotes extraordinary liberty for the personal quest for God's truth. At the same time, a spiritual man does not need a contract and a carnal man cannot keep one. Another point which to me is absolutely vital out of this particular report and which I believe to be totally scriptural, the Lord made it easy for His disciples to leave and difficult for them to stay but it is vital that the church today comes to learn that. We need to be led by the law of love. We need to recognise that which is highly esteemed by men is the testable in the Sight of God. We must go to the field to do the work that God has called us to do despite the fact that the field is full of tears. We must join together in harvest and in tribulation that we should flee to the love when men try to exalt us.
We must recognise that increasing chaos and revival are coming, but not yet the rapture and we should build on Jesus. I was profoundly moved by this book, so much of what was written confirmed my own thoughts and amplified them enormously. It seems clear to me from this that we are even further to go before we truly know how to be lead by the spirit of God every moment of every day and everything that we do. It also seems clear to me that very few men can assist us in such a quest. We must present to God as never before. We must travail as never before. We must ask to know Jesus heart on every matter. We must grieve when he grieves, rejoice when he rejoices, and experience his wrath when that is appropriate. We must not lean to our own understanding and we must spend far more time in his word than ever before. We must ask him to show us our sin and we must recognise that our flesh may be polluted by demonic influences, which must be identified and cast out. We must ask for and receive with joy the crucifixion of our flesh on a daily basis and we must fix our eyes on Jesus as never before.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, saviour of the world.
02_04 Manifestations of Judgment -- Lying Wonders, etc
Today I am going to carry on with the series on judgement in the house of the Lord and the manifestation of that judgement. Two weeks ago we talked about the principles of judgement in this life for believers and last week we talked about the end consequence of the process that is currently underway, which was revival throughout the world. Today I want to talk about some of the manifestations of the judgement that is taking place and some of the science that are associated with that and the Scripture that I would like to base my teaching on is in 2 Thessalonians chapter 2 starting at verse 7: "For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
So the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan. It does seem that the lawless one is quite possibly a human being, it may be even the beast, but it is also at the instigation of Satan. It seems to me that in interpreting the scriptures we have to be very, very careful about applying our personal perception of what the interpretation of the Scripture actually signifies. And really what I want to concentrate on today is that the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, in other words, Satan will be working with all power, science, and lying wonders and all unrighteous deception among those who perish because they did not receive the love of the truth. And a large part of the teachings that God willing will be presented in the months ahead revolve around issues surrounding the science and lying wonders and more particularly the issues of truth and if you like at the other side, the question of demonic heretical teachings, false doctrines, in the church of Jesus Christ. But in addressing the current subject in terms of the coming judgement in the church on the Earth, the judgement which it seems in many respects is already underway and in terms of the fulfilment of certain end-time prophecies where it is debatable whether one can take an absolute view on whether the Scriptures are being fulfilled absolutely today or whether there will be greater fulfilment in the days to come. But certainly my personal impression is that as we discussed a couple of weeks ago that there has been a release of the forces of Satan on the Earth which is greater than there has been in any other generation and that release of the forces of Satan is in consequence of the unrighteous conduct of the Body of Christ over the last 2000 years of the apostasy of the falling away starting a few hundred years after crucifixion of Christ.
The wide range of heretical teachings that are being practised and where we are now slowly seeing the restoration of truth but where why many Christians believe that all truth is being restored, the reality is that even if we take a simple example, such as the fact that Sabbath is in reality Saturday, not Sunday, even that truth is not being restored corporately to the Body of Christ and there are numerous other areas which God willing, will be addressed in the weeks and the months ahead.
What I want to touch on today is some of the specific instances which are being reported, I am not going to go into a lot of detail. And particularly in the light of what I taught last week in terms of dealing with the developments in the church. I am not going to name the names of any individuals. I believe it is not for us to go around passing judgement on people and labelling them on the basis of second or third hand reports, but the objective of my teaching today or the message today is simply to sensitise you to some of the issues that are occurring at the moment and to ask you to consider the possibility that these things are the fulfilment of the scriptures in terms of lying wonders, in terms of apostasy, in terms of doctrines of Demons and so forth.
There are two main threads to that which I want to share today. The first is in terms of developments in the church in the Body of Christ and the second is in terms of developments in the world around us and how those interact. I do not want to go into a lot of detail particularly with regard to the issues in the church, I believe it is for each believer to observe and to discern what is going on. But just a few headlines of things that are being reported, we are observing in visits that we have made to various congregations that increasingly messages are being delivered which we have great difficulty in correlating to our understanding the Word of God that appear to use Scriptures out of context and which certainly in our view are in many cases very, very wrong doctrine. We are seeing many instances where individual well-known church leaders locally and internationally are being praised and lifted up from the pulpit and esteemed and reverenced to the level which it seems to us is taking glory from God and giving glory to human beings, which is not scriptural. There are messages being preached which continue to seek to persuade Christians that they will be so-called rapture before there is any trial or any tribulation as you all have gathered from the message a couple of weeks ago. My understanding is that that is not the case and God willing, next week I will be teaching in more detail based on 2 Thessalonians 2:7 to develop an understanding of why I believe that it is scriptural that the Body of Christ will go through massive judgement, massive persecution, massive tribulation, before the Lord returns and certainly that borrowing perhaps some really, really righteous individuals who may be taken out of the world before the tribulation and even that I consider to be unlikely. The Body of Christ will endure massive persecution of a magnitude that they have never experienced before.
Some years ago I was in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem and the Lord very clearly said to me that the magnitude of the persecution and the torture and just the absolute horror of what was done to the Jewish people by the Nazis in the Second World War is a shadow of what the church will experience in the years ahead and I will address that later on in this teaching, but the point here is that many are teaching that Christians do not have to fear that they should have a good time because they are going to be out of here any day now and that there are videos which present situations where Christian aircraft pilots vaporise out of the aircraft leaving the aircraft to crash where people just disappear in the midst of conversations and there is no understanding in the world of what has happened.
I have great difficulty in seeing that Scripture indicates that is going to happen. Yes, they say that we will be called up to be with the Lord in the air but that is at the final end of the age, not before this tribulation. Again, I will address that in more detail in due course. There are many other teachings in terms of the saying that people once are saved are always saved. There is very little reference to telling people that they should work out their salvation with fear and trembling that they need to live righteous lives, that they should eliminate sin in their lives, that they should seek to draw closer to God. The message seems to be that once one has made a decision for Christ, one is absolved from further responsibility to draw close to God. Whereas it seems to me there is a very clear series of Scriptures which indicate that amongst others in Hebrews 6 that people can lose their salvation and if we look at the report in "The Final Quest" we see clearly also as I discussed a few weeks ago that the throne in heaven is far emptier than it should have been and therefore we must conclude that millions of souls have gone to hell and from there the words that are spoken by the Lord Jesus and in that series of visions which seems clear that there are many who could have been there who had the truth and who did not make it. And the fact that many of the people who are interviewed by Joyner are only led by the grace of God, even though they had powerful ministries is further indication that many, many Christians, many who have called on the name of Christ are not in Heaven today because they have not come to the end.
Certainly on the other hand there are scriptures which indicate, and again, Joyner's vision indicates that even if a Christian does not do the Will of God that they constantly trust God for their salvation, they may make it to Heaven but with weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and that they will be cast into the outer darkness in Heaven to the very outermost limits of Heaven and that only they will be saved but there will be no works, there will be no credit in their account for them to do anything else but to scrap into Heaven by the Grace of God. Again, there are many teachings which fail to my way of thinking to make people aware of the fact that there is an intense obligation to seek Christ and to seek God and to draw closer to God and certainly we have found it increasingly distressing to listen to messages of this and other natures.
Certainly there does seem to be an upsurge in that form of false teaching in the Body of Christ revival now. We have also observed that praise and worship tends to focus more and more in many congregations on me and I and what we seem to think a song that seems to be fairly popular at the moment. It says, "Jesus do know how much I love you" and since Jesus knows all of our thoughts and all of our hearts, it seems to me that is not a song which lifts up the name of Jesus. It is not a song that praises him. That is a very carnal, very self-centred song. There seems to be an increase in that type of praise and worship, rather than lifting up the name of God and giving Him all the honour and all the glory, for that is the only way that we will come into His courts and enter His gates.
There are reports, we have not seen them personally, but we have heard a number of reports of a variety of what certainly to us seemed to be counterfeit miracles. Gold dust allegedly being rained on people's heads, people having amalgam or some of the fillings converted to gold. We found that very difficult to understand how that would be of God. If God is going to bless somebody financially, He is hardly going to rain gold dust on them. It is not something which is financially negotiable. It is not something that they can turn into many in a convenient way and there are numerous reports over the years of people who are living by faith being blessed financially by the Lord in innumerable different ways where gold dust just does not seem to be scriptural to us.
Likewise, the reports of fillings being turned to gold actually happens as I understand is that an amalgam filling is more stable and a more hygienic filling in the sense that it contains certain elements which prevent corrosion on the interface between the tooth and the filling and that the natural factor that gold filling while it may be ostentatious and has some status associated with it is a technically inferior filling to an amalgam filling. Therefore again, that does not seem to make senses as to why the Lord would convert another filling to a gold filling. There are reports that dentists had to remove those fillings and replace them because they have not proved to stable and therefore it does seem to us that it is a counterfeit miracle. It seems to be very carnal that does not improve even if the gold filling is stable. It is difficult to understand how that will improve the quality of life of the believer other than from a status or ego point of view and we knew well that God is not concerned with that sort of thing. Therefore it seems to be a pointless and an impractical miracle and therefore it does not seem to us that it brings glory to God.
Moving on from this, we are also aware of a variety of reports of manifestations in the Body of Christ which certainly from our perspective seem to be demonic. There are video footage doing the rounds of a very well know, very well-respected American best preacher who has been in the ministry for decades ministering at a convention and coming down from the pulpit and hissing would seem to be the best way to describe towards people in the front of the congregation and these people slouching in their chairs and slithering off their chairs, seemingly almost arriving like snakes and those manifestations as best as we understand it are fairly typical of the manifestations that are associated with some of the far Eastern serpentine demonic spirits, the Leviathan spirit and the kundalini spirit and other spirits which have a serpentine origin which manifests physically in the oppressed people's bodies as serpentine, snake like behaviour, hissing, sticking out the tongue, flicking in and out, bodies riving and slithering on the floor. The particular video in which we have seen that footage is put up by another major ministry in the United States which seeks to condemn that behaviour and say that it is not of God and I believe that they are quite correct that it is not of God, but I believe that as you would gather from the teaching last week that it is not scriptural for them to be naming those ministries for them to be showing video footage of those individuals. We do not know if shortly after the time when that video footage was shot whether that person perhaps came to recognition that they were in error, may be was delivered and has continued with the Ministry of God and by speaking against them in that way, one is almost certainly touching the Lord's anointed and doing them harm. And in that process, doing oneself harm and opening the door for the devil to bring spirits of pride, etc., on us.
So it is important that we recognise that that snake like manifestation is not of God and that it is demonic that if we see that manifesting in a meeting we should flee from it. We should not stay there to see what is going on. If we are called apostolically or prophetically to speak correction to the party concerned, we should do that privately, one on one, according to Scripture, not in public, not on television. If we call to make other people aware of the fact that it is a counterfeit miracle that it is demonic, we should do it without naming ministries, without naming names, without showing photographs of the people that are manifesting it. Seemingly at the same meeting, there is a footage of another well-known internationally respected Christian leader performing gestures with his body which have a very strong sexual connotation in conjunction with other men in the group, creating an impression of simulated homosexual intercourse. Again, it is important to understand that behaviour is ungodly. It is not of God. It is almost certainly a demonic manifestation. The party concerned may well not even be conscious of the fact that he is caught up in that. Somehow he has been taken prisoner by the enemy as described so graphically in "The Final Quest." The behaviour is not right. The party needs to be prayed for. He needs Ministry. He needs deliverance, but it is not for us to judge or condemn him. It is just to recognise that that was happening is not of God and if appropriate to minister the person privately and if that is not one's calling, to intercede for them or simply to walk away and to keep praying for them. But not to get involved in touching the Lord's anointed and tearing down ministries.
The other video footage of supposed spiritual drunkenness in another congregation elsewhere in the world where the person concerned is slouched over the pulpit in a slurred voice saying that the Angels are pouring out wine. Again, this certainly does not appear to be any basis in which God would cause people to behave in that fashion and one must conclude that is also deception, that it is also demonic. Again, those people need to be prayed for. The cracks of a message with regard to all of these issues is firstly we must understand that in every situation like that it is demonic, it is false, it is sent to trap individuals. We should also understand that the enemies are only going to prevail in those areas where there is sin in a person's life. It gives the enemy a foothold. We should also understand that will only happen if that situation or a situation has been brought before the Judgement Seat of Christ and if a sentence has been passed at the request of the accuser or the prosecutor and God has granted permission for that oppression, deception, whatever to take place, again, this is not to say that that person is to be judged. They have been judged. Judgement has been passed and judgement is demonic oppression in some shape or form.
It is for us to see, A, to avoid falling into the same trap and to avoid judging, B, to minister where appropriate, C, to pray as the Lord leads for those people. The critical thing to realise at this time is there is great deception and that this is all a manifestation of the judgement that is taking place. Those people who have sin in their lives are being judged in the house of the Lord in this age and it is for each one of us to look but for the grace of God guide and to earnestly seek God to show us what is wrong in our own lives. The appropriate prayer there would be "Father, in the name of Jesus I ask you to show me the level of my present deception and to show me how to deal with it." Another prayer which I believe is vital in this age for every believers, "Father, in the name of Jesus, I ask you to judge me severely, correct me harshly that I may serve you more perfectly, in Jesus name."
If we truly are seeking to serve God in this age, we must put ourselves before the Judgement Seat of Christ, we must bring ourselves to judgement. We must judge ourselves and we must recognise that we are not able so much as to judge ourselves, let alone to judge others and therefore we should come before the Judgement Seat of Christ and voluntary bring ourselves to judgement and ask God to judge us severely and harshly and correct us if we truly wish to serve God to the end of this age and to overcome to the end.
If I turn to the happenings in the world and this is a progressive extension of the message over the last few weeks, there are many reports that there are allegedly as many as 45 concentration camps that have been built in remote places in the United States. There are allegations of a computer system in the United States planned to program to issue once of arrest of as many as a million people in the United States, including many high-profile Christian leaders. There are reports of two concentration camps in South Africa, one in the Eastern Cape and one in the East strand, another one in the Eastern Cape, alleged to extend to 11 stories underground, alleged to include electric [inaudible 0:25:08] and gas chambers and incinerators capable of killing and burning 3000 bodies a day. The allegations around that there is a global conspiracy which aims to destroy at least 2 billion people on the planet in the next few years, people who are regarded as being ideologically religiously or otherwise undesirable, a shadow of the whole programmes with Hitler just on a much larger scale and on a national scale as part of a global cleansing, as part of the new world order.
Again, it would be very, very difficult to substantiate these as being absolutely but it is alleged that there are books, that there are people in high-profile positions in the United Nations and elsewhere, which are alleged to have these agendas and this is why the concentration camps are being built and there is reason to believe that the Christians and the Jews will be a primary focus of that in the sense that clearly anything of that nature has to be Satanic of origin and therefore the objective will be to destroy all those who are serving the Lord Jesus Christ in any shape or form or close to serving the Lord Jesus Christ. It would seem that and this may be something that we will get into in subsequent weeks, but it would seem that a careful reading of Scripture would indicate that firstly it is very clear that Satan and his cohorts will be thrown into the pit for 1000 years and then ultimately they will be consigned to hell for eternity and it would seem reasonable to conclude that from Satan's perspective, the only way that he can prevent this happening is if he can destroy every single believer on this Earth so that if there is no human being who is serving the Lord Jesus Christ at the date at which Satan is due to be thrown into the pit, then Satan will have been victorious.
Consequently it seems perfectly reasonable to conclude that Satan must have an agenda to seek to destroy every Christian. Any unbeliever who has spoken the Word of God will be quite certain that Satan will not succeed but we should be prepared for the fact that we are going to face persecution, we are going to face tribulation. Those who have given Satan any legal right to attack them will almost certainly be cast into concentration camps, persecuted otherwise in some shape or form and that Satan will do everything he can to get those people to backslide to blaspheme to renounce the salvation and go to hell. It is absolutely vital in this age that we prepare ourselves for these things and that we seek to draw close to God and that we seek to be judged before that time comes. It does seem to me and I believe this quite profoundly that if we deal with the sin in our lives beforehand and if we are found righteous before God such that Satan is not enable to come before the Throne of Judgement and obtain any judgement against us, we will be able to walk unharmed through the coming trial and tribulation and persecution in the way that Daniel was cast into the lion's den and the mouth of the lion was stopped in the way that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace and that they walked around and Jesus joined them in the fire and they came out and the people who threw them into the fire were killed and they came out and they close did not even smell of smoke and were not even cinched. I believe that those were righteous men who had gone before the Throne of Grace continually seeking to deal with all sin in their lives and we can only hope to be found worth to escape such persecution if we have dealt with the sin in our lives and I believe that every Christian today should be seeking to be in that place. We should be seeking to be given a place where we can be used to perform miracles in the name of Christ and lead people to salvation.
We should be seeking to walk out of the gas chamber untouched and lead all the operatives in that concentration camps to salvation. We should be looking to be instruments of revival and salvation under the conditions of the worst possible conditions of repression and torture and all that that is associated with it. And we should encounter all trial when we fall into various trials and temptations. If we look up more broadly at the worldly situation, there is a document available on the so-called Y2K computer problem. To simply put, there is absolutely no technical reason for the Y2K computer problem. It is either gross negligence or it is deliberate forethought. There are various reports of programmers who 40 years ago foresaw the problem and were told not to fix it in US military and government software and major computer corporations around the world to a very simple technical problem, the reasons that are given for existence have no logical pragmatics substance to them, that is addressed in this document on Y2K.
It does appear that the whole Y2K computer thing is massive hype as part of a systematic plan to bring about uncertainty. Our suggestions that if 10% of the banks in the United States collapses as a result of the so-called Y2K bug, the world economy will collapse. Those of you who have any knowledge of computers will know that it is not difficult to create a situation where a computer appears to collapse and to blind that on anything you like. There are indications that part of this world conspiracy the New World order has a view that they should bring about the collapse of the world economy that they should eliminate the value of all existing currencies and that they should then issue a new currency and that currency would be either completely electronic form and which seemingly be associated with microchips implanted in the wrist or the forehead of individuals. If one turns to the Scriptures in Revelation which refer to the mark of the beast, most translations say that it is on the wrist or on the forehead. The King James version which I believe to be the correct vision says that it will be in the wrist or in the forehead.
Consequently it seems plausible to postulate a collapse of the world economy resulting from supposedly a Y2K or similar related computer so-called bug leading to a situation in which people are required to receive this microchips. Other reports suggest that the microchips can be tracked by satellite and further reports suggest that the microchips are capable of being controlled by satellite in such a way that either extremely aggressive or extremely submissive behaviour can be brought about in the bodies of people who have those microchips implanted in them. As far as I understand it, it is perfectly technically possible for this to happen today and as I understand that this fairly widespread introduction of those microchips taking place on a pilot basis in the United States right now. So it is conceivable that we are heading into the era of marked beast at a rapid pace.
Other reports indicate that there will be certain ceremonies on the fifth of the new millennium, [inaudible 0:33:55] for example, a primitive [inaudible 0:33:56] where a certain people who are allegedly world leaders, who are allegedly members of Satanic orders, secret societies, will allegedly issue in the millennial reign of Lucifer of Satan. There are reports of other meetings in other places of the world with similar objectives. In all of these cases, it is very difficult to determine with absolute certainty whether in fact this is true, whether there are emotional reports by people who are looking for the fulfilment of prophecy. I believe each one of us must take their own view on whether this is valid or not and respond accordingly, but it is clear to me that it is not right for us to go around Satan hunting, devil hunting, witch hunting, whatever you want to call it, we should be taking lesson from these developments and we should be seeking to draw closer to God. We should be seeking to hear his voice more clearly. We should be seeking to be [inaudible 0:35:10] for honour and not for dishonour. We should be seeking to be cleansed of all unrighteousness and we should be seeking to be ready for whatever comes our way. We should be seeking to be in a place that no matter what the torture, no matter what the persecution our faith will carry us through our relationship with the Holy Spirit and the anointing on our lives will be such that we will be able to face that persecution and count all joy that we will not turn to the left or the right, that we will not backslide, that we will not deny the Lord, that we will not blaspheme, that we will go however far we have to go that we will count it a privilege to be martyred for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I pray that those who listen to this message or read this message will be challenged to draw closer to God. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in Jesus name. Amen.
02_05 Rapture to Escape coming Judgment? -- Prepare for Tribulation
Today I am going to carry on with the series on judgement and coming tribulation. I have made the point in a number of occasions in the previous weeks that Scripture says that judgement begins in the house of the Lord. I suggested that judgement has in fact already commenced in the house of the Lord. I have suggested that the judgement is currently manifesting in the form of a spiritual tribulation, but that it will be followed with a physical tribulation in the years to come. There seemed to be grounds to believe that the Scripture is indicating that that may be quite imminent. What I would like to do today is to headline some thoughts on the Scripture in 2 Thessalonians 2:7 which says "Only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way." This teaching is in response to another teaching which I have difficulty correlating with Scripture in which it seems to me it is quite possibly not the correct interpretation of this passage of Scripture and what I will seek to do is to present, what seems to me to be the correct interpretation of the Scripture or more or less the correct interpretation and front that to work through some of the implications of what these scriptures mean to us in these days. There is a fairly extensive document of over 50 pages which sets out in more detail the message that I am going to give this morning.
If we turn to 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 in the New King James it says, "And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way." The teaching has prompted me to do the research, which gave rise to what I am about to share with you. It goes as follows: That he who now restrains is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit dwells in born-again believers and that the holy spirit is restraining Satan through the born-again believers and therefore when he who now restrains is taken out of the way signifies that when the Holy Spirit is taken out of the way, the born-again believers will be taken away. In other words, the so-called rapture will take place. And since the restraining must be removed before the tribulation can occur, the rapture will take place before the tribulation. I think you already see from the teachings of the past few weeks that I would question whether that is in fact the correct interpretation of that passage of Scripture. But before I do that, we need to ask themselves why is any such interpretation be the one that I have just presented or the one that I am about to present of any interest to anybody and for that matter, why should you can sin yourself with the teaching that I am in the process of giving today.
The first point is that if that interpretation is correct, then those who are truly born-again can expect to escape the tribulation and if this interpretation is incorrect, then they can expect to have to endure the tribulation and should be preparing themselves against the eventuality that tribulation could come in shortly. I truly believe that if someone believes that they will escape the tribulation, they may well prepare themselves differently to if they believe that they will have to endure the tribulation and in considering this, let's consider first of all 2 Peter 1:20-21 which says: "Knowing this first, that no prophecy of Scripture is of any private interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." So it is only interpretation of Scripture which is God's interpretation, in which case [inaudible 0:05:09].
Furthermore we see in Matthew 23:8-13 Jesus said, "But you, do not be called ‘Rabbi’; for One is your Teacher, the Christ, and you are all brethren. Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. And do not be called teachers; for One is your Teacher, the Christ." Verse 13, "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in." So it is quite clear that we should rely on the spirit of truth to lead us into all truths. In John 14:15-31 Jesus says, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever—the Spirit of truth." In verse 26 he says, "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you." Here we see that Jesus refers to the spirit of truth and the Holy Spirit as being a helper whom he will send to teach us all things.
So we are clearly not meant to rely on men to interpret Scripture and for that reason whatever I may share with you in these teachings, as I believe of God it is your responsibility to discern that which I say which is of God and that which may be error or worse. Each one of us is human, each one of us is a vessel of clay and we are filled with flaws as the Lord perfects us. And so while I am not sure what I may say it may be of God, it may be things that creep in which are not of God and it is up to each person who listens to this teaching or reads the transcript to discern whether what I am saying is correct. Having said that I must also say that I truly believe that what is being taught is of God.
So also take account of 1 Timothy 4:1-3 which says "Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron." So the Scripture I have touched on before and I have touched on some of the things that are happening in the church which are believed to be doctrines of Demons given by deceiving spirits and again, if my interpretation with the interpretation that was just presented in this teaching is more or less accurate then the other teaching to which I referred will appear to be a doctrines of Demons since it clearly is warning believers of a different set of circumstances and in my opinion could give rise to a situation in which believers are less than diligent in seeking God and seeking to become holy and sanctified and set apart to His service in a manner which will allow them to be cast into the fire and emerge unscathed or to be cast into the limestone and emerge unscathed. If we are not of that place of holiness and sanctification, if we are being judged for the wrong and the sin in our lives, we can expect the tribulation to be much more difficult to overcome through.
If I go to the whole passage of 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12, it states, "Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ had come. Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition, who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called God or that is worshiped, so that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God.
Do you not remember that when I was still with you I told you these things? And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way. And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming. The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders, and with all unrighteous deception among those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth, that they might be saved. And for this reason God will send them strong delusion, that they should believe the lie, that they all may be condemned who did not believe the truth but had pleasure in unrighteousness."
So we see in verses 10 to 12 that those people who believe the lie or conversely who did not receive the love of the truth may be condemned. This is an agreement with the scripture cited before. Could it be that those who refer to hear are those who believe the lie about the coming of the lawless one. In other words, those who speak falsely about the circumstances and science associated with coming of the lawless one would certainly seen that this is possible. If we consider also Proverbs 21:28 as translated in the New International Version it states, "A false witness will perish, and whoever listens to him will be destroyed forever." Revelation 21:8 states "All liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death."
There are various other Scriptures which indicate that the preaching or teaching of false doctrine or lies will lead to the destruction of those who utter such teachings as well as those who listen to and presumably accept such teachings. Accordingly there would seem to be good grounds to test this teaching carefully before we accept it.
The next question that I would like to consider is whether it is possible that this teaching could be incorrect. Let us now consider whether on superficial inspection there are grounds to consider the possibility that some elements of this teaching but the restrain is the Holy Spirit that is removal, involves the removal of believers and therefore the believers will be raptured before the anti-Christ is revealed and the tribulation occurs could be incorrect.
If we look again at 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12 we see first of all in verse 1 concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him in verse 3.2, "For that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin is revealed, the son of perdition." Verse 4: "So that he sits as God in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God." Verse 7: "Only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way." Verse 8: "And then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming."
If we look at the six points that I have just highlighted out of that passage, we see that Paul is indeed writing concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to him. In other words, Paul is writing about the rapture the gathering together Jesus select to meet him in the clowns. We see also verse 3 that he states that that day referencing the day referred to in verse 1 that gathering together of his elect to him. In other words, the rapture will not come unless the falling away comes first and the man of sin is revealed. It will appear clear that the anti-Christ must be revealed before the rapture. Verse 4 continues to define the anti-Christ and states further "So that he sits as God in the Temple of God showing himself that he is God." It would appear that this is referring to the appearing of the anti-Christ in the Temple of God, which is very widely accepted as being three and a half years after the start of the tribulation.
There are more scriptures on this which I will talk about in due course. The Scripture goes on to state that only he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. The implication is clear that he who now restrains will do so until he is taken out of the way. Closing the emphasis on until it would appear that it is possible that the taking out of the way would be a precursor to the lawless one sitting in the Temple of God. This could mean immediately before the appearing in the temple, where it could mean that the restraining ceases sometime earlier. For example, this might take place three and a half years earlier. It does not appear to be a definitive indication in the Scripture of this being an event that takes place instantaneously prior to the appearing of the lawless one in the Temple.
The next verse goes on to state "Then the lawless one will be revealed, whom the Lord will consume with the breath of His mouth and destroy with the brightness of His coming." The revealing of the lawless one certainly follows the taking out of the way of him who restrains that is indicated subsequently that seems to be grounds to consider that the saints will be persecuted after the revealing of the lawless one. Again, this appears to call the interpretation into question. Therefore it appears on a relatively superficial inspection of the passage of Scripture from which the phrase "When he restrains is taken out of the way" comes that the interpretation of [inaudible 0:15:09] may be incorrect to a greater or lesser extent. So it would appear that there are valid grounds to further investigate this interpretation.
We then look at the timing of the tribulation in support of what I have said. Let's look first of all at Daniel 7:24-27, "The ten horns are ten kings Who shall arise from this kingdom. And another shall rise after them; He shall be different from the first ones, And shall subdue three kings." In verse 25: "Then the saints shall be given into his hand for a time and times and half a time. 'But the court shall be seated,
And they shall take away his dominion, To consume and destroy it forever. Then the kingdom and dominion, And the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, Shall be given to the people, the saints of the Most High. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, And all dominions shall serve and obey Him.'" Apologies, I skipped the first half of verse 25, which says: "He shall speak pompous words against the Most High, Shall persecute the saints of the Most High, And shall intend to change times and law. Then the saints shall be given into his hand For a time and times and half a time."
The phrase "time and times and half a time" is reasonably widely interpreted as being a year plus two years plus half a year, i.e. three and a half years and this in turn is interpreted as being the first half of the tribulation. This in turn is considered to correspond with the anti-Christ sitting in the temple of God as I mentioned a minute ago.
If you look at Daniel 12:9-13: "And he said, 'Go your way, Daniel, for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end. Many shall be purified, made white, and refined, but the wicked shall do wickedly; and none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand. And from the time that the daily sacrifice is taken away, and the abomination of desolation is set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he who waits, and comes to the one thousand three hundred and thirty-five days. But you, go your way till the end; for you shall rest, and will arise to your inheritance at the end of the days.'" It has been suggested that the abomination of desolation may also correspond to the Antichrist sitting in the Temple of God as in 2 Thessalonians 2:4 in which it will appear that those who wait to this time will be blessed and there would be a period of 1290 days after that time, a period of 43 months or slightly over 2.5 years, however, there is also a period of 1335 days, which is approximately 44 and a half months. It is not clear what the distinction is between these periods in this message and it does not seem to be material to the issues raised in this teaching. This in turn then appears to correlate with Daniel 9:26-27: "And after the sixty-two weeks Messiah shall be cut off, but not for Himself; And the people of the prince who is to come Shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end of it shall be with a flood, And till the end of the war desolations are determined. Then he shall confirm a covenant with many for one week; But in the middle of the week He shall bring an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall be one who makes desolate, Even until the consummation, which is determined, Is poured out on the desolate."
This suggests that the one who makes desolate shall appear on the wing of abomination in the middle of seven weeks being interpreted as being after three and a half years. This again seems to correlate with the Antichrist sitting in the Temple of God in 2 Thessalonians 2:4. If we look at Revelation 13:1-18, just picking up a few key verses, in verse 5 referring to the Dragon which is Satan or the Antichrist "And he was given a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies, and he was given authority to continue for forty-two months." In verse 7: "It was granted to him to make war with the saints and to overcome them." So we see that the beast was authority to continue for 42 months, which is also three and a half years and seemingly widely considered to correspond to either the same period of three and a half years or the period of three and a half years following the period of the anti-Christ in the temple of God. Either way, there is a clear reference to a period of intense manifestation of evil with evident physical persecution and tribulation and this persecution takes the form of war with the saints in which he, the Antichrist overcomes them. It is certainly a period of intense persecution and tribulation in the saints, and this must surely takes place before they gather together to Jesus in the air.
Revelation 14:9-13 takes this further: "If anyone worships the beast and his image, and receives his mark on his forehead or on his hand, he himself shall also drink of the wine of the wrath of God, which is poured out full strength into the cup of His indignation. He shall be tormented with fire and brimstone in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb." Verse 12: "Here is the patience of the saints; here are those who keep the commandments of God and the faith of Jesus. Then I heard a voice from heaven saying to me, Write: 'Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.' 'Yes,' says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labours, and their works follow them.'" This passage seems to make it quite clear that the mark of the beast will be associated with this period and that the saints are required to be patient in keeping the Commandments of God and the faith of Jesus and that they will be blessed if they die in the Lord from now on. Presumably if they are to worship the beast, it must have appeared it would also seem that in order for them to worship the beast, he would be in the temple so that they would indeed believe that he is God. It seems to be quite clear that the saints must endear through this period and that a particular blessing awaits those who died during this period without renouncing their faith. It therefore seems that there are grounds to question the interpretation and to consider that the rapture would not take place before the tribulation.
Just as the messiah, the word worship in the phrase if anyone worships the beast and his image and received his mark on his forehead or on his hand in Revelation 14:9 is the word [inaudible 0:21:48] which Strong's defines as meaning to kiss like a dog licking his master's hand to fond or crouch literally or figuratively prostate oneself in homage to do reverence or to adore. [inaudible 0:22:06] defines it as to kiss the hand to award one in token of reverence among the oriental especially the [inaudible 0:22:13] to fall upon the knees and touch the ground of the forehead as an expression of profound reverence. In the New Testament by kneeling or prostration to do homage to one or make obeisance whether in order to express respect or to make supplication used to homage shown to men and beings of superior rank to the Jewish high priests, to God, to Christ, to heavenly beings, to Demons, which would not necessarily be inapplicable to the gestures which would be necessary to bring a microchip implanted in the hand or forehead into contact with the scanning device, an automatic teller machine for example.
Let us consider who or what is the restrainer. The line of thought set out initially states that the restrain is the Holy Spirit. How do we know this? If we look at 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 we see: "And now you know what is restraining, that he may be revealed in his own time. For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work; only He who now restrains will do so until He is taken out of the way." The interpretation is that the restrain is the Holy Spirit. However, verse 6 refers to what is restraining. Since we understand the Holy Spirit to be a person, one might expect to read who. On the other hand, in verse 7 the word 'He' capitalised to indicate God is used in the King James version. Let us examine some other translations. In the New American Standard Version, which usually capitalises words referring to God including the word 'he' 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 refers to 'he' in lower case. But the rest of the translation is similar to the New King James. So the translators of the New American Standard were not that confident that that 'he' referred to God, in the King James Version which does not capitalise 'he' we see that verse 6 says: "And now ye know what withholdeth that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way."
Here the word in verse 6 is again 'what' but the restraining is not translated withholdeth and in verse 7 the restrain is translated letteth. In the RSV and the NIV 'what' is used in verse 6 and verse 7 and the NIV translates restrains as hold back. It does seem that there may be some grounds to enquire whether the 'what' of verse 6 and the 'he' of verse 7 really is the Holy Spirit. There does not seem to be any doubt as to the action that takes place. The word translated restrain, letteth, withholdeth is [inaudible 0:25:07], which relates to holding out and in the document that I referred to, all the words containing that particular word [inaudible 0:25:20] are listed but it will be apparent that there are wide variety of translations of that word.
The phrase that he be taken is translated from the word [inaudible 0:25:34] which is Strong's 1096 and that does not seem to indicate specifically that that could be God. In document referred to, there is a whole range of analysis of the original Greek. So it appears there is nothing in the original Greek which attempts to associate that which restrains directly with the Holy Spirit. In fact, on casual inspection it would appear that nowhere else in Scripture it is the word ho translated in any manner that is associated with this Holy Spirit, or for that matter with he. In so far as I am not knowledgeable in Greek and I therefore recognise the possibility that I may have missed something it does seem to me that there are grounds to suggest that the words what and he at best do not definitively donate God or the Holy Spirit and the worst may indicate some rather creative interpretation based on the preconceived idea what the passage is seeking to convey.
Either way, this does not seem to be a particularly strong basis to suggest that the restrain is the Holy Spirit or the Holy Spirit had believed this. Again, the restrain does refer to God or the Holy Spirit. Let us consider some other Scriptures where the English word restrain or its derivative appears to relate to God. Isaiah 48:9 states: "For My name’s sake I will defer My anger, And for My praise I will restrain it from you, So that I do not cut you off." God restraining his anger in this verse would certainly be consistent with the saints of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7. It may even be that it is this very restraint which is to be removed in terms of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7. Isaiah 63:1: "Look down from heaven, And see from Your habitation, holy and glorious. Where are Your zeal and Your strength, The yearning of Your heart and Your mercies toward me? Are they restrained?" Here the idea is of God restraining or holding his zeal, his strength, the yearning of his heart, his mercy. This is the reverse of the previous verse. He is restraining himself from helping his people but the implication would seem to be congruent with 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7. Isaiah 64:12: "Will You restrain Yourself because of these things, O Lord? Will You hold Your peace, and afflict us very severely?" The idea here is again of God restraining himself thus affecting his people very severely.
This is the reverse of the interpretation of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 which suggests the removal of restraint exposes God's people to affliction. In this case, the idea is one of God restraining himself from preventing the affliction. We see other verses in Scripture which give us similar interpretations. So we have a number of verses where the concept of restrain applies to God restraining things to achieve particular ends. In Isaiah 48:9 in particular it would seem to be consistent with 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 relating to God no longer restraining his anger against the sin in the world, and in the process, permitting the full magnitude of sin to be revealed to those whose eyes are opened. 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 therefore appears to relate to Isaiah 48:1-22, which goes in some detail I won't read today to the possibility that God is going to execute judgement on Israel if we just select a few verses from Isaiah 48:1: "Hear this, O house of Jacob, Who are called by the name of Israel, And have come forth from the wellsprings of Judah; Who swear by the name of the Lord, And make mention of the God of Israel, But not in truth or in righteousness. For they call themselves after the holy city, And lean on the God of Israel; The Lord of hosts is His name: 'I have declared the former things from the beginning; They went forth from My mouth, and I caused them to hear it. Suddenly I did them, and they came to pass. Because I knew that you were obstinate, And your neck was an iron sinew, And your brow bronze, Even from the beginning I have declared it to you; Before it came to pass I proclaimed it to you, Lest you should say, 'My idol has done them, And my carved image and my moulded image Have commanded them.'"
It certainly would seem that the Scripture has the potential to apply to the age in which we live and specifically to the period in that which 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 refer. In fact, is it not possible that the passage in 2 Thessalonians is actually referring to those who call themselves by the name of Christ who have done wickedly and sinned persistently and who have permitted the spirit of the Antichrist to take up residents in the Temple of God, which is the body of the born-again believer. 1 Corinthians 6:15-20 states and specifically verse 19: "Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own?" Surely this Scripture demonstrates that notwithstanding the fact that the Holy Spirit is indwelling within the Temple of our bodies, is it possible for us to defile that temple by joining it to a harlot. Surely the history of the first and second Temples clearly shows that idols of Demons who were brought guiding to the Holy Spirit and the temple before the Spirit of God left. Jesus has said that he will never leave us or forsake us. Hebrews 13:5 says: "Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.'"
Surely then his spirit will not leave us until we commit that sin which results in us losing our salvation and returning from eternal life to eternal death, and there is indeed such sin as set out in Hebrews 6:1-8 and specifically 4-6: "For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted the heavenly gift, and have become partakers of the Holy Spirit, and have tasted the good word of God and the powers of the age to come, if they fall away, to renew them again to repentance, since they crucify again for themselves the Son of God, and put Him to an open shame." Hebrews 10:26-27 says: "For if we sin wilfully after we have received the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a certain fearful expectation of judgment, and fiery indignation which will devour the adversaries."
1 John 5:16 says: "There is sin leading to death." 1 Peter 4:12 says: "Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you." In verse 17: "For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God? If the righteous one is scarcely saved, Where will the ungodly and the sinner appear?" This passage refers to the fiery trial which is to try you. Could this in fact not be referring to the tribulation that has been described in other Scriptures reference previously. Clearly the Scripture indicates that the judgement will begin at the house of God. It is not the very tribulation to which is referred above possibly the culmination of the judgement referred to in verse 17. This verse also makes it sound the righteous one is scarcely saved. Accordingly, how can we presume to believe that those who are righteous will be spared the tribulation and be raptured before things get really right? Let us now consider the question if the restrainer is indeed God, must the restrainer be the Holy Spirit. I have already suggested that while the interpretation, which triggered this teaching suggests the restrainer the Holy Spirit, I have already suggested that the text itself offers no basis to conclude that the restrainer is in fact God or the spirit of God or the Holy Spirit. However, in the previous section I have suggested that it is quite possible that the Lord God might indeed be restraining his anger and judgement until at no point in time this judgement might well in fact begin with those who call themselves by the name of Christ. And might even be directed primarily towards them. It seems however that there is nothing in a specific text to even remotely connect the restrainer of 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 with the Holy Spirit. It would seem that the assumption in the interpretation in section 1 is that God moves only by the Holy Spirit on the Earth.
Following is a number of scriptures which contain the word 'split' capitalised in the King James Version by the translators to indicate an association with God. Matthew 10:20, spirit of your Father, Matthew 12:28, cast out Demons by the spirit of God, John 14:17, the spirit of truth, Acts 5:9, the spirit of the Lord, Acts 19:2, did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed, 1 Corinthians 12:3, therefore I make known to you that no one is speaking by the spirit of God caused Jesus a curse and that no one can say that Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit. This passage is spirit of God and the Holy Spirit in the context of two distinct spiritual issues, not necessarily the same spirit of God. Romans 1:4: "And declared to be the Son of God with power according to the Spirit of holiness." Romans 8:2: "The Spirit of life." Romans 8:9 again refers to the spirit of God and the spirit of Christ. Verse 11 refers to the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead. Verse 14 says: "For as many or as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God." This passage seems to suggest that it is the spirit of Christ that makes a believer born-again, not the Holy Spirit. There are other Scriptures that follow, which appear to support this. Hebrews 10:29 refers to the spirit of grace. Galatians 4:6 says: "And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, 'Abba, Father!' Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ."
Philippians 1:19: "For I know that this will turn out for my deliverance through your prayer and the supply of the Spirit of Jesus Christ." 1 Peter 1:11 says: "Searching what, or what manner of time, the Spirit of Christ who was in them was indicating when He testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ and the glories that would follow." Interestingly this refers to the spirit of Christ indwelling so-called Old Testament prophets. 1 Peter 4:14 says: "If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you." 1 John 4:6 refers to the spirit of truth and the spirit of error. 1 John 4:1-5 says: "By this you know the Spirit of God: Every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is of God." This passage clearly refers to every spirit. Does this not suggest that there is more than one spirit that is of God? Could this not mean that there is more than one spirit of God? Revelation 19:10 refers to the spirit of prophecy. Revelation 4:5 says: "And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God." Revelation 5:6 also refers to the seven spirits of God. Revelation 1:4-5 refers to the seven spirits who are before his throne and refers to Jesus Christ distinctly separately. Here three references to the seven spirits of God, clearly in addition to the Father and Jesus Christ his son, it is unclear whether the Holy Spirit is one of the seven spirits or in addition to them. However, it could seem that this is not particularly relevant to this discussion.
In the document that referred to, I cite further references in support of this. It is surprise there to say that there appears to be more than enough scriptural evidence to suggest that even if the restrain is the spirit of God, it is not necessarily the holy spirit and there is in any even absolutely no basis to suggest that the believer would be raptured if that particular spirit of God were to be withdrawn from the Earth. Let us now consider why God would remove his people before the tribulation. The train of thought presented at the opening of this teaching suggests that would remove His chosen people by the rising to meet Jesus in the crowns rapture in order to spare them the suffering of the great tribulation. The terms applicable are defined in Matthew 24:21-33. Just reading selected verses: "For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be." Verse 29: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send His angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other."
It seems absolutely clear that the great tribulation will proceed the gathering together of his elect rapture. It would seem that this passage of Scripture on its own should be sufficient to fit the interpretation presented earlier but hopefully this serves to provide a clear basis for the use of the term tribulation in the concept of a rapture being a gathering of the elect. However may qualify for that exalted term to join the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds. There are a few other passages of Scripture which seem to have particularly relevance to this topic. Genesis 6:1-14, but if we look specifically at verse 5 and verse 8, "Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord." In Genesis 7:11-24 referring to the start of the flood, "On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark. And all flesh died." On the very same day that God destroyed all life on Earth, God entered the ark. In addition, Noah had to labour by faith for a considerable length of time to construct the ark, presumably in a situation of some hardship and ridicule. There is certainly no basis to presume that God will deliver those who overcome to the end, other and at the last minute.
Likewise, the Lord only remove lot in his family from sudden moments before He destroyed the city. The Angels said in Genesis 19:15: "Lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city." Verse 22: "Hurry, escape there. For I cannot do anything until you arrive there." In verse 26 we read: "But his wife looked back behind him, and she became a pillar of salt." Clearly his family were removed at the very last instant before destruction came, not before the full magnitude of the sin had been accomplished. At the same time, there is indication that a truly righteous man can dwell in the midst of spiritual turmoil and distraction and would be protected by the Grace of God. This passage certainly does not give grounds to believe that a rapture will take place until the very last minute. In similar fashion, the Israelites were in bondage in Israel for many years before God removed them. And they would require to endure the first of the plagues with the Egyptians. 2 Peter 1:13 to 2:22 provides further insight in this topic.
2 Peter 2:2: "And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words. For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds, then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment." Verse 20: "For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savoir Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning." Here we clearly see that believers will return to their sin and lead others astray as well.
We also see referencing to Noah, Lot and others as a clear type of the end-time believer who endures to the end. Can there be any doubt that we must each endure much testing and persecution to refine us that we may endure to the end unless we have already sanctified ourselves and sought righteousness earnestly before the tribulation begins in earnest. God protected Daniel from the lions and Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego from the fiery furnace because they refused to bow the knee to Nebuchadnezzar idol. Surely, this is a type of a beast of revelation and surely God will not deliver us from the text. James 1:2-3 states: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience." If we are told to count is all joy, why would God deliver us. Surely there can be no doubt that God has no intention of intervening to prevent His people having to go through the tribulation. He wishes to afford us the opportunity to store up treasure in Heaven to compensate for all our carnality and disobedience in this life, rather than permitting us to suffer in hell for eternity because of our ignorance and unwillingness to learn from His word and upright for insistence on our own private interpretations of His word. And even if we do not suffer in hell for eternity, we may well have a part in the second death and we may well find that we have not overcome and that we are not rewarded as we would have in the life to come.
Consider Genesis 5:23-24 states concerning Enoch: "So all the days of Enoch were three hundred and sixty-five years. And Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him." Hebrews 11:5-7 states concerning Enoch: "By faith Enoch was taken away so that he did not see death, 'and was not found, because God had taken him,' for before he was taken he had this testimony, that he pleased God." Jude 1:14-15 states concerning Enoch: "Now Enoch, the seventh from Adam, prophesied about these men also, saying, 'Behold, the Lord comes with ten thousands of His saints, to execute judgment on all, to convict all who are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have committed in an ungodly way, and of all the harsh things which ungodly sinners have spoken against Him.'"
Surely this has relevance today. It is suggested that by certain teachers that the fact that Enoch was translated before the flood and that he was apparently very righteous and a man of great faith indicates that the rapture will take place before the tribulation. However the Living Torah modern Jewish translation of the Five Books of Moses by rabbi Aryeh Kaplan Published by Moznaim publishing corporation in New York and Jerusalem presents a graphic and type two entitled from Adam to Moses on page 23 of the book from which the following is extracted. The fable is presented in the document but of significant that Enoch was translated in the year 987 after the birth of Adam whereas the [inaudible 0:47:57] died in the year 1658 which is the year of the flood and so we see that there is a gap of about 700 years between the time of Enoch's translation and the flood, therefore Enoch was not translated to escape the flood because of his righteousness.
If Enoch had not been translated, he would have been 1036 years old at the time of the flood. So we see that this teaching does not appear to be logical based on a good analysis what appears to be a reliable analysis of the date of the flood and the date of Enoch's translation. So there appear to be no reasonable basis to suggest that Enoch offers a precedent to those hoping to escape tribulation. I now like to pose the question has the restrainer already been removed? There are a number of scriptural analysis which indicate that certain events will happen 3000 years after the founding of Jerusalem by David, 2000 years after the birth of Jesus Christ in Bethlehem of Judah. [inaudible 0:49:14] in the Julian calendar you may not be aware that it appears fairly conclusive that this date was the great day of the feast of Tabernacles, which was Friday, October 4, 1996. The basis of this interpretation is outside the scope of this discourse and it is not material to conclusions reached here. However, given that no visible event happened on that date and that certain aspects of interpretation of prophecy were [inaudible 0:49:42] this does not necessarily mean that something did not happen in the spirit on that date. You might [inaudible 0:49:48] and ponder and pray over the question, was the restrainer removed on October 4, 1996? I do not have an answer to this. What I can say since late 1996 I have seen great apostasy in the church. There are numerous reports of levels of demonic activity and word manifestations in the church which I talked about last week and diverse other things which certainly could lead one to consider the possibility that we are already in the midst of the events we were told in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 and the verses that follow.
If that is in fact the case, there are serious grounds to get serious with God and to seek holiness at all costs. So in conclusion, I find no basis to suggest that the restrainer referred to in 2 Thessalonians 2:6-7 is the Holy Spirit or that the removal of the restraining involves the removal of believers and therefore the believers will be raptured before the Antichrist is revealed and the tribulation occurs. To the contrary, many scriptures are offered which suggest that it is entirely to be expected that the believers are expected to endure the great tribulation. There are grounds to suggest that in fact the great tribulation is all about judgement of the church in order to produce a spotless bride and we should look forward to the tribulation with expectant hearts and great joy at the privilege of being granted the opportunity to die for him if necessary. Thus we may bring glory to his name and in so doing spread the gospel of peace to the entire world.
As I was completing the first draft of the document which I have referred, the Lord led the following on my heart which I conveyed as it came to me. Matthew 13:41-43 states: "The Son of Man will send out His angels, and they will gather out of His kingdom all things that offend, and those who practice lawlessness, and will cast them into the furnace of fire. There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom of their Father. He who has ears to hear, let him hear!" Indeed, let him who has ears to hear, hear. This is a time to prepare yourself to separate yourself from the things of the world, to cease watching what the world is doing and start watching what God is doing, to lay aside those things that so easily beset you and to press on toward the goal which is our high calling in Christ Jesus.
Read your Bible and pray and read your Bible again. This is not the time to study what men have written. It is time to nourish your spirit to capacity with the living word of God, which is spirit and life to you. Recognise that the time is not far off when you may not have a Bible or praise music. You may soon be rotting in a concentration camp, inadequately fed, and inadequately clothed under brutal oppression and violence because you have chosen not to bow the knee to Satan. That would not be a good time to realise that you have not spent the time in the word of God, in prayer, in praise, and in worship that you should have. Set aside your television, your newspaper, your social engagements, your unchaste sports and your sporting engagements. Devote every moment that you can to seeking God. Seek to be led by His spirit every second of every minute, every minute of every hour, every hour of every day, every day of every week, every week of every month and every month of every year until the Lord Jesus returns.
Seek not to think a thought, utter a word, spend a cent, or execute an action that is not the thought word, sent or action that He has ordained for you at that instant. Seek a revelation of your current deception. Set aside your petty notion of how you would like to think God is and seek to know Him through His word. Set aside your false doctrines and private interpretations and those that are trumpeted from the pulpit. Your pastor will not save you when you face judgement. You must make up your own mind about those difficult Scriptures which you have avoided making a decision on all these years
Remember those first years of your salvation when you wrestled with Scriptures that you did not understand and then caved in to the pressure of your pastors and peer opinions. Now is the time to brush those false doctrines off and get on your knees and repent for placing the opinions of men above the word of the living God. Repent now before you face judgement for your wilful sin. Seek a heartfelt revelation of Paul's words in 1 Timothy 1:15: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief." If Paul near the end of his life could see himself as the chief of sinners, how much more should we? Now is the time to recognise sin for what it is. An abomination in the sight of an uncompromising righteous God but also something for which Jesus Christ has paid the price in full. However, if you do not recognise your sin, if you do not acknowledge your sin, if you do not take your sin to him and confess it and receive his forgiveness and turn from your wickedness, he will not forcibly remove it from you and you will be judged for that sin.
This is the end of the age. You can choose to continue to play games with God or you can get serious about looking at yourself in the mirror of His word and seeking His cleansing blood to deliver you from all your inequity. You do have a choice but you do not have much time.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, and Saviour of the world. Amen.
02_06 The Financial Stewardship Responsibilities of those who Give
Before I begin today's teaching, I just want to make the point that I will use the word Yahweh rather than the Lord throughout this teaching. This is in response to some communications that I have had with various people and the brief review of the book entitled 'The Sacred Name' published by Qadesh La Yahweh Press, which is available on the internet at http://yahweh.org/PDF_index1.html. The essence of this teaching is that the correct English [inaudible 0:00:56] of the Hebrew word that is typically reflected as the LORD, in the King James and other translations is in fact Yahweh. Initially I was a little bit sceptical of this but on brief inspection in the internet electronic Bible, I discovered that there were literally hundreds of scriptures in the Old Testament where the word is reflected as Yahweh in Strong's and related interlinear text and that has led me to conclude that while I do not fully understand how to apply or how to use the proper name of God the father, Yahweh correctly that I should start by faith to use that the correct term.
The word God in fact is apparently the name of a German pagan God and Jehovah is in fact apparently also some hybrid Anglicisation of the correct word, whereas Yahweh which is also typically translated the LORD or the Lord God, which is Yahweh is in fact God the Father's proper name. So in the same way that my name is James, His name is Yahweh and the respectful way to refer to Him would be either Father or Yahweh, although it is presumably not wrong to refer to Him as Lord as He is our Lord, but to refer to Him as God as His name as distinct from His designation or His title would seem to be incorrect. As I said, I do not really fully understand how to draw the distinction between when we should refer to Him as Father Yahweh and Lord, but I am seeking to learn and in order to do that I have chose in this teaching to endeavour to make use of the name Yahweh wherever possible. I should note that there is also a similar teaching with relative to the correct translation of Jesus as Yahooshua, however I have not gained enough insight to believe that I can start to use that name in general teaching or conversation without being concerned that I would be inadvertently showing disrespect to the name of Jesus. So when I refer to the Lord Jesus Christ at this stage I will continue to make use of the conventional English translation of Jesus.
The teaching today is entitled ‑ "Some thoughts on the financial stewardship of believers" referencing the Scripture who then is at faithful and wise steward whom his master will make relay over his household. The essence of the teaching regards the responsibilities and in a sense scriptural rights of people who so financially into ministries and it is in the context of a specific Scripture which the Lord gave me a few days ago which I really believe is a serious challenge to all Christians who have been crying out to God to help them financially.
By way of background, for a number of years prior to the date of this teaching, we found ourselves periodically in a financial wilderness. Yahweh has always provided our needs and ensure that there was food on the table but sometimes there was great lack in all other areas and in the natural we faced financial ruin on several occasions. As we sought Him for guidance, He spoke to us repeatedly about sin in our lives, ranging from unforgiveness and disharmony in our marriage to pride to bloodline curses, to ungodly One Flesh ties, vows, and a wide variety of other issues. As we dealt with these sins, repented and received forgiveness and turned around, we see periods of blessing and then again Satan would come in to kill, steal, and destroy in our lives.
Most recently we have experienced the season of material prosperity, which has exceeded anything we have ever known, but we still sit with the legacy of death. As I had been seeking Yahweh about this, He has been again been dealing with me about sin and error in our own lives. After this experience I have to say to anyone who listens to this teaching, if your prayers are not being answered, if there is financial, spiritual, or physical that is healing lack in your family or your personal life, there is only one place to look and that is sin in your own life which is giving Satan a foothold to attack you. In this process, we have learnt about many of the things which contribute to financial lack in the lives of Christians. These are documented in summary in a discourse on poverty in the church of Jesus Christ which is available. Subsequent to writing this discourse we have come to better understand the judgement process that applies to the church in this day and started to understand how it takes effect in the life of a believer. Believers are either sanctified by this process or will remain afflicted or they fall away. A series of teachings on this subject is also available.
On the morning of January 5, 2000, I was impressed by the following extract from Joshua 7:10-11: "So Yahweh said to Joshua: 'Get up! Why do you lie thus on your face? Israel has sinned, and they have also transgressed My covenant which I commanded them. For they have even taken some of the accursed things, and have both stolen and deceived; and they have also put it among their own stuff.'" The distinct impression that I had was that Yahweh was saying to me that many of His people are metaphorically lying on their face on the Earth crying out to God for help and He is saying "Get up. Why do you lie thus on your face. You have sinned and you have also transgressed by covenant which I commanded you."
I had myself been metaphorically lying on my face and crying out to Him a few weeks earlier until I recognised that what was happening had to be related to sin in my life and started thanking Him by faith by showing me what it was so that I could repent. He had as always answered that prayer and was still answering that prayer and things were starting to come right. It seems to me that He will always answer when one asks Him to reveal sin in our lives that we may repent.
This revelation tied into some notes I made a week earlier while reading the book "The surpassing greatness of His power" by Rick Joyner, pages 55 and 56. These notes related to the tithes and offerings which we have been led to give into many different ministries in the past few years. I quote the notes as I recorded it. When one contributes financially to a ministry, one does so first out of obedience to God's word with respect to tithes and offerings. Hopefully giving is directed by the Holy Spirit. But one should presumably also have a hope that one is storing up treasures in Heaven by participating in the fruits of that ministry. In this case, surely as stewards of the finances of our Father in Heaven has given us and has invested against an internal treasure in the Kingdom of Heaven, there is some reasonable basis in terms of which we should at least be extended the courtesy of a hearing should we become concerned that the direction of the ministry concerned is not in accordance with the word or will of God. In other words, if we become concerned that a message is not scriptural, we are entitled to a hearing. And if we are not granted a hearing or the ministry drifts further into error, we have a responsibility to serve elsewhere.
Christians teach constantly about sowing and reaping and many ministries are very willing to hand down offering baskets, preach messages on sowing, or publish newsletters or other documents which contain banking details or other subtle or not so subtle messages to assist or encourage people to give. Others are more direct in their request for funds. In the process usage is made of many scriptures to support these teachings. These teachings are generally sound, but they generally fail to address both sides of the coin. They speak of the blessings that will accrue to the believer who saves in good soul that they ignore the lack of blessings or even curses that may accrue in the event of saying into [inaudible 0:10:23]. Proverbs 24:30-31 states: "I went by the field of the lazy man, And by the vineyard of the man devoid of understanding; And there it was, all overgrown with thorns; Its surface was covered with nettles; Its stone wall was broken down." Surely, if one sows seed in such a field, in a ministry which has become lazy or which lacks understanding in an area which is permitted, the ministry could become unfruitful or it is filled with strife and division where it is in financial lack because of sin, one cannot expect a crop.
Many churches speak of partnership but they ignore the secular reality that partners constantly interact, assist one another to work together to improve the business. By implication of Ministry, which refers to others as partners when they contribute financially and suggest that by being partners they will be partners in the eternal rewards for the fruit of that ministry should be willing to treat those people as partners even if they disagree with the directional message. Partners should listen to one another and work together to improve things for the Kingdom of God in accordance with the Word of God, not man's interpretation. At the same time, partners in a business that fails owing to the area of malpractice of one partner or suffer financially from that failure. In other words, partners in a ministry that is not producing fruit will share in the lack of fruit and starve spiritually and find they have no treasure in Heaven as a result of their partnership. Partners in a Ministry, which is producing bad fruit will surely find that they have a part in that fruit.
[inaudible 0:12:10] of many examples. It seems to me that if a ministry is not producing good spiritual fruit, if they strife and discord, if there is constant lack to do the work that the partners agree that God has called the ministry to do, those who are giving to that Ministry should realise that there is something wrong. As partners in that Ministry, they have a responsibility to communicate to those who are running the Ministry full-time that they are concerned and to seek to work with them to rectify the problems. Generally, it has been my understanding that sin or error in the Ministry or in the lives of the full-time ministers or in the lives of the partners will almost always be at the root of these problems and will require to be addressed. If they are not, the Ministry will never turn around. In principle it would seem likely that spiritual problems will result firstly from the public life and teachings of the Ministry where the private lives of the ministers and that it will be partners who will be the first to really notice what is going on. If those who are running the Ministry cannot accept the concerns of their partners, then they are sinning against those partners by taking their finances and failing to ensure that the Ministry produces good fruit in the Kingdom of God.
This is an extremely difficult subject and one on which I do not have much experience. Other than that I have almost universally experienced that where one seeks to suggest that correction is required in a Ministry to which one has made material financial contributions, it is almost invariably rejected. In the process, some ministries resort to increasingly carnal and worldly techniques to improve the financial situation resorting to advertising, stronger [inaudible 0:13:58] to give and even psychological manipulation and guilt sinning which borders on witchcraft. This must be measured against Luke 12:42-53. To summarise certain passages, "The Lord said, 'Who then is that faithful and wise steward, whom his master will make ruler over his household, to give them their portion of food in due season? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you that he will make him ruler over all that he has. But if that servant says in his heart, ‘My master is delaying his coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and be drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he is not looking for him, and at an hour when he is not aware, and will cut him in two and appoint him his portion with the unbelievers. And that servant who knew his master’s will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more. I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!'" It was Jesus speaking.
The Scripture can be applied in two ways. Firstly, the full-time minister who attacks those under his care including those who are partners will surely fall into the category of a bad steward who will incur his Lord's wrath. However, the person whose ministry is financial, in other words, he has been called by God to serve bountifully into the works of the Kingdom of God out of the abundance that God has provided him must surely understand that he is called to be a steward of God's finances. Psalm 24:1 states: "The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein." Clearly all the finances that we have are provided by God in which case, surely a man who sows his seed in an unfertile field or in a field which is producing bad fruit must also be called to account for failing to properly invest his mater's finances.
Consider Matthew 25:14-30: "For the kingdom of heaven is like a man travelling to a far country, who called his own servants and delivered his goods to them. And to one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one, to each according to his own ability; and immediately he went on a journey. Then he who had received the five talents went and traded with them, and made another five talents. And likewise he who had received two gained two more also. But he who had received one went and dug in the ground, and hid his lord’s money. After a long time the lord of those servants came and settled accounts with them. So he who had received five talents came and brought five other talents, saying, ‘Lord, you delivered to me five talents; look, I have gained five more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’ He also who had received two talents came and said, ‘Lord, you delivered to me two talents; look, I have gained two more talents besides them.’ His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you have been faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’
Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours.’ But his lord answered and said to him, ‘You wicked and lazy servant, you knew that I reap where I have not sown, and gather where I have not scattered seed. So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest. So take the talent from him, and give it to him who has ten talents.
For to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but from him who does not have, even what he has will be taken away. And cast the unprofitable servant into the outer darkness. There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’"
Surely if the servant who hid his Lord's money is called wicked and lazy, how much more harshly shall a servant be judged who cannot even return his talent on the day of reckoning. Surely this Scripture alone challenges every Christian who tithes to take a more active role in assessing the direction of the church or congregation, which he supports financially and if he discerns possible error or sin in the Ministry, a minister, or the partners of congregation to seek to speak direction or correction to the leadership. If he is correct, then the leaders who are sinning against him, if they fail to give him a hearing, if they fail to accept and act on his input or if he is in error, they are also sinning if they fail to make a real effort in love to assist and to see that error.
In this case, Matthew 18:15-17 is quite clear. "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your brother. But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’ And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a tax collector."
It therefore appears that there are reasonable grounds for a person who gives financially to a Ministry to expect to be granted a fair hearing if he has concern. If his input is rejected, he has reasonable grounds and probably a scriptural responsibility to the Kingdom of God to leave that congregation or at the least to save his finances elsewhere. [inaudible 0:20:33] that an individual should be allowed to use his finances to manipulate the Ministry. If the leadership is truly trusting God for their provision, they should never permit the possible loss of revenue to influence them but they should respect the prerogative that those who contribute financially to withdraw if they are concerned without in any way rejecting it.
It truly seems to me that if these principles were applied to the church today, there would be far fewer cases of ministries falling into serious error and far fewer cases of ministries in serious financial lack. I appeal to all those who read this to recognise the joint obligation of those who partner with a Ministry financially to contribute spiritually and in terms of direction and correction as well and to encourage those who administer those finances to respect the responsibility of their financial partners to make such input. Both sides must recognise the differences of interpretation can arise and should not permit these to become a source of rank hold or discount. Partners who are genuine concerns which are not acknowledged or not accommodated should feel free to leave. Likewise, leaders who genuinely cannot agree with the input of a partner and truly believe that their position is scriptural and according to the Will of God should feel free not to act on the input of their partners and should be willing to let them leave. After all, if one is truly in the Will of God and without major hindering sin in one's life, and Philippians 4:19 clearly states: "And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus."
I urge all of those who listen to this teaching to give this very careful consideration. Pastors and other full-time ministers whose financial needs are not being met should ask themselves why and should seek the assistance of their partners, particularly any who are prospering by the hand of God, not because they are in league with the enemy in finances, to distinguish the corrections that are required. In particular, they should open their hearts to genuine concerns and criticisms raised by their partners. There is no substitute for crying out to God to show us our sin and how to deal with it and it is certainly no substitute for heartfelt repentance. At the same time, those who give should accept the responsibility to raise their concerns through the scriptural procedures outlined in Matthew 18 above and if their concerns are not acknowledged and acted on, they should accept that if they truly believe that their issue is in line with the word and the will of God, they should withdraw their finances and seek another field in which to sow.
May Yahweh bless you and keep you. May Yahweh make His face to shine upon you, and be gracious to you. May Yahweh looked at this countenance upon you and give you peace. In Jesus name, amen.
02_07 Poverty in the Church of Jesus Christ
This morning's teaching is a continuation of the series that I have been teaching on Judgement. It deals specifically with some of the factors which I found are relevant from the point of view of diagnosing what it is that needs to be dealt with in one's life where judgement is coming into effect. The teaching that I would give today is based on the book or discourse ‑ Poverty in the church of Jesus Christ ‑ a discourse on contributory factors based on personal experience, subtitled towards holiness and sanctification, circumcision of the heart and growth in Christ, which was produced several years ago and which addresses a variety of issues without going into detailed Scripture. Before I go into that document, I would just like to draw your attention to a Scripture which really struck me very forcibly a couple of days ago. It is Proverbs 16:7 and I am reading from the Amplified Bible: "When a man’s ways please the Lord, He makes even his enemies to be at peace with him." To me that is an absolutely incredible Scripture. Firstly that if we are truly living lives that are pleasing to Yahweh or to the Lord, we will see that even our enemies are at peace with us.
I really believe that builds on what I said some time ago with regard to the coming tribulation. Taking Proverbs 16:7 as a point of absolutely fundamental Scripture in that regard what we see is that even in the midst of total turmoil and tribulation, if our way is truly pleasing to Yahweh, even our enemies will be at peace with us. Surely, we must interpret that as meaning that in such tribulation the enemy will be absolutely unable to touch us and therefore will be unable to kill, steal, or destroy in our lives even in the most terrible persecution. On the other hand, I would suggest to you that in the spirit of today's teaching, we should also draw the conclusion that if our enemies are not at peace with us, then our ways are not fully pleasing to Yahweh. I think that is also an incredibly important truth to understand the two concepts are so vitally interrelated. If one's enemies are at peace with us, then surely that must be a miraculous sign that our ways are truly pleasing to Yahweh. That is not to say that if our enemies are at peace with us at some point in time that everything that we do and think will always be pleasing to Yahweh. It just means that at a point in time our life has reached a situation where Yahweh is sufficiently pleased with our lives to grant us peace with our enemies. Clearly, that is not a time to sit back on our laurels. It is the time to further seek holiness and sanctification. It is a time to cry out once more: "Father in the name of Jesus I ask you to judge me severely and correct me harshly that I may serve you more perfectly. I ask you to show me the level of my present deception and I ask you to show me what action you require of me in order to deliver me from that deception in Jesus name."
I really believe that as we do that, as we press in, as we cry out, we will come into that place if we truly desire our ways are pleasing to the Lord. And we will begin to discern that when we see that even our most rabid enemies are at peace with us. Surely, there can be few other dramatic or signs as dramatic as coming to a place where even one's enemies are at peace with one. Certainly, if our heart's desire is to please the Lord, which surely everyone of us should desire above all things to bring joy to the Father and saviour and the Holy Spirit in the way we conduct our lives. And surely we should desire that above all things because we love Him and because we desire to bring Him joy, not because we want our enemies to be at peace with us but just as certainly the fact that our enemies are at peace with us must come to be a diagnostic aid to determine when we are coming to a place of pleasing God. Again, I must stress, I am not saying that once one reaches a place where one's enemies are at peace with one that you have pleased God for eternity. No, surely, one has reached a place where momentarily God is well pleased with us. But as you will see in this teaching almost certainly He will be seeking for you to draw closer to Him and to deal with other issues in this life.
The Christian walk is a lifetime growing closer to God, seeking to please Him where we are in terms of our current knowledge and experience of Him and His word, constantly to recognise that what is acceptable and pleasing in His sight, when we are just being born again is not necessarily going to be acceptable to Him, 5, 10, 15, 20 years later, when we will have decades to study His word on a daily basis to spend time in His presence on a daily basis and to had Him search our hearts and to cleanse our hearts. So I must stress what I am preaching about and teaching about today is a journey in Christ. It is not a destination. It is a diagnostic.
So I would like now to turn to the document ‑ "Poverty in the church of Jesus Christ" and as I do so, I am essentially going to read from that document and seek to highlight and perhaps amplify some of the aspects which are addressed in that document. I should mention that the information and the experiences on which the book was based took place over a number of years. The book was written in mid 1998 and since then I continued to find that I have to revisit the principles that are set out in this book, some of them have become more real to me since I wrote them, some of them I have discovered greater dimensions in terms of what it actually means to apply some the principles that are set out in the book and sometimes I see very much as Joyner describes in 'The Final Quest' instances where I diagnosed the right things but for the wrong reasons. Sole endeavour to highlight some of these things as I go through the book but in essence I am going to follow the content of the book, that is my intention, God willing.
In the preface to the book I quote Deuteronomy 15:5-6 from the Living Torah which is a modern Jewish translation and these verses read: "This however will be to only it you obey the word of God, your Lord carefully keeping this entire mandate that I (Moses) am prescribing to you today. Your Lord will then bless you as He promised you so that you will extend credit to many nations but you will not need any credit for yourselves. You will less dominate many nations but none will dominate you." The key phrase in these two verses of Scripture in the context of these teachings are only if you obey the word of God, your Lord. I cannot stress enough to those who are listening to this tape that there is so many blessings in the word of God but all of them are conditional on us obeying the Word of God. We do not have the latitude to unilaterally and arbitrarily decide which portions of the Word of God we will choose to honour and obey and which we will choose to ignore and discard. Which promises we will choose to plan and which Commandments we will choose to ignore.
We must keep the entire mandate that Yahweh our Lord God has given us in so far as we are able at any point in our lives and insofar as we are aware of those Commandments but we must constantly, constantly be conscious of the fact that there is so much more of His word that we do not know, that we do not understand and that we do not apply in our lives that when things go wrong, we must constantly examine ourselves in the Word of God in that mirror that He has given us that is His word to see why it is that is wrong. We must cease blaming and looking to others as the cause of our problems, we must cease looking to identify people who have cursed us and we must see the curses that we have brought upon ourselves through our disobedience to the Commandments of God. I would really encourage anybody listening to this tape today, if there is anything in your life, which is not going according to your understanding of the Word of God, if you are not walking in the fullness of His blessing, if you have financial lack, if you have lack in the area of health, if you are unable to get to your healing or to keep your healing even though you have a revelation of the healing power of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is any area in your life where you have been standing on the promises of God and those promises are not materialising in your life, that you believe really at heart that those promises are few, then this teaching I truly believe is for you. Examine your heart. I have to say to you in all circumstances, it is almost 100% certain that there is something wrong in your life, that there is sin, deception or error or something in your life that is opening the door to the enemy to kill, steal, and destroy.
I have taught on the underlying technical scriptural principles whereby this happens in previous teachings and I would encourage you to listen to those if you have not listened to them. Today I am going to talk about the diagnostic factors and the issues roundabout how what I have just said applies in the life of every believer and I really pray that you will receive that in Jesus' name. The background to this particular teaching was laid on March 5, 1998, when Yahweh really laid it on my heart to prepare a series of discourses on various topics for discussion purposes and to inform people. After I started preparing the teaching on poverty, I listened to a series of teachings by Kenneth Copeland on the hesed, that is Hebrew, or agape, Greek, love of God, that is the covenant made by blood. Through that teaching I came to realise that much of what is contained in this teaching directly relates to what I am coming to understand as a process of circumcision of the heart, which I understand to be the journey that Yahweh leads us through in order to make us more like Jesus. This is a vast subject on its own and certainly not one that I hope to canvass comprehensively in this teaching. I am only seeking to address one aspect of which poverty is a useful diagnostic. I have also found many of these issues addressed directly or indirectly in Rick Joyner's book 'The Final Quest' which used an immensely sobering revelation of what the church is facing right now and I would really encourage you if you have not read the 'The Final Quest' to do so as soon as possible.
I certainly hope that this teaching will assist those of you who are truly seeking to plan the mountain of God, because many of the issues that are raised in this teaching today and over the weeks that follow and in the book on poverty are factors which can cause you to fall from any level on the mountain of God as described so graphically in 'The Final Quest.' At the same time, I must say to you that while I am persuaded that what I am teaching on series of God, I do not claim that all that I say is prophetic. Only as best as I can discern, it sums up what God has been showing me. I accept the possibility this teaching will be incomplete in places or may not be entirely accurately reflect what God is actually saying and I welcome the opportunity to discuss these teachings with any sincere believer who is committed to discerning the true will of God with regard to the issues that are canvassed in this teaching, and God willing, in the weeks that follow.
Another verse of Scripture or passage of Scripture which sums up what I am talking about today, again from the Living Torah entitled or under the heading ‑ "Following God's way" and quoting from Deuteronomy 10:12-21: "And now, Israel, what does God want of you, only that you remain in all of God your Lord so that you will follow all his paths and love him, serving God your Lord with all your heart and will all your soul. You must keep Moses' Commandments and decrease I and prescribing for you today, so that God will be yours, the Heaven, the Heaven of Heaven, the Earth and everything in it all belong to God. Still it was only that your ancestors that God developed a closeness. He loved them and therefore chose you their descendants from among all nations just as the situation is today. Remove the barriers from your heart and do not remain so stubborn anymore. God, your Lord is the ultimate supreme being and the highest possible authority. He is the great Mighty and awesome God who does not give special consideration or take bribes. He brings justice to the orphan and widow and loves the foreigner, granting him food and clothing. You must also show love toward the foreigner since you were foreigners in the land of Egypt. Remain in awe of God, serve him, cling to him and swear by his name. He is your praise and your God, the one who did for you, his great and awesome deeds that you saw with your very eyes."
Surely as we read that we must remember that Yahweh God is the same yesterday, today and forever and that is much as that passage of Scripture applied to the Israelites who have come out of Egypt, they apply to the Christian today who has come out of the world of which is a type. In presenting this presenting and that which follows today and God willing, in the next few weeks, I think it is important to give you some indication of what I had in mind in preparing this as to how I would suggest that you utilise what is presented here. This teaching is not intended to be an authoritative reference work. It intended to be in a sense a conversation with you sharing thoughts and experiences as they come to mind, rather than presenting some form of structured problem solving methodology or form of teaching. For this reason I will present thoughts largely as they originally occurred. It is almost certain and that was important in my life is not necessarily important in yours and vice versa and that the order of importance will also differ.
I am also not going to present this teaching with copious Scripture references. [inaudible 0:18:41] done that, this teaching would be many times longer and would not provide as I currently hope it will a relatively concise report of an enormous number of diverse and sometimes seemingly unconnected thoughts, all of which I believe have some bearing on assisting you to walk in the fullness of God's blessings, the blessings of obedience to God our Father, our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit. If you are currently under a financial attack, I suggest that you pray the prayer that follows and dip into these tapes as the spirit leads you or first time around, listen from beginning to end so that you provide the Holy Spirit with seed from which He can begin to teach you. By virtue of these objectives, there will never be enough information in this teaching to answer all your questions. That is not the intention. Jesus through his Holy Spirit is the only teacher that you can truly rely on as you identify sections of this teaching that awaken your interest or quickened your attention, pray about them in faith. Trust God to reveal to you what you need to know through His word, through books, teaching tapes, videos, TV and radio programmes, teaching of church as they may lead you to prophets, teachers and other believers who He may bring across your path. Be diligent to seek the truth. Be constantly in His word and in fellowship with other believers. Be always alert for His leading to buy a book or tape, listen to a radio programme, visit a church, help or talk to a stranger or do anything else that is concrete to your routine that will lead you to a source of knowledge.
Remember that only God knows your thoughts. So do not keep talking about what He is showing you and as far as possible never tell anyone your questions. Satan's cohorts, those Demons and Angels infest the atmosphere and those around you and are constantly listening for useful information to use against you. Pray silently within your heart believing in faith that He hearers you and that He will answer your questions. If the answer rattles your paradigm and does not seem as they could possibly be of God, ask Him in faith for confirmation. He loves you and He wants to set you free. He has great patience and He recognises our difficulty in hearing and believing Him. If you walk in faith without doubting, He will lead you to the truth, you need to set you free. Be prepared for a challenging and exciting ride. Recognise that God is no respecter of persons and no respecter of our traditions and doctrines. Expect Him to show you things that you will have great difficulty accepting. Expect Him to require you to do things and deal with things which are sometimes very challenging and uncomfortable. If you truly want to serve Him, and you truly want to walk in His will and His blessings, then I encourage you to take up the challenge by faith. Hold on to your hat and enjoy the ride and His blessings.
I would like to pray with you a prayer to start with. As I said, this teaching is not intended to be rigorous. It is intended to open up a treasure chest of topics for you to pray and seek God about in order to determine what is applicable to your life today in order to get the breakthrough that God currently has planned for you. Different parts will apply at different times. Some may never apply. Some you may revisit again and again. Others may not be covered in this document. As you learn to trust God to lead you into the truth, you need day by day, you will find that the walk becomes spiritually easier or ride may become more demanding in terms of what you can see in the natural. Ultimately it is all part of learning to be spirit-lead that you may one day just be termed to be a true son of God. The following prayer is offered to assist you to get started. Trust God to lead you in prayer day by day, pray in faith without doubting and He will answer you. Let us pray.
Father God I come to you in the name of Jesus. I thank you that you know the parts of this teaching that apply to me and that are correct for me. I thank you that as I start to listen you will quicken my spirit that which is immediately relevant and that you will conceal from me that which is chaff or of no relevance right now. I thank you that as you open this document to me, you will teach me what to pray and you will give me utterance in my spirit in order that I may pray your will over my life. I thank you that as I bring sections, concepts and thoughts before you and lay my questions at your holy throne, you will answer me. I ask you in the name of Jesus to speak to me through your word, to lead me to the passages that apply to me and that will answer my questions. I thank you that your word contains all the answers that I will ever need to live my life according to your will and to achieve the breakthrough that you purposed for me at this time. I thank you that you will speak to me through books, teaching, tapes and videos, apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and preachers, teachers, and other people whom you will bring across my path. I thank you that you will lead me wherever I need to go receive the answers to my questions and that your Holy Spirit is with me always to lead me into whole truth. Help me Father to hear your voice clearly and close my ears and eyes to all that is not of you.
Satan, I bind you and your cohorts from blinding or confusing me and receiving anything that God has provided for me in this document in Jesus name. I thank you Father that your angels are encamped around me to protect me and to keep the enemy from interfering in my studies and I ask you to cover me and my family and all that I earn with the blood of Jesus from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. I thank you Father that your word states that was a born-again believer and have a mind of Christ. I thank you for leading me to victory, in Jesus name. Amen.
In this first teaching, I intend to share with you various thoughts to provide a background to this teaching and some concepts which a prayer will help you to accept and to follow and to apply the teachings that will follow on subsequent tapes. At the time of writing the original document and still very much today, the majority of Christians that I know are under financial attack at a level that many consider to be unprecedented. Rick Joyner in his book, 'The Final Quest' which I read for the first time after producing the first draft of the document presents a graphic account based on a series of five visions as to why this is the case. And I would really suggest that if you have not read 'The Final Quest' it is something that you really need to read as a matter of urgency in order to better understand the current spiritual age. The teaching that follows seeks to contribute something to equipping the saints with a better understanding of the practical spiritual issues that are currently confronting most of the church.
To place this teaching in context, it is perhaps important that I mention that I am a civil engineer and analyst by training with strong grounding in mathematics, science and applied problem-solving. Yahweh has blessed me with a mind that constantly seeks to understand the underlying fundamentals in any situation whether physical or spiritual. I have learnt to use the gifts that I have developed in dealing with physical problems to deal with spiritual issues as well. Having served Yahweh in a tradition church in my youth and turned away because of religion and other factors in my early 20s, I had been radically saved from the very brink of death literally in my late 30s. I found myself faced with a major intellectual problem in accepting that the Bible was the living word of God. Having heard the voice of God and having experienced the presence of power of God enough to have complete certainty that He was real, by faith, I chose to accept the Bible as the word of God and embarked on a voyage of discovery, sometimes into uncharted or little-known spiritual waters.
As I sought to serve Yahweh and experience the fullness of His blessings in my life, certain of the Scripture that says that God is not a man that He should lie, I repeatedly found that the Bible did not seem to work in many areas of my life. For example, while I experienced an Acts 2 encounter with the Holy Spirit and walked in divine health, my finances continued to deteriorate and other areas of my life were under constant attack. Without a thought, I started to apply the engineering and military analysis and problem-solving techniques that I apply in my professional career as a management consultant and strategist to my spiritual walk and progressively found myself seeking God for answers to more and more obscure questions. As I did so, Yahweh started to present me with answers which increasingly caused me to evaluate the current teachings of the church in a variety of areas. Some of these issues rattled my paradigm despite the fact that in secular terms, my personality is one that thrives on paradigm shifting. There certainly rattled a paradigm of people around me.
Sometimes this was a consequence of my only seeing part of the picture or not hearing Yahweh clearly. Other times, the Holy Spirit forced me to confront truths, some of which have apparently been lost to the church since the first Catholics [inaudible 0:30:09] in about 315 AD. I do not present any of what I have said above a best. My intention is simply to position and contextualise what I am about to say with a view to appealing to you, the listener to consider the possibility that there may be a paradigm in your spiritual walk that is outside the realms of what you have previously considered to be the only valid understanding and interpretation. In doing this I will endeavour to avoid criticising what others believe. My hope is that I will build on truths that others have in order to draw out more of the truth as we all sincerely seek to draw closer to God, to be more like Jesus and to seek all truth.
Joyner in the 'The Final Quest' published in 1996 at the end of his description of his fourth vision, in which he was caught up into the third heaven and experienced the judgement of Christ, reports Jesus as saying: "Obey me and hasten the day of my coming." He further reports that as he was escorted away from the presence of Jesus by a company of angels, the leader of the Angels stated: "Now that he has stood, he will not sit again until the last battle is over." He has been seated until the time when his enemies are to be put under his feet. The time has now come. The legions of Angels that have been standing since the light of his passion has now been released upon the Earth. The hoards of hell have also been released. This is the time for which all of creation has been waiting. The great mystery of God will soon be finished. We will now fight until the end. We will fight with you and with your brethren.
It is vital that you recognise that a dramatic change in the spiritual state of the world took place sometime around 1995 or '96. Your paradigm of Christianity over your lifetime before this is no longer necessarily as relevant as it was before. The level of the scriptural onslaught and all dedicated believers has intensified greatly. This teaching is based on experience gained largely in the period from 1994 to 1998, during the period that this dramatic change was taking place. Accordingly, the interpretation offered in the teachings that follow should be evaluated on this basis.
Disclaimer: The teachings that follow, I am going to address a lot of issues which my experience tells me many people find controversial and very difficult to accept. I have even found that people become offended by the suggestion that there is sin in their lives that they have to deal with. Please understand that it is not my intention to offend you with anything that I say in these teachings. If you are offended I would really ask you to forgive me. I fully realise that if you are offended, you will have difficulty changing your paradigm. My objective is to lay a foundation that I believe will assist you to reassess certain issues that may be having a profound negative influence in your life. Please set aside anything that offends you and pray over it as you seek to extract what may be wheat and not chaff for you in this teaching.
Let me also stress that I do not claim that this teaching is comprehensive. You may have unique issues and challenges in your life that no person other than the Holy Spirit as the living God can assist you with. In all things, please look to Jesus and not to men. At this stage, I do not intend to present endless scriptural references. I have many notes and could add many Scriptures and other references if required to back up much of what I have to say. In other cases, I have much anecdotal evidence based on personal experience. Right now, I am not seeking to sell you anything. I am seeking to raise issues for consideration and hopefully discussion leading to prayerful action in the expectation that where something applies to a particular situation, the Holy Spirit will quicken this to your attention and show you how to respond. I look forward to receiving any comments that you may have and to discussing these teachings with you should you want to do that. If you have this tape, you should have contact details. You can contact me at James@End-Time-Issues.org.za on the internet. Or you can contact me on telephone numbers, South Africa local code 832516644 and I would be very happy to hear from you.
This teaching is seeking to address oppressing question, why is there so much lack and financial attack in the Body of Christ. The Word of God tells us that it is the Will of God for us to prosper and be in health. Numerous other scriptures tell us of the blessings of God and yet looking around we constantly see a large proportion of the church limping from one financial crisis to another. I have been there myself. I stood on the promises of God as my business started with the blessing of the Holy Spirit, named by God, with a cross and a logo put there by him with a vision to be a vehicle for evangelism to the business community around the world, slipped into total insolvency and closed its door. By the same time, I lost every material thing that I possessed and lost a custody battle for my children despite prophecies to the contrary. Repeatedly my cries had been "Why Lord? Show me what is wrong in my life, show me what to pray, show me what has to change. Reveal the root cause of the problem. Send prophets and teachings across my path." Yahweh has been faithful and He has given me numerous answers. On several occasions, we have experienced major breakthroughs and then had them turnaround again and on each occasion we proceeded to learn more.
Each time however, there has been an increasing assurance that Yahweh (God) is in control and that He will not allow us to be tested more than we can endure. It has in fact become comforting to know that He loves us so much that He wants to get the dross out of our lives before He really blesses us in order that we can serve Him fully, effectively, and faithfully in abundance. And will not end up like a camel trying to pass through the eye of a needle and thus be found wanting on the day of judgement.
In the sections that will follow, I will seek to discuss the various aspects that I have had to deal with over a period of about five years. I will present them more or less in the order that I had to confront them and as they came to mind while writing the document on poverty, not because I think there is anything special about that order, but because of this time now that the order readily presents itself. Other strength thing that in every case, the order is likely to be different. I am trying to create a structure that seems right to me or start to give prior to the point of entry. As you listened to these teachings, please constantly ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you that which applies to you now and do not concern yourself with things that may apply in the future. At the same time, many of these issues are items that your flesh may really not wish to respond to. So I would counsel you not to bypass issues lightly.
Law embrace how I understand it. I fully expect that as you listen to what follows, you will be inclined to accuse me of legalism and say what about grace? I would like to offer you very briefly in my understanding of how law and grace affect what follows. Firstly, let me say categorically that I do not believe that grace in any way constitutes a licence for sloppy, undisciplined, disobedient and sinful behaviour. Our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ knew no sin and was obedient to the death of the cross. I do not think that he took our sins upon him in order that we might adopt a casual attitude to sin. I also do not think that it is a coincidence that discipline and disciple have the same root. Insofar as we are ignorant to the word of God, I am firmly persuaded that God extends grace to us so that we may not carry a burden that exceeds our spiritual and physical maturity. The word says that we will not be tested beyond our capacity to endure. However, in the same way that newly born baby cannot endure much environment, mental deprivation that a battle hardened supremely fit soldier can survive under the most arduous conditions. Grace is extended to us as newly-born creatures in Christ, but other time we are expected to mature to become battle hardened Christian soldiers able to look after ourselves.
By implication it seems that in a sense grace is less comprehensive as we mature and much of what I have to say reflects what I perceive to be in my own life, a progressive requirement from Yahweh that I accept increasing responsibility for the consequences of my own actions. Whether this is in fact a reduction in grace or whether there is some other spiritual principle or term that applies, I am currently uncertain, but I do believe that the basic concept is spiritually valid as we grow in grace. At the same time, I always remember that God's grace is sufficient for us whether we are in the furnace or at the well. At the same time, Satan, the accuser of the brethren who is before the throne of God night and day is the ultimate legalist and I would refer you to the teaching I gave some weeks ago on the details of how I understand that Satan's accusations before the throne of God takes place.
To recap, as I understand it, Satan works according to a clearly defined set of rules which are made visible to us throughout the Bible in the form of Commandments, principles, and guidelines as well as through parables and metaphors. Through religion and legalism, Satan has very effectively clouded our understanding of much of how he works. To me, the first few chapters of Job, together with the verse in Ephesians 4 that cautions us to give no foothold to the devil, summarisers what we are dealing with. As I understand it, Satan and his cohorts constantly scan the Earth, seeking believers whom they can accuse before the throne of God. Since there are twice as many holy Angels as fallen Angels it appears that Satan concentrates his efforts on those Christians who are on fire and making a difference, rather than those who are lukewarm or discouraged in showing their signs of resistance, where he identifies any form of sin or foothold in the life of a believer or a group of believers. He then goes before the throne of God and demands his legal right to attack the individual, congregation, or family concerned. It appears that on occasion by the grace of God in recognition of our frailty and limitation, God refuses Satan's requests. I am not sure of this. On other occasions where God and his mercy considers the proposed trial to be within the ability of the believer to endure, He permits the trial to take place in order to test us, mature us, strengthen us, and draw us closer to him, so that He can demonstrate His love and His power. This process can result in believers stumbling and falling away, and not completing the race, particularly if they do not comprehend exactly what was going on in the spiritual realm.
Thus we see that as we mature in Christ, we are tested with regard to sins and footholds, etc., that were covered by grace when we were less mature in Christ. In this process, we either fall back, fall away, backslide and extreme cases, forsake the faith or we press in closer to the Holy Spirit, seek the face of Jesus and cry out to enter into the throne room of God. As we do this, we find ourselves examining ourselves in the mirror of the word and becoming increasingly aware of aspects of our lives which are displeasing to God and which give Satan footholds in our lives. If we understand that this is the process that we are undergoing, we can pray appropriately and act appropriately with the result that we may hope to press through the trials more rapidly and thus press on to the next trial with greatest spiritual growth and is the case if every time we spend days, weeks, months or years being offended with God, railing against Him, demanding that He honours His words and many other pitfalls that Christians fall into while in the process of losing many of the blessings that they already have. An image of this process that I received was that of a baby Christian in the thick cotton wool cocoon with God slowly peeling away the layers of cotton wool and exposing them to the world as they grew. Eventually, God intends that they stand fully exposed to the onslaught of the enemy as mature fully equipped believers. Many do not seem to ever reach that point.
The military metaphor. As Christians we talk regularly about spiritual warfare and make numerous other references to warfare, the battle being soldiers for Christ, etc. I wonder how many Christians actually consider what they are saying. As a retired Lieutenant-Colonel in the South African citizen force, I would like to elaborate on my understanding of how this applies to the preceding discussion on law and grace. In doing this, I would like to trace the life developments of a soldier. If we start with pregnancy, then an unborn child is in its mother's womb it is totally protected from the outside world. All the knocks and tribulations of the world affect the mother, not the child. The father is hardly involved other than by protecting the mother. In infancy immediately after birth, the child is forced to deal with possible diseases and infection, climatic factors and the like to the extent that the mother cannot totally shield it. As a toddler, the mother has to stand back and watch the child fall as it learns to walk and learns other lessons. The mother still shields the child as much as possible. In preschool years, the child becomes increasingly adventurous and starts to take more risks. It is exposed to more danger, but the parents together seek to limit its exposure to what they perceive is reasonable based on their own life experience. Here we begin to see divergent views in different cultures.
In all out war, the parents and particularly the mother will make enormous sacrifices to protect the child. In primary school, the child is still largely naive and has great confidence in its parents' ability to supply all its needs. It takes very little responsibility for the consequences of its actions and the parents have obliged to rescue it from these consequences on occasion. Sometimes from situations that they would never have dreamed that their child will get into. Now the child is a minor, the parents are legally liable for certain actions of the child. Now the child, particularly if it is a boy, it begins to participate in sports, the parents must stand on the sidelines and watch. Even if the child faces quite serious danger of injury, boys tend to go out and take physical risks which can sometimes be life-threatening. The parents increasingly have to pray rather than to intervene physically.
In secondary school, the process continues. Boys start increasingly to participate in relatively dangerous activities and sports. Occasionally a boy in the school or in nearby school maybe critically, even permanently, or fatally injured as a result of a rugby injury or other activity. If the son is called up for military service, his parents are also obliged to stand back almost entirely. There is almost nothing that they can do to safeguard their son, other than to pray and to hope that the lessons and principles that he has learned as a child will be effectively applied. They may not see their son for weeks or months at a time and may hear from him infrequently. He is now in the hands of his instructors and leaders and is heavily dependent on their competence. Nevertheless, he is still supervised to a large extent and is taught to obey orders without thinking. He is taught discipline, develops physical fitness and other skills that he did not really have before. He is being developed into a fighting man who is capable of killing or being killed. If the son goes on to be called to active service, he faces a situation with the slightest lack of discipline, failure to instantly obey orders or to follow laid down drills either by himself or his fellows can cause him to be wounded, taken prisoner or killed. His parents do not know where he is and can only pray. They cannot even observe from a distance and give guidance. He is an adult, largely dependent on his training in order to survive.
Nevertheless, his senior officers and non-commissioned officers still monitor him closely, take responsibility for any decisions and give him clear-cut orders within the limitations of his training. Generally he will not be displayed in situations for which his training has not equipped him. If the son goes on to volunteer for the reconnaissance commandos, he is taught to kill with his bare hands, to survival for the land for weeks at a time and is generally trained to be almost entirely responsible for his own survival and the success of his missions. Once fully trained, he can be parachute dropped behind enemy lines, often in the most arduous terrain. One false move may cost him his freedom or his life. He is at risk of being exposed or betrayed on every side, he does not know who he can trust or what the next minute will bring. If he does not scrupulously adhere to his drills, he is not rigorous in his navigation and does not his rendezvous precisely on time, he is unlikely to return from his mission. At best, he will be taken prisoner with the chance to escape one day. At worst, he will be tortured and brutally murdered. In this situation, his superior officers can do very little to help him unless he is able to radio for aerial support and his parents were quite likely not know whether he is on a mission or not. He is totally dependent on his God if he knows him and his own ability and discipline.
If your son succeeds in his military career, he will eventually be promoted through the ranks to command first a section of platoon, then a troop of squadron and then a regiment. As a regimental commander he will be increasingly removed from the battle. He will be more concerned with the overall deployment and command and control of the troops under his command unless directly involved in the battle. But he will take his orders on major issues from his superiors and his regiment will nearly always be deployed as part of the multidisciplinary combat team to attack and hold a particular objective. He will generally have no say in the setting of objectives, although he may be involved in the command council that sets those objectives. His focus is primarily tactical in terms of achieving the objective set for his regiment. By the time he achieves the rank of regimental commander, he is likely to be at the very least in his late 20s or early 30s with significant experience under his belt. He will be in command of about 500 to 700 men and millions of dollars of equipment and machinery, depending on the nature of the regiment that he commands. On the ground, he will have considerable autonomy of action and will be evaluated on the results that he delivers. In a full-scale war situation, the officer who demonstrates proven ability to motivate and lead his men to correctly assess the enemy and respond accordingly to take calculated risks, which payoff without unnecessary loss of life and generally effective leadership in every sense will rise rapidly through the ranks.
Typically he will be a man who pays scant regard to the privileges of rank. He will spend time on the ground with every soldier from time to time, will know his subordinates by name and something about them and will never send them into a situation that is not prepared to go himself. Wherever possible, he will be on the ground with his troops leading them into battle. While accepting the inevitability of casualties, he will constantly evaluate his conduct to determine whether he should have acted differently and will personally make every effort to visit wounded soldiers or contact their next off kin. He understands that if his soldiers trust him, he can move mountains. Such an officer will very rapidly rise above all god officers who rest on their laurels, rely on the doctrines of previous wars or insist in following the procedures taught on the officer's course with no regard to the changes in the enemies doctrine and conduct. A man who allows his troops to sustain unnecessary casualties or defeats will if not killed in battle, be rapidly removed from his command.
If he continues to succeed he will progressively be promoted to command a brigade, a division and finally an army corps and possibly even an entire army. With each promotion, he will become responsible for more and more men and will become increasingly involved in taking critical strategic decisions. His ability to lead the overall theatre [inaudible 0:54:22] troops and the enemy and every other item of intelligence that he receives and order to take decisions which will give rise to victory with minimum casualties will become increasingly critical. He becomes increasingly responsible for identifying particular military intelligence needs. His margin for error will progressively decrease as the size of the forces that he is required to deploy in battle increases. Incompetence or foolish error will be tolerated less and less by his superiors and subordinates. His is a very lonely position as a general officer commanding. At all times, his ability to motivate all around him and to carry them with him and his ability to delegate and build and maintain a team under the most arduous conditions will determine hsi success or failure. Visibility can mean the difference between whole country as being swallowed up by the enemy and spectacular victory. In most cases shortly before or after promotion to level of regimental commander, the man will either attend university or a military academy to obtain the equivalent of a three-year bachelor's degree. In a case of a full-time war situation, where there is no time for this, he will nevertheless attend a short staff course to develop his understanding of strategic issues and certain other critical military expertise.
In some cases, a three-year civilian university degree may be accepted as an alternative to the course of the military academy. The objective of the course is as much to develop intellectual problem solving and analytical skills as it is to offer in-depth training and military strategy and other academic aspects of military life, which are more bearing in a peacetime army than in the rigorous of all-out war.
If we consider this outline of personal growth in a combat soldier, I hope that you will see that there is a parallel with the process that I outlined previously. The soldiers in God's Army if we are truly sold out to Christ, we have whether we realise it or not volunteered for service at the very least in the heat of the conventional battle. If not as reconnaissance commandos, we cannot hide behind pastors and teachers and cry out to God every five minutes to dry our eyes. You must fight the good fight making full use of the weapons and armour of our disposal. Crying out to God for aerial rescue if the situation gets totally out of hand. As we mature, we must accept our responsibility to lead regiments and armies. In particular, we must accept our calling to lead from the front, to constantly gather intelligence about what the enemy is doing. Read the signs of the times and motivate and deploy the forces under our direction effectively. Unnecessary casualties cannot be tolerated. The level of falling away and the level of injury that can be found in seemingly every church around the world could not be tolerated in any army. The heads of the leaders would roll. Until the church realises that even one casualty within a congregation is an indictment of the leadership of that congregation, Satan will continue to hold the church in financial and physical bondage and backsliding.
I truly believe that God is training many of those who will hear this teaching to be deployed as reconnaissance commandos in these last days. He is training them to place their trusting God and His word alone and not to look to their own understanding. He is requiring that they stop depending on others and stand alone in their total dependence on Him. He is looking to them to be instantly obedient and never to question orders given by the Holy Spirit. To apply the rules laid down in the Bible, to understand every nuance of the enemy's movements in order to anticipate attack from wherever it may come, to will the sword of the spirit effectively and precisely in every situation. Sharpening the sword morning, noon, and night and after every encounter with the enemy. If he drops his guard even for a moment to allow disobedience or other sin to enter his life for even an instant. The enemy will be there to take him prisoner, torture him or kill him.
The process set out in the previous section is as best I currently understand it, the process and military training that God is using, He progressively permits us to engage the enemy in more and more direct combat with less and less direct support and protection. Those who will miss it will find themselves wounded by Demons, taken prisoner in false doctrines and deception, when extreme cases falling away and losing their salvation. Soldiers in such situations know that they must be able to trust every single fellow combatant with his life. No soldier can cover his back as well as his front. He is totally reliant on the other men and his team to protect him. If one gets struck by the enemy, he is totally reliant on his fellows to save him. If one is ill-disciplined or disobedient, the whole team is at risk. All know that they dare not fight amongst themselves no matter how much they might dislike one another or disagree while relaxing back at base. They cannot allow even the slightest amount of division. If they do, it may well cause them all to die. Christian soldiers for the most part have yet to learn this lesson.
The role of the apostle is in essence comparable to that of the general officer as outlined above. Many years of refining, taking the lead in battle, identifying intelligence needs, giving direction to hundreds or thousands or even hundreds of thousands through prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers, delivering rebuke and correction to any soldier of any other rank that God wants corrected. The service of pastors and teachers on the other hand, is more directly associated with a small group of soldiers on the ground. As such their role and functions are probably more comparable to that of non-commissioned officers, that is, it is primarily a tactical utilisation. If after many successful missions and numerous medals and recommendations, the commander becomes proud, self-confident, careless, ill-disciplined or rebellious, he is likely to be taken captive or killed. The same applies to the Christian. No matter how much God has used you, no matter what mighty works have been done through you, the moment you fail to sharpen the sword of the spirit, allow your armour to slip, disobey or question the Holy Spirit, start selling or rebelling in other ways, the enemy will immediately pounce to kill, steal, and destroy. The visions reported by Joyner graphically illustrate how mature believers allow pride, self-confidence and other sins to cause them to fall and be taken captive or killed.
Fortunately we serve a merciful God and many are saved by Him from spiritual death by His intervention, even sometimes to the extent of premature death. Seek first the Kingdom of God and all these things shall be added unto you. And listen to these teachings, recognise that financial and material prosperity is not the primary benefit of being a Christian. Jesus said to seek first the Kingdom of God. In other words, seek to know Him, His will, to do His will, to know Him, to please Him and to serve Him. In doing this, you will set yourself free from bandages and footholds and material and physical blessings will in due course will be added on to you. Therefore, financial and material lack is a useful indicator and the means whereby God can correct our sin and direct us. If you are listening to this teaching primarily because you are seeking financial and material well-being but is not seeking God as your first priority, then you are unlikely to find much of value in these teachings. A word of caution, seeing footholds in others. As you listen to these teachings, you are quite likely to find that you see much of what is written here is relevant to people you know. Firstly, do not become proud. God resists the proud. Secondly, do not feel self-justified. Thirdly, do not condemn them or judge them and lest you are also judged. Pray for them and if you can truly speak to them with love and compassion and God has clearly told you to speak to them. So speak to them. Generally God shows us weaknesses and sin in others, so we will examine ourselves more closely and so that we can pray for them. The more I learn the ways of God, the more I realised that He seldom needs my help to point out their sin to them. Even in my capacity as a prophet of God, He only sends me to others to point out their sin as a last resort and then in very specific ways. I am increasingly realising that there is a particular gifting required to communicate to someone on a sensitive issue like sin in a way that it does not cause them to stumble but in fact assist them to see their sin and turn around.
Is Satan really stupid? I have heard it said by several preachers that Satan is stupid and does not learn. Does that verse exist in the Bible? Any army that underestimates its foes are asking to be defeated. Has the church underestimated theirs? The level of falling away, financial bondage, lack of health, strife, etc., which suggest that currently Satan is anything but defeated. He is intimately weaker than God and yet he is keeping millions if not billions out of the kingdom and keeping the rest in bondage and survival. The nearly empty throne near God seen by Joyner in his vision graphically portrays the extent which Satan is currently victorious. It seems reasonable to assume that when God created Adam, Satan knew as little or less about Adam and the rules of warfare as Adam did. I doubt that God made a point of educating Satan. In this case, we must assume that as much as the people of Israel and the church have been learning what is required to truly serve God with all our hearts, all our minds and all our strength. So Satan has been learning how to cause us to fail.
Based on the depiction of Satan coming before God's throne giving in Job and the reference of Satan as the accuser of the brethren in Revelation, Satan has been coming before the throne of God at least since the time of Adam and probably a lot longer. At the very least, Satan has been before the throne of God accusing the brethren for about six thousand years. That is a lot of time to learn and even longer time if he has learnt nothing. It seems reasonable to conclude that Satan has at the very least observed that there are certain accusations that he is able to bring against certain classes of believer, but are regularly successful and that there are others which meet with less success. Likewise he has probably observed that there are certain accusations that he cannot bring against someone who has just made a commitment but others such as perhaps pride that will be almost universally successful if brought against a believer of some years' journey. After all, God resists the [inaudible 1:05:58] hardly likely to block Satan from using pride as a foothold. If this is the case, we should for our own God, conclude that Satan knows a lot more than we do about the subject under discussion and that he is probably learning more rapidly than most of us.
Sanctification and holiness: The process that I outlined above could also be termed a journey towards sanctification and holiness where the journey is well demonstrated by the book of pilgrims progress which is also available on video. As I understand it, sanctification is a process of making clean of removing those aspects in our lives that are not pleasing to God that cause us to sin to put a distance between ourselves and God. I say this not in a judgemental way, but simply from a deep personal recognition that I am not the person that God wants me to be, that I do not have a depth of relationship with Him that others have, which the Bible shows me is possible and that as I speak, I may have been closer to Him in the past. In a similar vein, holiness is a separation from the things of this world as ruled by the God of this world, Satan, allied with a cleaving unto God who is the ultimate expression of holiness. I am not sure exactly what the distinction is but I am certain that as we sanctify ourselves and set ourselves apart for His service, we draw closer to His holiness. In saying this, I must stress that I am not talking of a work's programme but I am referring to a spirit-led process which progressively draws us closer to our Lord and our saviour Jesus Christ.
Jesus said that we will do the same and greater works than he did, but many are even close to doing the same work, let alone greater works. The non-Christian means little Christ-like ones, which was first given to the believers of the Antioch. Then few of those who claim the title Christian in fact demonstrate Christ likeness. The journey towards sanctification and holiness therefore is also journey toward Christ-likeness, which is a comprehensive expression of meekness, gentleness, humility, compassion, lack of self, intimacy with the Holy Spirit, deep-rooted implantation of the word of God, and assurance of the covenant rights of the believer to a point where the person concerned indeed performs the same works than Jesus did and greater works, the lame walks, the blind see, the dead raised and so forth.
Blood covenant: We have a covenant, cupped with the blood of Jesus Christ as he hang on the cross of Calvary. As I have understood the teaching on hesed referred to previously by Kenneth Copeland, the old covenant was cut with Abraham when God walked in the blood of the animals in Genesis 15 and with Abraham in Genesis 17. When Abraham circumcised himself and all the males in his family in service, recognising that Abraham and the men with him were mature adults, there is a certain type here of those of us who come to know the Lord Jesus Christ after we have grown up in the world.
Circumcision of the heart: If we understand that circumcision involves the cutting of flesh from probably the most sensitive organ of the male anatomy, we begin to understand that it was very painful. If we understand that Abraham and the men with him circumcised themselves without aesthetic using Flint knives and not surgical steel scalpels, we begin to consider the magnitude of the pain that they probably experienced. If we take account of the fact that healing of the wound must have taken at least a week or two and that the formation of a scab on the organ concerned is likely to be extremely uncomfortable, if not downright painful, we gain an understanding that circumcision is not something to be undertaken lightly and that once undertaken, these are lasting impression. We then recognise that circumcision is the cutting away of something that is not necessary not useful, then I suggest that the circumcision of the heart referred to under the new covenant should take on a whole new meaning. In a sense, much of what is written about here, relates to that circumcision of the heart. Accordingly, we should not be surprised that this cutting away at times painful and requires a determination to proceed that is not frequently adequately presented to those who make a first-time confession of Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour.
If we recognise the extreme agony that Jesus endured on the cross for us voluntarily and with complete foreknowledge, we should find this progressive non-physical process of circumcision much less difficult to accept. The cup that Jesus drank, many of us read the reference in the Gospel of John and elsewhere to the cup that Jesus drank and gratefully prophase that he has taken all our sins and that he knew no sin became sin for us but few have any comprehension of the enormity of what Jesus did for us. It can be presented as follows: Consider the worst possible sin that you know of, something that you could not being to consider yourself committing. Consider how repelled you are by the thought of anyone committing such a sin. Weigh that repulsion up against all the sins that you have in fact committed in your life and consider how much more repulsive that sin must have been for Jesus who knew no sin. Finally, consider that Jesus not only took that sin on himself at Calvary, but he took on himself the unmentionable atrocities of the concentration camps of the Second World War, the abominations of the dark ages, the acts of Satanic worship and witchcraft, which are perpetrated even today and ever other sin that has ever been committed and will ever be committed.
It makes you think, does not it? I truly believe that as we gain an increasing revelation of the magnitude of what Jesus has done for us, we will increasingly desire to become like him and we will also find it far easier to count all joy when we fall into various trials. Such a revelation becomes far easier to desire to understand what is taught in the sessions that follow and to determine how it applies in our own lives. The pain of circumcision of our hearts also becomes easier to bear with joy. This teaching does not contain all truth. I have already stated that I do not claim to have all truths. I feel a need to stress this point as follows: In our daily life, we seldom encounters somebody who obtains 100% for tests and exams. I have certainly never encountered somebody who has obtained a 100% in every single test and exam that they have written. Not one of us have 100% all truth. Only the Father, the son, and the Holy Spirit are all truth. In fact, Gaussian statistics indicate that on any subject, we will have the so-called Gaussian distribution of knowledge. In other words, there will be some who know absolutely nothing, zero percent, and there might be some who know all there is to know, but I think that is unlikely. The rest of the people will be distributed between these two extremes with levels of knowledge that follow some sort of Bell-shaped curve. Simply put, we all have gaps and errors in our knowledge. In other terms, an expert can be viewed as someone who is right more often than they are wrong and someone who is right 80% of the time is probably a genius. In other terms, most of us would be well satisfied if our child obtained 60% aggregate at the end of their school careers and would be thrilled if they obtain 75%. It is highly unlikely that we would send them back to school until they obtain 100%.
After all, what they do learn at school is a minute fraction of all the knowledge in the world and no one will ever know it all. What this translates to in the context of this teaching as well as our Christian walk is that no man knows everything. Undoubtedly you will find aspects of this teaching that you disagree with and it is quite possible that you will be correct, either because I have missed something, because I have over simplified or for any other reason. The challenge to you is to find the truth that this teaching contains that you lack and to ignore anything that may be incorrect. The challenge for me is to hear you when you offer me corrections and suggestions for improvement and to pray over them and modify my teaching as appropriate. However, if you are offended by something that I teach, or that you know to be incorrect and reject the entire teaching, you may lose out on some revelation that is vital to you. Conversely, if you blindly accept this teaching as being 100% correct, you may go over truth that you already have. I stress that it is my understanding that each one of us is accountable for dividing the word of God correctly and that we should seek the truth from whatever source God and His wisdom makes available to us.
Trust no man but God. More too often we become disciples of one or other preacher, teacher or pastor. We will attach ourselves to a particular congregation and agree to submit to their leadership. In the process, if we are not very careful, we come to rely on the council of men in preference to the council of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God. Each one of us is accountable to God for our actions and if He speaks to us through His word or by His spirit, it is up to us to discern that this is truly God speaking to us and to act on what He says to us even if men do not agree. In my journey to date, I have encountered a number of situations where I was told by pastors and others that I was missing it only an error. In one case, I had to revisit the same issue year after year for three years, each time crying out to God for guidance, each time receiving the same answer, each time being told by pastors and elders that it was my flesh for the devil and could not possibly be God. Eventually I obeyed the Holy Spirit instead of man and saw immediate breakthrough. Remember the word says, submit to God, resist the devil. The Bible is full of reports of men of God who refused to submit to man in order to obey God and yet today, many pastors demand that we submitted to them in areas where there is no basis for them to set themselves up as rulers.
Remember that if you are in a position of leadership, the word tells you not to Lord it over your flock. If you choose to obey men rather than God that is rebellion, which the Bible says is as a sin of witchcraft. Refer to Saul in 1 Samuel 15 and others in Scripture. Rebelling against the word of God, either in His word, the Bible, through spirit directly to you, or through His apostles and prophets then they are anointed as best souls through whom God speaks, [inaudible 1:17:29] lead to a rejection by God. Hebrews 6:6 warns us against crucifying Jesus Christ again. We are in age where God is rejecting those who submit to men instead of Him.
Once saved, always saved. Verses work out your salvation with fear and trembling. There is a widely held doctrine that once you confess with your mouth and believe with your heart that Jesus Christ is Lord, it does not matter what you do thereafter. You will sit with Christ on his throne for eternity. This teaching ignores numerous Scripture that warn you to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, exalt you to run the race to the end, cautioned that your name can be blotted out of the book of life and encourage you to overcome to the end. The book of the revelation of Jesus Christ alone contains numerous warnings. Hebrews 6:6 contains another. The Bible is full of words of caution. There is no doubt in my mind that only a select remnant will in fact rule and reign for a thousand years with Jesus. If this is the case, then much of what this teaching contains takes on a much greater significance. If you doubt this interpretation, I encourage you to pray sincerely about it and study your Bible with this specific topic in mind. As a point of departure, consider whether Jesus would have endured what he did on the cross in order to permit us to adopt and approach our Christian walk in which we have appropriate promises while ignoring Commandments with regard to obedience, etc. Please carefully consider all that follows in this light.
Read the back of the book 'We Win.' A statement which one hears from the pulpit and elsewhere from time to time is along the lines. Read the back of the book 'We Win,' referring to the final victory described in the book of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Keep in mind that the back of the book also refers to names being blotted out from the book of life and those who endure to the end amongst other warnings, while our desire should be to be among those who rule and reign with Christ. We should take careful note of the conditions of obedience and other constraints that are set out clearly throughout the Bible. If Paul was concerned that he might not finish the race, how much more should each of us be concerned. Complacency is certainly one of the footholds that Satan is seeking to use to destroy the children of God.
Poverty is an indicator and not a measure. Before I write further I must clearly position my thinking with regard to poverty and why I believe that the Lord led me to use poverty as a pivotal focus for this teaching, as well as why I believe that there is currently so much poverty in the church. It is important to recognise that Jesus did not guarantee that we would or be abundantly materially rich in this life. He commanded us to store up treasures in Heaven, not on Earth. He also stated that it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. Incidentally, Lamb's translation suggests that the correct translation there is that it is easier for a rope to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God. We are also told that the rich young ruler to sell all that he has and give to the poor. We read throughout the Scriptures of anointed men of God who has spent much of their lives in apparent lack. John the Baptist would certainly seem to be one. It depends on [inaudible 1:21:15] are your favourite [inaudible 1:21:16] or not and how we measure contentment with godliness against. For example a madman of the Gadarenes. God surely supplied all of John's needs. These Scriptures indicate to me that while God desires us to prosper and be in health, He does not desire this at the expense of our immortal souls. I am persuaded that the tests and trials with regard to finances are designed to bring us to a point where we are able to handle material prosperity without affecting our relationship with God and our fellow men. Part of this process involves reaching a point where we recognise that all that we have belongs to God and that we are merely custodians of it. We have a responsibility to give as He directs us.
In particular, this requires that those who have their own businesses realise that it is actually God's business and it is their responsibility to take care of the business on His behalf. As with Paul, we required to learn how to be [inaudible 1:22:13] to live in abundance. The prosperity that God chooses to give us on this Earth may be more a function that He is calling on our lives than it is a function of our wants and perceived needs. In other words, if we are called to pastor congregations in areas of great poverty, but those of us who come from relatively affluent backgrounds consider it to be poverty that constitute God's abundance and blessing in such a community. The measure of prosperity that God considers appropriate to each of our lives may be directly related to the level of prosperity that he considers appropriate to the mission that He has given us.
Accordingly, I want to stress that no matter what you may find presented in this teaching, you should not categorically interpret a situation that you consider to be poverty as necessarily indicating that any of what is taught here applies to you. Do not however likely disregard it either. These principles also apply to health and overall spiritual condition. Conversely there are many who claim to be Christians who are prospering and yet there are clearly areas of their lives that are not right. Again, it appears that in some cases God's grace covers this situation while in others, the person concerned is not doing material damage to the Forces of Darkness and accordingly Satan leaves them alone. Thus I make the decision that financial and material prosperity is no more an indication that you are fully in the will of God and poverty is an indication that you are entirely out of the will of God. If this last statements appear contradictory, it is simply a reflection of my observation that people seem to develop backward arguments to support preconceived scriptural conclusions. There are numerous scientific, mathematics, engineering and other sources and problem-solving logic, etc., which according to my recollection, will more clearly demonstrate the futility of facile argument in order to deduce sustaining of any individual with God who looks at our hearts and we are told not to judge.
Where this teaching is intended to apply is in cases where you have a sure conviction that Yahweh (God) has promised your level of prosperity in which you know you are not walking. This appears to be much of the body of Christ today. Equally many of the points set out in this document probably apply to other areas where the promises of God do not appear to be effective. Ultimately, each of us will stand before Jesus throne and be called to account for our lives totally on our own. If I am in error, I will be called to account for my error and its impact on you and others. If you have accepted my error, you will be called to account for your decision to accept it. In the meanwhile, only you can assess where you stand with God. That is not for me or any other human being to judge. If He speaks to you through one of His apostles or prophets, that is a different matter.
Faith: Nothing in this teaching should be taken as in any way seeking to deny the importance of faith. Without faith, it is impossible to please God and everything that does not come from faith is sin. Romans 14:23. This entire teaching assumes that the reader is aware of the importance of faith. There are excellent teachings on faith by Kenneth Copeland, Kenneth Hegan, Benny Hinn and numerous others. This teaching is not intended to duplicate these teachings and any listener who is not informed of the principles of faith and walking by faith is encouraged to seek such teachings as a priority. This teaching is intended to assist people who have found that their faith does not appear to be working.
The name of Jesus: The name of Jesus Christ is the name above all names. At the name of Jesus Christ, every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. There is immense power in the name of Jesus. Never forget this and never use the name of Jesus lightly, vainly or as a common word. It is the holiest name of all names. I have experienced angels catching my car and hurdled sideways over embankment and gently setting the car down at the foot of the embankment just by crying out Jesus as I lost control of the car. Many others have had similar experiences. Never forget the power of the name of Jesus, never cease to confess the name of Jesus over your life and circumstances, but confess with respect and reverence for who he is.
I set out in the sections that I have taught today to more clearly explain my thinking behind what will God willing, follow in the weeks ahead. This discussion is predicated on the assumption that in order to develop a rationale argument, it is necessary to make certain assumptions and principles explicit. I hope that I have to a point accomplished this. Since I am certain that there are passages that will prove not to be clear or open to misinterpretation, when there are assumptions that I have made that I have not made explicit, I welcome all comment and suggestion for improvement or correction. I pray that as you listen to these tapes, the spirit of God will speak to you and open your eyes, open the eyes of your understanding to see the truths concerning that which may be oppressing you and holding you financially, health-wise and in any other manner in bondage right now. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you. In Jesus name, amen.
02_08 Poverty in the Church Part 2
Today's teaching is the second part of the teaching on Poverty in the Church of Jesus Christ, which in turn is part of the series on Judgement. In the previous teaching, I have outlined the basic considerations with regard to my understanding of what the scriptures teach us and my own practical experience of the laws of judgement and grace operating in one's life and made use of an analogy relating to the development of an individual from conception through childhood, through military training becoming a general officer commanding in an army. I made the point that the growth of a Christian soldier had many parallels and that consequently we could expect that in the early days of our Christian walk, we would be accorded a large proportion of grace, but as we mature, we would be expected to stand more and more on our own feet, be more and more accountable for our actions, and therefore to be judged more harshly. Accordingly, part of that process was undoubtedly the increased responsibility to ensure that spiritually we are in a place where the blessings of God could in fact manifest in our life.
Again, I see poverty, financial lack, or lack in health, physical lack if you like, or even spiritual lack has been indicative of the process of judgement in our lives indicative of sin in our lives and that consequently it is vital that where there is lack in any of these areas that we examine ourselves in the Word of God and we identify where sin is present. In today's teaching, I am going to seek to address some of the basic principles that I have identified and practiced and again, I will continue in more or less a sequence that these things become important in my life.
I must stress that what I am presenting in this series of teaching is not intended to be some form of recipe book. It is based on my own experience and I am quite certain that there will be different things in lives of others and there will be different priorities. Only God, the Holy Spirit through His word assisted by his holy apostles, prophets, pastors and teachers, can lead you to address the issues that apply to your life right now. Remember also that you are engaged in the long-distance race or journey. Some things that will be mentioned in this teaching and subsequently you may have dealt with years ago, others you may only confront in days to come. Fit these teachings and seek what is weak to you today in Jesus name.
In today's teaching, I will probably revisit many issues which are fundamental to our existing lifestyle in Christ. However, I have found in my own life that these issues sometimes get overlooked and have to be revisited. So I have taken the liberty of mentioning them here for the sake of completeness. Read the word daily. First major revelation that I obtained after attending to the Lord and receiving a fuller revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour is that the Bible is indeed his word and that my spirit is fed by reading and hearing the word. I have repeatedly found that when I am less diligent in reading the word, things start to go wrong. Based on wise counsel that I received in early stage, I made a real effort to read psalms and especially proverbs on a regular basis and to read both Old and New Testaments from beginning to end on a continuous basis, getting through the Old Testament about once a year and the New Testament about three or four times a year. As I have mentioned before, I have also made a decision to accept the Bible as the living word of God and ask God by faith to answer all my questions which He has done. I imagine that this has played a pivotal role in bringing me to the point of producing these teachings.
If you are not reading your Bible at least morning and evening virtually every day, I would encourage you to start immediately. God can speak to you through the Bible and also train up your spirit more than you can possibly imagine if you have never read your Bible regularly. If you have let your daily Bible reading slip, you should not be surprised if Satan is having a field day with your finances or other areas of your life.
Translation Issues: Many people find they have difficulty with the Bible. It is important to realise that the Word of God is the original Hebrew or Aramaic text and that in cases there are errors in translation which cancel, distort, or in extreme cases, pervert the Word of God. In recent years, the Lord has increasingly shown me that there are aspects of many translations which are seriously in error. Most translations contains some form of editorial license and all translations that I have encountered have been filtered through the modern interpretation and practice and teachings of the faith, all of which had been coloured by the events of the Dark Ages and falling to apostasy, which started not more than 100 years after Jesus' death. Thus we find that every translation is suspect and contains errors in some area or another, and some errors have been caved through virtually every translation. For example, a close investigation reveals that the phrase "The Lord" which occurs well over 6000 times in the Old Testament is in fact a translation of the proper name Yahweh, which is God's true name. So in the same way that my name is James and my title to my wife is her husband, it would very strange if she was constantly to call me husband, instead of James, and accordingly it certainly would appear that it is not correct to refer to our God who has given us His proper name Yahweh as the Lord, which is a very impersonal title as distinction is very personal, proper name.
There are many other instances like that instances where translators have been influenced by their understanding of the modern use of English paragraph and understanding of doctrine and that is a whole topic in its own right. But it is suffice to stay at this state that many of the aspects of the Bible in English, no matter what translation you are reading which do not always makes sense or seem contradictory relates to translation errors. In addition to that, I have recently come across an English translation of the [inaudible 0:09:01], the Aramaic text by George Lanza which makes the assertion that the original New Testament Scriptures were in fact recorded in Aramaic and not in Greek, as is generally thought and generally accepted. That makes complete sense since there is no indication if we investigate further that Jesus spoke Greek or that any of the apostles spoke Greek. In fact, there are keywords even in English translations like Abba (father) which are Aramaic words which are in use in Aramaic speaking parts of the world even today. And that gives us a clue that in fact the New Testament Scriptures were not originally recorded in Greek but were recorded in Aramaic, which is very close to Hebrew and was the tongue spoken by Jesus and accordingly we find errors in the English, which results from errors in the translation to Greek and the translation from Greek to English.
It is vitally important that we understand that we should base our faith and our belief on what Scriptures originally said and therefore we must rely on the Holy Spirit to show us where there are errors and we should not accept a particular English translation or translations as actually being what God said in every situation. In that regard, I have found the Amplified Bible and also the Living Torah series, which is a modern Jewish translation both very helpful in gaining a deeper understanding of what the scriptures actually say. I mention this here firstly in order that you may take note of it. Secondly, in order that if there are statements or interpretations that I make in this teaching that you do not agree with, you consider the possibility that you had been influenced by an inaccurate translation and therefore investigate other translations. It does seem to me that in extreme cases by quoting a translation that is significantly inaccurate, one could be giving Satan a foothold in one's life.
Discrepancies in Bible: Some people have difficulty with the fact that there are minor inconsistencies between historical accounts, particularly between Kings and Chronicles and within the four Gospels. It is important to realise that certain of the books of the Bible had been given by direct dictation of the Holy Spirit through God's prophets. Other books are historical accounts written after the event of situations in which God moved. Kings and Chronicles and the Gospels together with certain other books fall into this category. As best as I know, the discrepancies refer to a clear, almost exclusively in these books. This does not in any way influence the integrity of the Bible as a whole but wisdom is required to recognise this reality. It is foolishness to argue with someone that the entire Bible, every word of all 66 books is in error, in 2 Samuel 24:1 and 1 Chronicles 21:1 both describe the same incident differently. While it is possible that this may be influenced by translation, there is certainly grounds to admit the possibility that describes who recorded these two historical records may have relied at this point on verbal accounts which had become slightly distorted. To the best of my knowledge, none of these discrepancies has any material impact on any aspect of the Christian and Jewish faiths, which is of material consequence to us.
Apply the Word: Again, a very basic principle. If you do not apply what you read in the Bible in your own life, then there is little point in reading it. Continuous prayerful consideration of the word and its application is vital.
Call no man teacher: Jesus said to call no man teacher and said that he was sending the Holy Spirit to be out teacher. Rely on Him to show you how to interpret and apply His word. Regard teachings as a means of gaining further insight and access to other people's revelation, but understand always your accountability to ensure that what is taught is of God and not of man and people [inaudible 0:13:43]. Also, keep in mind the remarks that I made in the previous teaching about all works of men containing some error.
Error concealed amongst truth: On several occasions, I have heard speakers deliver powerful and anointed messages, but then deviate into their own understanding and sometimes serious error at some point. In several cases, this deviation has been into areas of false doctrine and modern folklore, which on deeper investigation of Scripture reveals to be incorrect. In some cases, these small amounts of error amongst large amounts of truth are potentially spiritually life threatening. Constantly seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit. There is also risk that because that has been so much truth in a message that the entire message is trustingly accepted as truth. Only Jesus has all the truth. Constantly remember the example of the pupil getting 75% at the end of the school career.
Not one draft or title shall pass away: There is a tendency to disregard the Old Testament as well as the Book of Revelation of Jesus Christ as being too difficult. We must trust the Holy Spirit to reveal that which He requires us to know from all books of the Bible. If we do not read all books of the Bible regularly, He cannot speak to us through them. My own experience indicates that it is possible to read a particular book, such as Job half a dozen times before you begin to receive from it and when suddenly you cannot understand why I have never spoke to you before. This is a particularly important statement in the context of this discourse, with Job being an example of a book that contains much wisdom applicable to the subject matter of this document but which is frequently referred to as being difficult to understand.
The Word of God is incredibly multifaceted: I recently read a Jewish source which refers to the 70 facets of the Torah's jewelled words, suggesting a richness, which very few Christian readers have begun to understand. For begin to appreciate this, we will begin to understand the extent to which every verse of the Bible can potentially contain an answer to a problem that we are experiencing that no one else will know or has ever noticed. The Word of God truly is anew every morning.
Keep slogging through the entire Bible by faith and keep asking God to open it to you. If you choose not to read the entire Bible, that is your prerogative, but you must accept responsibility for any consequences that may result. Equally, if you find the Bible hard going, then I would suggest that you cry out to God in faith and ask Him to open your heart to receive His word. Truly, if we love God, we should not find the Bible such hard going. We should have a hunger to read His word.
Feed your spirit constantly: In addition to reading your Bible daily, feed your spirit at every possible opportunity with audio tapes, teachings, praise and worship and so forth in your car and at your home. Read books, watch videos of teachings, Crusades, etc. at home and listen to praise and worship at every opportunity. I tell you if you have constantly fed your spirit abundantly over a sustained period of time, it is impossible to comprehend the difference that it will make to you. God is the source of all wisdom and understanding. He knows all that you need to know and it is not difficult [inaudible 0:17:39] to grasp. The more time you spend with God, the more He will reveal of what you need to know.
One of the highlights of my spiritual life to date is an occasion when I was physically exhausted to the point that I seriously considered cancelling a one-day management workshop for my most important clients at that time. I had not done any preparation and thought that I was too tired to concentrate effectively for eight hours to the senior level management delegate group. In the event, I prayed in tongues while listening to praise tapes all the way to the client, about a 45-minute drive, and to undertake what I still consider to be the best facilitation that I have ever delivered and in the process completely redefined the workshop procedure and the fashion that has laid the foundation for many major opportunities subsequently. I truly believe that if I had not fed my spirit in preference to adopting the ways of the world, the workshop would have been a failure and I would not have developed the technique referred to.
We serve an awesome God who is far greater than our limited understanding allows us to grasp. I could share numerous other instances with supernatural revelation, I found myself able to contribute constructively in meetings on subjects where in the natural I had no basis to say anything. Based on my understanding of God obtained through prayer and feeding our spirits on the Word of God is far beyond anything that we can gain through the world's ways and teachings. In the past seven years, I have not watched secular television or read newspapers other than briefly on [inaudible 0:19:27] occasions and I have hardly read any secular technical books. What I can say with complete confidence that my level of understanding and my chosen area of expertise and my acceptance as an expert in my field has grown more in that period from previous years when I diligently watched the news, read the papers, and read textbooks. With my name has been listed in Who's Who in the world since 1999 and in Who's Who in science and engineering since 1998, I have to give all the glory to God for this.
Prayer: Spend as much time as possible in prayer, quiet time, etc. with God. Later on I will list some things that I found helpful to pray. Recognise that God is I am. He knows all things. He knows what you are going through and why. He knows what needs to happen in order for things to change. Ask Him all you need to know. At the same time, prayer is vital. All authority on Earth has been given to man and Yahweh (God) can do nothing unless we exercise our authority and pray things through.
Adam gave all authority on the Earth to Satan and while Jesus has given his authority to his body, the church, we have to wield that authority because Satan still controls a large proportion of the people on the Earth and his Demons and Fallen Angels are constantly seeking to kill, steal, and destroy. I have found over the years that asking God to explain passages of Scripture that I did not understand has always produced results. Asking for signs to guide me provided the signs consistent with His word and He had already spoken to me in depth has also been fruitful. A word of caution, pray for such signs silently in your heart, not aloud, asking that He bring the right people into your life and remove the wrong people from your life can produce some unpleasant surprises but is in my own experience a vital ongoing prayer.
At the same time, God is not amenable to demands, bribes, etc. He is the source of all wisdom and understanding and accordingly you can enter into any discussion with Him that you might enter into with the most reputable professional adviser that you could consider retaining. Do not be afraid to ask Him what to pray, but do not [inaudible 0:22:04] Him, that will not get you any way. You could also be getting into witchcraft. When you are unsure what to pray, pray in tongues. Wherever possible formulate your question on the matter in hand in your own language and then pray in tongues until you feel that you have prayed all you can. Some people call this praying through, referring to a sense of completeness or fulfilment that accompanies a prayer that has been prayed through to completion.
God's people perish for lack of knowledge: The Word of God says that His people perish for lack of knowledge. Much of what this document seeks to achieve is to make readers aware on a headline basis of aspects of spiritual life within their lack knowledge that is causing them to perish. I strongly recommended that where things in this document do not seem to apply to you on first reading, should you subsequently find yourself under attack, read through these notes again. My own experience is that we periodically have to revisit issues which we thought we are dealt with. Other things which over time we thought did not apply to us suddenly have vital relevance months or years later. Small things like honouring God with your tongue, at a very early stage I was strongly impressed by message in which the congregation was challenged to honour God with their time, by being on time for church meetings. That has been with me ever since and I truly believe that this is a small way in which we can show our reverence and respect for God. He has done so much for us.
Renewing your mind: The principle of renewing your minds with the Word of God cannot be overstressed. There are many teachings on the subject, so I do not want to [inaudible 0:24:00] point. My own experience indicates that if you are constantly renewing your mind with the Word of God, constantly spending time in His presence and paying in the spirit at every opportunity, He will take care of the information you need for your daily tasks far more than our understanding what let us to grasp. This may depend on your calling and gifting. But I certainly recommend that you consider carefully. The more you feed your spirit with secular television, secular radio, and newspapers and magazines, the more world reminded you will be. The more you feed your spirit with the Word of God, anointed teachings, praise and worship and the like, the more God minded you will be and the more you will be lead by the Holy Spirit in all that you do.
I urge you to pray about this and earnestly consider it. I found that I can relax far more in the presence of God than at any secular event. I fully expect that should you persevere down the path referred to here, you will find that it is the same for you.
The joy of the Lord is my strength. Eventually if you constantly press in, you can expect to reach the situation where you can truly claim that the joy of the Lord is my strength. At the time that I wrote the document in which this teaching is based, in the natural I was facing financial ruin. But I did not think that I had ever had such settled assurance that Jesus is mine, that I am his, and that he should supply all my needs according to his riches and glory. It was an incredible experience which cannot be properly described unless you have been there yourself. Truly I can say I walked through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. It is a wonderful relief to experience that peace and joy that pastors all understanding.
Be separate: We are called on to be separate, while at the same time going into all the world to preach the gospel. I have referred previously to limiting exposure to the world through television, video, newspapers, etc. The same applies to the people that you keep company with. Great care is needed in discussing the subject since different people are called by God to have different types of interactions with different sectors of the world community. The fundamental principle that applies is to direct discretionary time to building ourselves up in the Holy Spirit. I am not exposing ourselves to the world system where it is not necessary. This topic has the potential to become a religious dogma and so prayerful consideration is called for. Bearing in mind that in order to complete the race and receive the prize, certain sacrifices are likely to be called for. The question each of us has to address is how we will account for our time when we finally stand before the Throne of God. Forsake not the fellowship of the brethren. My most significant spiritual progress has occurred during periods when I had been attending church twice on Sundays and attending at least one midweek meeting. All evidence that I have encountered supports the view that the more time one spends in fellowship with other believers, particularly corporate prayers and worship, not drinking tea and discussing the rugby, the more one is brought up, the more opportunity there is for God to speak to you through His word and His prophets and teachers.
If you are facing serious challenges, I will encourage you to make every effort to spend as much time as possible in the company of anointed straightforward believers of meetings where God is moving. Not a dead meeting or meetings where demonic manifestations are occurring or with outright error and heresy is being preached as is currently quite prevalent. I would recommend that you pray and ask Yahweh, Lord God to show you where you should be fellowshipping at any time and to move as He leads you. Making the Holy Spirit welcome in your home, your car, and so forth, recognise that the Holy Spirit is as much a person as you or I and that He wants to spend time with you probably more than most of us want to spend time with them. Make your home and car places where He feels welcome. Remove all ungodly artefacts, pictures, music, etc., from your home and if appropriate as we will discuss later, destroy it. For years now I have played praise and worship music on low volume on the CD player in the house day and night and have prayed that Jesus should feel free to rest in my home whether I am there or not. My desire is that he should feel welcome at all times. As one realises what he has done for us, it is only right that we should do all we can to ensure that our dwellings, cars, etc. are places where he can spend time without being troubled by the inequity of the world. The more Jesus is welcomed in your home, the less Satan will feel welcome.
The flesh: There are many teachings on pulling the flesh under. We are all tripped up by our emotions, our intellect, our habits and other factors associated with our bodies. We are enjoined to bring our bodies into submission. Part of this involves willingness to endure discomfort, lack of sleep and other unpleasant things in order to serve God at times. Please note that I am not advocating some form of monastic existence, but there are times when we have to press in no matter how tired we are. There are many testimonies of how people have pressed in and found that their tiredness has subsided as they draw closer to God. God destroys the flesh, idols, and other things. There are certain times in our lives that God himself will seek to destroy in our lives. Not all discomfort comes from Satan. Although God may use Satan. Sometimes God initiates things in order to bring us to where He wants us. Be careful that you do not find yourself rebuking Satan or condemning other person when God is in fact behind the attack. He loves you so much that He does not want you to continue in certain things.
Sometimes we also pray for things we do not understand the consequences of, and then do not like the outcome. I started praying some years ago for God to take the wrong people out of my life and then found the next few years rather uncomfortable as He systematically removed all the people that He did not want in my life. If you prayed for Him to give you His fire, do not be surprised if the heat is painful.
Water baptism: As I understand it, water baptism is something that we should undertake as soon as possible after we have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour. I also do not find any Scripture to indicate that this is an option. The washing away of sin and cleansing, etc. associated with water baptism are a vital step towards sanctification and in effect to Christian walk. Incidentally, study of Jewish translations of the Torah revealed that water baptism, immersion in [inaudible 0:31:44] is a fundamental and routine principle of cleansing of any uncleanness. This was given to Moses at Mount Sinai. In other words, the Jews clearly understood what John the Baptist was doing.
Pray in the spirit without ceasing: The gift of tongues, the ability to pray in the spirit is vital and often underestimated. It is possible to pray under your breath and tongues in a meeting on a plane or train or in diverse other situations. It builds up your spirit and refreshes you and allows you to pray the perfect will of God. If you are not constantly praying in the spirit, there is a strong likelihood that you will come under attack.
Foolish and empty words: The word is very specific about empty or vain words. Many so-called jokes and practical jokes are when push comes to shove lives. All lies are from Satan. He is the father of lies. In Revelation 21:8 and other Scriptures clearly indicate that God hates liars. Jokes and practical jokes and particularly those that include distortions of the truth must surely open the door to the enemy.
Negative confession: The power of life and death are in the tongue. If you confess your faith in the word of God, you will energize the angels of Heaven and all-around you will know who you are serving. If you constantly confess the [inaudible 0:33:17] which are contrary to the Word of God, you are likely to energize Satan's cohorts, his fallen angels and Demons. Satan will only know if he is getting through to you by your words or your actions. Only God knows your thoughts in your heart. If you cannot confess your faith, keep quiet. There is however a distinction between making a positive confession and a presumptions confession. Confessing carnal, natural, worldly things which God has not explicitly promised is not faith. It is presumption at best, foolishness and deceit words. Faith is not confessing things to audiences which God never intended to hear them.
Restitution: Restitution is not a concept the church talks about much these days. We prefer to believe that when we are born again, all things pass away, not just in terms of salvation but also in terms of a much broader spectrum. I find no Scripture to substantiate this and my own experiences proved conclusively to me that claiming salvation, pleading the blood of Christ and repenting to God does not relieve us of our responsibility to make rite with people when we have wronged, whether before or after making a decision to accept Jesus Christ as our personal saviour.
Restitution as I have encountered it has included amongst other things. Face to face and telephonic repentance of wrong actions and words including a man who at one stage had threatened to kill me because of the wrong I had done him. He would have been scripturally justified in doing so by the way, this thing that I have committed carries the penalty of death in Scripture. I even had to contact him three times before he would speak to me and each time he had it clear that he never wanted to hear my name again. If the Holy Spirit would not let me go, eventually much anger bitten us and hurt was released. God was not interested in my comfort. He is interested in the well-being of the person I had wronged. I have also experienced the requirement to make written repentance and ask Him for forgiveness to people who would not speak to me. I have experienced instances where I was required by God to return items that I had borrowed from an institution which was not using them, and probably did not want them. In fact, they probably would have given them to me if I had asked, but I did not. God let me know that even though the incidence had happened nearly 20 years previously, He still wanted me to make right and not anonymously either, but in His mercy He made a way. He showed me that He could not protect my house against thieves for as long as I had stolen goods in my house. No matter how small a value the items.
Offering financial recompense to a person that I had grievously wronged in order to make good long-term and ongoing financial loss that had resulted from major sin in my life was another instance. The offer was rejected and the first cheque returned, so I did not have to pay, but I had reached the point where I was prepared to trust God and make the sacrifice because I was still convicted. For as long as we have not made right and restored what we have caused others to lose or have taken from them, in other words, make restitution, no manner how small or how great the restitution required. Satan can go before the Throne of God and claim his legal right to attack us. While the grace and mercy of God may extend to those issues that we truly can do nothing about and perhaps those that God does not bring to our attention. He expects a much more sincere effort from us to identify these issues and deal with them head on and with integrity that many Christian seem willing to make.
We only hear God within the limitations of our paradigm. That has been my own experience and my observation but if we cannot conceive that God would say a particular thing, we have great difficulty hearing Him. And others tend to label what we hear as being from the Devil. Once you start praying go God to show you the reasons why you are having the problems you are experiencing, expect the unexpected. Expect Him to open up passages of Scripture that you have never heard taught on or which contradict teachings you have heard. Be prepared to ask for signs and confirmation. Be prepared to have Him lead you to buy books, tapes, and other materials in out of the way places. Be prepared to have unlikely characters seem to cross your path, not all of them are necessarily Christians and some of whom may be quite unsavoury. We read it throughout Scripture, so do not be surprised if He does it in your life. Recognise that if you have been told that restitution is Old Testament and God tells you to make restitution, then you will have difficulty believing that God is speaking to you. Those around you will probably have even greater difficulty. By way of example, if you have been raised to know the colur white is being called black and God tells us that this colour is actually white, you will have great difficulty recognising that God is speaking to you or that a prophet is hearing God. This example more clearly demonstrates a paradigm problem that the church has with doctrine.
There are far more cases in our current understanding than we realise of things that we consider to be white that are actually black and vice versa. Recognise that you alone are accountable for your walk and asking to break your preconceived ideas in order to receive what He is saying to you. If it does not make sense, ask for signs that will clearly show you that God is speaking to you and above all, be prepared for surprises and rejection by those who are not as flexible as you. If God gives you a revelation, do not [inaudible 0:39:30] it out and share it prematurely. Others may not be as excited as you are. There is a saying in the world, if you do things the way you have always done them, you will get the result you have always obtained. If you ask God for advice or help over and about telling you to do things you have not done previously, He may well tell you to do things you did not believe He can tell you to do.
Consider the life of David as a good example. Throughout history, God has done things He has never done before and may never do again. For example, a virgin birth, Noah's ark, the slaying of Goliath, etc. Remember we are at war and therefore part of the advantage is for God to constantly change the ways He does things on a day-to-day technical level in order to outwit Satan and catch Him by surprise. [inaudible 0:40:22] rely heavily on surprise in doing the unexpected and outrageous to outwit heavier enemies. Since Satan has occupation of the Earth and we therefore are in a very real way behind enemy lines, this seems to be the way God often operates.
Obey God and not man: In my own experience of restitution and other matter, I reached the point where I knew with complete certainty that my heart was [inaudible 0:40:50] before God on the issue concerned and that He wanted me to take certain action. When I was unsure of the way to go about it and when I consulted friends and pastors on more than one occasion, I found myself subject, not just to criticism, but to intense verbal abuse. On one matter, I waited over two years. As a result I had reached such a desperate financial situation that I had no alternative but to make situation by faith and saw immediate turnaround. The Bible is full of people who paid a heavy price for listening to men and not obeying God.
Obedience in finances: Obedience with small things for me was an important point at a fairly early stage. If we ignore the Holy Spirit when He speaks to us to help a beggar, a hitchhiker where others of His children who had fallen on hard times, how can we reasonably expect Him to help us avoid a similar fate. My experience of disobedience or more accurately disobedience ranges from suffering serious financial loss because I did not listen to the leading of the Holy Spirit to having to walk several kilometres because the taxi I had ordered did not arrive. Instead of taking the taxi that God had already sent, to having to drive a distance of about 50 km round-trip on several occasions in order to try and meet someone that God had told me to give a prophetic word to when I first met Him.
Kenneth Hegan and others reports instances where God told them to give small sums of money to others when that was all the money they had. And subsequently having God use them mightily and told them that He could not have used them if they had been obedient in this area. Kenneth Hegan's booklet "obedience in finances" is as far as I am concerned a must read. In my experience, I have my most dramatic encounter with the Holy Spirit after God had repeatedly tested me in areas of obedience in giving the [inaudible 0:43:00] to beggars on the side of the road and then tested me in giving a word of encouragement to a pastor in a church where I was unknown. Scripturally, total obedience is a prerequisite for walking fully in the blessings of God.
Obedience in His word and His spirit: I have touched on the question of obedience in various aspects. I cannot stress enough that disobedience in any area open the gate wide for Satan to attack us and that no price in terms of condemnation by men should be sufficient to dissuade us from doing God's will. He requires obedience even unto death. The Bible is full of martyrs and it ends with martyrs. Are you prepared to follow your saviour even unto the death of the cross?
Seek the presence of God: There is a distinct difference between prayer and even quiet times and actively seeking to come into the presence of God. This is not necessarily a prerequisite for prosperity, but I think that unless you are very conscious of the need to be constantly in the presence of God, prosperity may destroy you. In the age in which we now find ourselves financial blessings may be limited if we are not actively seeking to be in His presence and to do His will at all times.
Adultery and fornication: The Bible is full of injunctions against adultery and fornication and yet the church as a whole has lost an understanding of what adultery and fornication actually are. This is a complex subject and a minefield of religious doctor as most current teachings in this regard are at best incomplete if not seriously inaccurate. I am currently in the process of completing a separate discourse on marriage, adultery, divorce and all the related issues, but I will seek to address the basics here.
First, it is important to understand that Deuteronomy 22 lays down very specific tests to determine virginity and ordains death for any woman who is found not to be a virgin on her wedding night. The marriage covenant is a blood covenant cut in the flesh, hymen of the virgin bride. But physical death may be unlikely a new death. Spiritual death that ultimately accompanies [inaudible 0:45:22] adultery and fornication remains very clear in Revelation 21:8. Note that repentance means we do not return to your sin not that you keep sinning and keep repenting. The spiritual states of women as I understand is more as follows. A maiden: A virgin girl under marriageable age. A virgin: A girl of marriageable age. Most authorities agree that this is twelve and a half year in scriptural terms who has not had sexual intercourse. A wife: A woman who has been legitimately betrothed and married to a man and engages with sexual intercourse with him.
Marriage is the process of cleaving in Genesis 2:24 which includes the cutting of a blood covenant. There is no such thing as sex before marriage. A widow: A wife whose husband has died. Scriptural references to widows seem to include divorcees but only those who have been divorced in accordance with the scriptural grounds set out by Jesus, which effectively amount to spiritual betrayal. Ideally in the case of a divorced woman, all spiritual ties with her former spouse should be broken. So the spiritual state is the same as that of a widow. A divorced woman who has not been divorced on scriptural grounds becomes an adulteress if she has intercourse with another man. An adulteress is a wife who has had sexual intercourse with a man or men other than her husband. Adultery brings [inaudible 0:46:57] married to another man, she must refrain from intercourse with any man other than that legitimate husband, failing which she will commit adultery repeatedly and the sin then becomes woeful. If she had effectively been put away by her previous husband for scripturally sound reasons, she will appear to be free to remarry once she has truly repented. If not, she is currently in [inaudible 0:47:32] and makes God clearly speaks in her situation. Since there are certain aspects of doctrine in the modern church surrounding scriptures to do with Exodus 21:10 and others, which cloud the issue. This issue is addressed in detail in the book what the Bible really says about marriage, divorce, adultery, etc., which is on course of preparation.
A harlot is any woman who has had sexual intercourse with more than one man with the exception of a widow who is remarried and a divorced woman who is divorced on scriptural basis. Given that secular statistics suggests that only about 5% of women in the world are virgins on their legal wedding night, the indications are that there are many women who have inadvertently become harlots. It is important to understand that virginity and sexual intercourse are the criteria for determining harlotry and adultery, not a piece of paper issued by the state or the church.
Any woman who is listening to this teaching who has at any time had sexual intercourse with more than one man during her life and any man who has had intercourse with such a woman should take particular account of the sections that follow. Any man who takes the virginity of a virgin of the house of Israel, in other words, a believing woman should pay particular attention to his responsibilities in terms of Scripture and if he has abandoned such a woman should take account of his responsibilities and the possible impact that this may have in terms of giving Satan foothold in his life. Note also what Paul says in Corinthians about joining the Temple of the Holy Spirit to a harlot. I would urge any man or woman who has joined themselves to more than one member of the opposite sex to preferably consider the situation, seek counsel, and seek guidance from the Holy Spirit. From my own experience, you are wide open to attack. Pray and ask God to bring you into contact with a person who can effectively advise you and minister to you. There is great ignorance on this topic and many will dismiss what is written here is not being of God, I assure you that the principles are from God. Similarly, homosexuality brings about a whole spectrum of curses, which in many respects are every bit as bad and if not worse, the most associated with harlotry and adultery.
The One Flesh Bond: Examination of Genesis 2:24 which relates to the formation of the One Flesh Bond between husband and wife results in the wife becoming bone of the husband's bones and flesh of his flesh. On reference to scriptures which references passage reveal that the One Flesh Bond is an unbreakable spiritual bond, granted by God in order to bind husband and wife together. As the bond intensifies through repeated sexual encounters, so will love also intensify if both parties give themselves to one another in accordance with Scripture. Corinthians and another passages clearly revealed that multiple One Flesh Bonds can coexist. The gospels clearly indicate that the One Flesh Bond cannot be broken by man. My own experience indicates that the One Flesh Bond can only be broken in cases where the bond is illegitimate in the Sight of God, when the party concerned comes to the throne of grace in true repentance and truly desires to have the bond broken and where there is prayer and agreement. Just praying any old prayer does not work.
For as long as one has One Flesh Bonds with past sexual partners where they are heterosexual or male-male, one is caught up in the spiritual spider web, causes confusion, conflict, and torment, and which opens the door wide for Satan to attack you. Paul says that fornication is a sin against your own body and as you gain an appreciation for the strength of the One Flesh Bond, you will understand why. As noted previously, I am in the course of completing a comprehensive book on the subject. In the interim my advice to you is the risk applies to you in anyway. Seek counsel from someone who really knows the subject. In my experience, there are not many. Again, pray for God to bring you into contact with someone who can help you and seek clear confirmation that the person concerned has been sent by God.
Lust in the heart: Jesus warned that if a man looked at a woman in lust that he was committing adultery with her in his heart. The world would have you believe that fantasy is okay. It is not. Indications are that spiritual interaction can occur and this can impair the level of intimacy with your wife or husband, resulting in a breakdown of sexual intimacy and of agreement.
Agreement between husband and wife: Scripture states that a house divided against itself cannot stand. There is also passage of Scripture that states that if husband and wife are not in agreement or in harmony, then your prayers will be hindered. From my own experience, the Scripture applies to all One Flesh unions. Consider therefore the situation of you as a man have One Flesh Bonds with several women, who in turn each have One Flesh Bonds with several men and you realise that you have One Flesh Bonds with other men. An abomination in the Sight of God, but also spiritual spiders web that will cause your prayers to be hindered indefinitely. It is highly unlikely that if you have One Flesh Bonds with people you have long since lost contact with, that there will be an agreement with you regarding anything of significance in your life, and consequently your prayers will be constantly hindered. From personal experience, until these One Flesh Bonds are severed by the grace and mercy of God through prayer and agreement in the name of Jesus, your prayers on diverse fronts will be seriously hindered, other than to the extent that God in His wisdom and mercy extends grace to you during the spiritual infancy. I should also stress that petition to break One Flesh Bond is not mostly granted only if you have fulfilled all the requirements mentioned previously.
The Jezebel factor: Disagreement between husband and wife often results from what is best termed as Jezebel factor. The Jezebel spirit is a particular Demon that oppresses many. It is one of the spirits behind woman's liberation and other aspects of women seeking to dominate men contrary to Scripture. Because it attacks the very model of the church submitted as a bride to our Lord Jesus Christ, it is a fertile area for Satan's attack. A manipulative Christian can control her husband by disagreeing with him behind his back and thereby cause business to fail. When he comes into agreement with her or she wants to create the impression that she is behind him, things suddenly turn around.
Much of the church [inaudible 0:54:51] to a point where God-fearing husbands are counselled that it is their responsibility to come into agreement with their rebellious wives, [inaudible 0:55:00] being counselled that they have a scriptural responsibility to submit to their husbands. Husbands are even prevented from ministering when their wives refuse to come into agreement with them. Clearly I am not referring here to husbands who are continuously in rebellion and out of the will of God. Those who turn to Satan [inaudible 0:55:21] those who are unsaved.
Divorce: As with marriage, true divorce is not as it is widely considered to be. As indicated previously, marriage and sexual union give rise to an unbreakable One Flesh Bond. Jesus indicates quite clearly in Matthew 5, Matthew 19 and elsewhere that divorce for any reason other than fornication or faithfulness or that is pornea, gives rise to adultery. It is important to understand that the word used in Matthew 5 is pornea, which relates not only to sexual immorality but the spiritual unfaithfulness as in betrayal. From personal experience in my own life and in the lives of several other Christians that I know, God only sanctions divorce when all grace to the sinning party has been exhausted and when the party who has been betrayed is at the absolute limit of their physical and emotional resources and cannot continue.
Again, this is a complex subject that is addressed in more detail in the book referred to previously. It is especially important to understand that you stand alone in this matter. Your decision to divorce is a decision that has been taken between you and God. You cannot stand in the counsel of any human being, although they can assist you to understand the scriptural considerations. The scriptural penalty of being declared an adulterer or an adulteress before the Throne of God on the Day of Judgement is far too great for any person other than yourself to take responsibility for the decision.
Likewise, any decision that you may take to marry a woman who claims to be divorced is of such eternal import that you must take that decision between you and God. Only he can reveal to you whether he has truly released the other party to marry again. If you find yourself already in a remarriage situation when you hear this, it is up to you to discern the Will of God. I am unable to express a categorical opinion other than to state that I believe that there are certain circumstances where God may require a woman to return to her original husband. I am aware of other circumstances, including my own where God has blessed the divorce and remarriage of both parties.
Note that a number of Jesus comments on divorce apply to casual putting away of a wife because she is not pleasing to her husband or who desires another wife instead, I believe that this is the divorce that God hates. That divorce where one person's partner has totally betrayed the other and shows no signs of coming to repentance as evaluated by God, not by man. This also seemingly applies where one partner has repeatedly refused salvation and is attacking the other spouse to a point that is threatening their well-being or their own salvation or spiritual growth will prevent them from fulfilling their calling, that is between each person and God and no third-party dare judge.
Pride versus humility: The Bible is full of warnings and injunctions against pride. Certainly in my own experience, it has been the most pernicious sin constantly creeping in various forms. I would almost go so far as to suggest that if you have been experiencing the blessings of God and suddenly things start to go wrong, check pride first. Pride in my experience manifests in diverse ways, starting with worldly pride and arrogance, [inaudible 0:59:06] to spiritual and religious pride.
Vanity: The spirit of vanity is the spirit of the false prophet, etc. Each attack seems to doctrine new nuance and creep up on one unaware. Certainly, in my own experience, one cannot afford to disregard a comment from any quarter that you are proud, it is likely to be some truth in it. I have seen pride manifest in a great diversity of ways. There is a form of pride that creeps up on people who are very meek and humble in many ways. But who starts to manifest pride in very obscure areas of their lives. The moment that we start looking down on others believing that we are God's gift to humanity, pronouncing opinions on King David or otherwise hearing ourselves up as God and judging others. Pride can take hold very rapidly. Almost certainly Satan jumps on pride and since God hates pride so much He probably gives Satan a pretty generous leeway to take us apart if we start to become pride.
The consequences of sin can take time to manifest. As with things in the natural cause and effect can be someway apart. If thinks start to go wrong, this can sometimes be attributed to sin committed months or years previously. It will appear that mostly God extends a period of grace in which we can repent or else it is simply a case that the previous blessings take time to attenuate because of their momentum. In these circumstances, a few new trials may be added in order to encourage us to deal not only with current and old sin, but also to deal with issues that are previously been covered by grace. For this reason, we should constantly be praying to God to help us to stay on track and to show us areas of sin in our lives. The blessings of obedience also can take time to manifest. In the same vein, once one starts repenting and dealing with the sin, the consequences of sin seem to gather momentum and it generally takes time for the situation to turn around.
Sin is a luxury we cannot afford. Sustained sin is something that will cause immeasurable harm in our lives and to those around us. Yet so many Christians seem to keep being lured into the same traps, time after time. God willing, I will continue this teaching in the weeks ahead and next week I hope to address issues such as Demons in the Temple of God and deliverance. It is my prayer that as you listen to these tapes, you gain a deeper understanding of factors which may be seriously affecting your Christian walk and keeping you from walking in the fullness of God's blessings, which undoubtedly great and wonderful to those who truly commit and dedicate their lives to serving Him. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon and bless you in all that you do, in Jesus name.
02_09 Poverty in the Church Part 3
Today's teaching is a continuation of the teaching of the last two weeks on the subject of Poverty in the Church of Jesus Christ. Last week I discussed a variety of factors under the heading ‑ Basic Principles, all of which relate to how sin manifests in our lives, provides foothold to the enemy to kill, steal, and destroy in our lives and what I consider from my own experience to be basic principles both in terms of avoiding and overcoming these issues and highlighting certain factors which do give the enemy particular opportunity to attack. Today I will continue with the same subject what I term Basic Principles that recognise that much of what I have to say here is not what is taught generally in the church and in some cases is contrary to what is taught in the church. I really pray that as you listen to what I have to say today, you will put aside your prejudices and your preconceived ideas and whatever you may have heard previously and lay all that is taught today and in subsequent teachings, God willing, before Yahweh (God) the Father in the name of Jesus, Yahooshua, the son to determine what the truth really is. Please accept that if you are in financial lack, if your finances are perpetually short, if you are suffering theft and mechanical breakdown and loss of income and just one thing after another in your life, it must result from something in your life that you know of or do not know of, that you have done or are doing or that your fathers have done that is giving the Devil place to kill, to steal, to destroy in your life.
The promises of God are Ya and Amen, He has promised to bless you. He has promised to supply all your needs according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus. There is no lack in the Kingdom of God. So if you are suffering lack today as you listen to this tape, please take to heart this series of teachings on Judgement and particularly the series on Poverty that I am busy with at the moment. I do not plan to have all truths; only Jesus has all truth. I do not claim that every single item that I teach today will be absolutely exactly one hundred percent scriptural and according to the mind of God and the will of God and the word of God, but I do believe based on much experience and much analysis that the vast majority of what I have said in the last few weeks and what I will say today and God willing, in the weeks ahead is a reasonably accurate practical reflection of how these things manifest in our lives and how to deal with them. So I would encourage you to listen to this tape and listen particularly for those things which the Holy Spirit quickens to your heart as factors that you can deal with right now to make a practical difference in your life as you progress towards holiness and sanctification and being set apart for the service of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The next subject that I want to address is Demons in the Temple of God and deliverance. One of the more controversial discoveries in the journey that I am after a fashion chronicling here was the discovery that I was seriously demonised. Most Christians have some Demons that have not been dealt with. Over the years, Yahooshua (the Lord) has brought me into contact with a variety of books and tapes on the subject and more recently into contact with a number of prophetic deliverance ministries. In my case, after listening to Satan in a big way on and off for a substantial part of 40 years, different Demons were still being identified and cast out of me, six years after I first became aware of deliverance. If you are not aware that Christians can be oppressed, not possessed by Demons, I recommended the book "In the name of Satan" by Bob Larson for series of firsthand encounters of Demons on Christians. Remember that Jesus Ministry was almost entirely to the people of Israel, the believers of his day. There are scriptures which clearly indicate that believers can receive a different spirit. Teachings by Benny Hinn, Mary Garrison and many others address this subject. Personal experience and experience of many that I know has confirmed that demonisation of believers is a reality. Pride, lust, perversion, [inaudible 0:05:55], lying, religion, poverty, controlled jealousy and competition, heaviness including depression and a great diversity of other factors can be demonic.
More extreme spirits, such as Pharaoh, Jezebel and similar spirits may also be associated with principalities and powers. It appears that the physical idols in the Old Testament are a type and shadow of Demons in the New Testament. Given that our bodies are the Temples of the Holy Spirit in the New Testament, the progressive introduction of idols into the Temple in Jerusalem, culminating in their introduction into the holy of holies indicates the manner in which Demons can impregnate a believer. Bear in mind that at the time the idols were introduced into the holy of holies, the spirit of God left the Temple in Jerusalem.
Demonic oppression may give rise to persistent sin resulting in strongholds in the believer's life which are impossible to eliminate without deliverance. Deliverance in turn requires adequate acknowledge, assurance of the believer's authority in Christ, knowledge of the effective application of the blood of Jesus and the ministering of deliverance. Prophetic gifting is almost essential in dealing with demonic oppression. In order to obtain guidance from the Holy Spirit in terms of the sequence of deliverance, strong men, gate keepers and other Demons that do not necessarily manifest directly as well as to identify causes and other factors that have given the Demons a legal right to enter and remain. It is not my intention to write a detailed explanation of Demons and deliverance in this discourse, only to raise your awareness to the possibility that you might be demonised to a point and therefore to sensitise you to the possibility of seeking deliverance ministry as a means of speedily and effectively dealing with certain aspects of your life, which may be oppressed. I would encourage you as you listen to this teaching to be aware of the probability that you are demonised. I do not say this in any means, in any way to be judgemental or ugly towards you. I simply make it is a statement of fact.
The church over the last 2,000 years has gone through massive apostasy. The prevalence of demonic activity in the Body of Christ today is phenomenal. The lack of knowledge that we have is alarming. Speaking from my own experience and I share this with you simply to sensitise you to the magnitude of the problem. Some years after I wrote the document on which this teaching is based and having reached a place where I had gone through several periods of deliverance and truly believe that I was not completely set free, I found that I was by no means free and more subtle demonic manifestations were again becoming prevalent in my life. At that point, the Lord brought another deliverance ministry across our path and about a year ago, I found myself undergoing three intense sessions of deliverance during which time, according to what I believe the Lord showed me, approximately 500 different Demons, roots of oppression, bloodline curses, and other issues were dealt with. At the end of that process, I found the things that I had taken for granted is being absolutely central to my personality had changed fundamentally, and I gained a whole new perspective on what it is to become more Christ-like, to grow in Christ, to become more like the Lord Jesus Christ.
Notwithstanding that experience I subsequently came to recognise that there was still demonic strongmen present that the Lord in his mercy had seen fit not to deliver me off at that point because I was not spiritually in the right place for the remaining demonic oppression to be dealt with. As with any form of healing, deliverance is progressive. It does not all take place at one time and feeling of one's spirit, one's emotions, one's mind and one's body is generally required after an intense period of deliverance. That healing takes place by the Holy Spirit through our seeking of God in praise and worship and in diverse ways that I would not address here. The point of my story, however, is that one who has been aware of deliverance for currently of the order of six years, I still find myself after a number of sessions of self deliverance, deliverance by a number of different counsellors that the situation where even last week I ministered deliverance to myself with regard to a number of Demons that I have been aware of for periods of in excess of six months and I am still aware of further Demons of which I need to be delivered and I am currently planning to attend a seminar on deliverance where God willing, which I truly believe he is and by faith, I will delivered of those which I remain of which I am currently aware. So I would truly encourage my listeners right now, in the name of Jesus, do not be offended, do not allow Satan to offend you at the thought that you might have some Demons. Do not regard what I am saying here lightly. It is almost certainly pivotal to continuing to grow in Christ and dealing with the issues which are the subject of these teachings.
While many Christians are offended at the suggestion that they might be demonised, it is important to recognise that Satan or [inaudible 0:12:39] is the Lord of the flies and Demons are in a spiritual sense little different to flies, mosquitoes, ticks, and other insects and parasites that can harass us or be picked up in certain environments, in the same way that a mosquito alighting on your skin and sucking blood does not indicate anything wrong with you. A Demon alighting on your flesh and triggering certain behaviour does not necessarily indicate anything spiritually wrong with you. Demons are opportunistic, they will alight on you and make suggestions to your spirit, which if you act on them could cause you to sin, thus giving them a legal right to remain and establish a stronger foothold on you. Over time, using similar tactics, Demons can bring in more and stronger Demons until in extreme cases, rebellion against God occurs to a point where no salvation is possible.
In most cases from what I can establish, demonisation gives rise to sins in limited areas, which results in oppression and defeat in certain aspects of the believer's life. This is a critical aspect of the spiritual warfare that we are engaged in that is very little understood even by those who have considerable knowledge and experience. God is now revealing much of the knowledge that has been lost over the generations. My experience suggests that if a person does not believe that they could have a Demon or Demons, or if they do not genuinely and seriously wish to be set free, deliverance is unlikely to be affected. Testimonies of those who can see this spirit realm indicate that Demons may only move a few feet away from the person on whom they have been resident and may return almost immediately if there is doubt, unbelief, and uncertainty or if the person instructing them to leave is unsure of their authority or has themselves certain sins that we [inaudible 0:14:36] on their own lives. In some cases, Demons do not move at all. If the legal basis on which a Demon has gained a right to enter a body has not been dealt with at its roots, and entirely removed by confession and repentance, restitution, cutting off, etc., there is no legal right for the person ministering deliverance to command the Demon to leave. As such, it can be expected that when ministering deliverance prophetically, God will only reveal those Demons for which there is a legal right to demand removal at that time.
The fact that deliverance has been ministered prophetically does not guarantee that a person is entirely free. There may be co-issues to be dealt with beyond the scope of knowledge and experience of the person ministering deliverance to counsel on, or beyond the level of spiritual maturity of the person being ministered to in order to enforce the [inaudible 0:15:30] reinfestation which will be seven times worse. It would seem that [inaudible 0:15:36] ministry of deliverance on whom Demons are bound and instructed to leave when they have a legal right to remain could result in the person ministering, granting the enemy a legal right to attack them. In most cases, deliverance is a process that has been likened peeling off of onion skin. There is a limit to what one person can stand in a single session of deliverance ministry and spiritual, physical and emotional healing may be required before the next session of ministering in order that the person is not left vulnerable to reinfestation. Jesus warned us that Demons will return and seek to introduce a much greater infestation. We must guard against this through reading the word, time spent in prayer, praying in the spirit, time and fellowship, sanctifying our homes, keeping from sin, etc.
If you have been struggling for years to put your flesh under on a particular issue without success, deliverance may well be the answer and you should consult an experienced deliverance minister as soon as possible. If you not know of such a person, ask Yahweh to bring you into contact with the person of His choosing and expect Him to lead you. This may take time.
Prophetic deliverance may also address issues such as curses, spiritual shekels, damaged spiritual armour and a variety of other aspects which will not be discerned in any other way. Jesus has not left us ill equipped to deal with demonic infestation but Satan has very effectively undermined the church's ability to deal with these issues through religion and widespread lies that are propagated in the church. A cursed thing in your possession, allied to demonic oppression of the bodies, minds, and emotions of believers is demonic infestation of our homes, places of work, etc. Experience indicates that demons can take up residence in a house or other physical location as a consequence of sin committed in that location. Accordingly a second-hand house or even a plot of land may have demons on it which need to be cast out. In addition to this, any artefact which has demonic significance can give demons a right to enter your house or attack you personally.
I once ministered to a Christian family whose house had been burgled and was informed by the Holy Spirit that their daughter had been given a satanic symbol, an ankh six months previously and that Yahweh could not protect the daughter or her possession while this was in her possession. Books and idols on mythology, art books with photographs or drawings with Egyptian, Babylonian, Greek, Roman, Indian, and other gods, pagan temples, etc., can all give demons legal right of access. Certain Persian carpets, African wood carvings, voodoo masks, amulets, etc. also give that. Emblems of the freemasons and other secret societies and satanic cults and items containing marks of demonic or satanic significance all give Satan a right to attack you. Many modern children's toys, games, etc. contain satanic emblems. Trolls have demonic significance. I have ministered deliverance to a strong believer who backslid for five years into alcohol strong drags and other sin. After he was given a fire screen with the face of a [inaudible 0:19:03], a demonic figure on it.
It is important to realise that demons gain access to our lives not on the basis of conscious sin, but on a strictly legal basis. Thus a child who has absolutely no knowledge of what is going on can be demonised by transgressing their spiritual law that gives a particular Demon a right to enter. Likewise, a strong Christian can become heavily oppressed by Demons which gain a legal right by ownership of an artefact given innocently as a gift. Particular care should be taken concerning the purchase of many artefacts and toys that have been sold over the counter in all sorts of shops.
Physical idols: A word of caution, if you are facing financial ruin and you are striving to keep your house, your car or other possessions, it could well be that they have become idols and things may not turn around until you let them go. In such circumstances, shouting at God and lecturing Him on what His word says and demanding that He let you keep your house or car is tantamount to witchcraft and total rebellion. He may well require that at the very least you place these items on the altar of sacrifice and to consent to his well-being done. If you have gone too far, you may well have to lose everything and start again. Remember the issue is to store up treasure in Heaven, not on Earth. God is not interested in assisting you to store up treasure on Earth, but the expense of your immortal self.
Much has been preached about houses and cars and similar items becoming idols in our lives. At one time I reached a point in which certain things in my life was subconsciously becoming more important in my life than God and I was looking to them as my source instead of God. At a point, God had to be remove those things from my life. Material things which become idols in the lives of believers will give rise to attack. Anything which causes you to disobey God or take your eyes off God is an idol. It is also possible for people to become idols. The apostle or pastor who demands obedience contrary to the word of God or the leading of the Holy Spirit are two of the most prevalent in my experience. The Word of God says submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. Submission to a wife or pastor who is in rebellion causes you to become yoked to them and to set them up as an idol over your complete submission to Almighty God. In the case of a wife who is commanded by Scripture to submit to her husband, it is my understanding that where that man is clearly in rebellion against the Word of God and is requiring submission in terms of ungodly actions, the wife is required to resist and not to submit in such cases. As an example, a man who required his Christian wife to have sexual intercourse with another man, that wife would be required by the Word of God to resist as I understand it to the full limits of her capability out of reverence for the Word of God, even if that required that she was martyred as a consequence of her obedience to the Word of God.
We have to understand the distinctions between godly submission and ungodly submission in this life. Godly submission may require us to do things which are very, very contrary to the ways of this world and which may be extremely painful and may cost us our lives. Ungodly submission will open our lives to the attack of the enemy in all sorts of different ways.
The spirit of stupor, eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. Romans 11:8 refers to spirit of stupor, eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear. This came upon the children of Israel as a result of their disobedience and appears to be widespread in the church. This is a very specific Demon but I mention it because in my own experience, it causes people not to obtain revelation when reading the Word of God and also confuses what they see and hear in the spirit realm. If you are having difficulty receiving from the Word of God or find that you seem not to be hearing the same things when messages are preached in church or reading the same things in books that are recommended to you on spiritual matters, I suggest that you take authority over a spirit of stupor, but not before you have dealt with any areas of known disobedience in your life.
Christian ownership of a business: A business will be affected by its own spiritual state. My own experience indicates that if the owner or owners of a business are Christian and they will be the principal individuals to benefit if the business prospers, this will give Satan a legal right to attack the entire business. It does appear that believers working for the company who do not gives Satan any basis to attack them will be taken care of. However, in certain cases in my experience this can lead to an equal yoking and God may then take you out of the business in order to bless you. Staying in a business just because the owner is a Christian is carnal and not necessarily God's will. If you remain in the business, it is unlikely that you will prosper when you are unequally yoked. Please take what I have written here as something to be prayed over with care. I am not telling you to resign from your job, I am suggesting that you should pray over the business and be attentive to the possibility of God telling you to move.
Unequal yoking: The Bible tells us not to be unequally yoked. This applies not only to business, it can also apply to friendships, marriage, and in some cases to churches. Unequal yoking can give rise to a situation where Satan has a legal right to attack you because you are in stand with a person that Satan has a legal right to attack. I do not have great experience with this but have encountered a number of associations where God has taken business partners and staff out of my life for this reason. This does not mean that they are bad and you are good or vice versa. It simply means that God has decided at that point in time that the yoke is too heavy on one party and should be removed. Never judge another Christian because God took you out of their business to accompany their church or their fellowship. Never lose sight of the possibility that God took you out because you were the problem.
What is yoke? A yoke is something that transfers the strength of an ox to the plough cart that he is dragging. The spiritual yoke can transfer the spiritual load of bondage from one person to another. An example would be a case where a person has entered into a financial partnership with someone who has footholds in their lives. Such a case, where one person is living a righteous life and the other not, but both will benefit from any business income or profit. The legal right that Satan has to attack one person's finances means that either both people are blessed or none. In my experience, neither person will be blessed through that partnership until both have dealt with the footholds in their lives, where the one with sin in their life has left the business. The same applies to covenant partnerships in ministries and even regular giving to a ministry that is out of the will of God.
Loose talk and boasting: Contrary to the name [inaudible 0:27:01] school of thought, it has been my experience that while involved in the scriptural warfare that we are engaged in, loose talk can open the door for Satan to attack in areas where he would not otherwise have had the opportunity. I once had a situation in which I obtained agreement with the third-party miraculously and by the hand of God. Before the final manifestation of the agreement was achieved and before it was committed to writing, I made the mistake of boasting to my [inaudible 0:27:31] that God was about to give me victory contrary to the lawyer's expectation in a mistaken belief that this will provide a testimony for the lawyer's salvation. Weeks later I learned that within minutes of me making that statement, a person kilometres away who had no cause to contact a third-party found them and talk to mention a nagging on the agreement. I believe that a Demon or Fallen Angel was following me, overheard the conversation, and nullified the relevant principality. The [inaudible 0:28:03] and initiated through a demonised third party.
We are in a war situation, particularly in certain areas of spiritual warfare. Do not discuss what is going on with anyone other than your closest confidence and then only as the Holy Spirit gives you release and as far as this is necessary for intercessory prayer coverage with similar aspects in support of your warfare. In such cases, only disclose the bare essential so that they are better able to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in their prayers. After the victory will be time enough to share your testimony.
Realise also that while the natural person may be entirely on your side, and may be carrying Demons that are opposed to you. On one occasion, I received a prophetic word that Satan was obtaining information to use against us through someone we trusted who was confiding in his wife whom he trusted. We stopped sharing with the person concerned almost immediately and saw a change in spiritual circumstances I do not believe that the wife was actively betraying us, although she may be praying against us. But she was oppressed by Demons who are picking up all that was said. Those Demons were, I believe, communicating that they have overheard to other agents of Satan who took action against us. In similar vein, when discussing matters of critical spiritual importance and warfare, we have founded appropriate to take action to cleanse the environment where we are talking, be it in a car, or a room of a house or an office simply by praying in the name of Jesus, Yahooshua the Messiah and binding any Demon or fallen Angel in the room or the vehicle and commanding them to leave and go to the pit in Jesus name, binding any Demon or fallen Angel that maybe able to hear the conversation and stopping their ears and binding them from communicating anything that they may overhear. Asking the Father in the name of the son to send His Angels to encamp around us to protect us that no agent of Satan may hear the discussion, praying in the name of Yahooshua that all the parties to the conversation be covered with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet and asking the Lord in the name of Jesus to cover the walls, the floors, the ceilings, the roofs, the doors, the windows, the window frames, the door posts, and the lintels of the place where we are with the blood of Jesus, in Jesus name in order that Satan may by no means take knowledge of what is discussed.
It is important to understand that Satan cannot read minds. While Satan very effectively plants thoughts in our minds by way of Demons whispering in our spiritually ears. He cannot read our minds or hearts. Various scriptures clearly confirm that only God knows the secrets of our hearts and our thoughts. Accordingly, it is important that you do not discuss certain things in atmospheres where Demons, Fallen Angels or other Satanic cohorts may be present. If possible, discuss such things directly with your heavenly Father by talking to the Holy Spirit silently in your heart. Where it is necessary to discuss such things where you have to pray aloud in agreement, first apply the blood of blood to your soles from the top of your heads to the soles of your feet and then to the room and building where you are and in addition bind all Demons, Fallen Angels and cohorts and command them to leave the room and the building. Thank God for His angels and request that He send Angels to encamp around you to prevent any enemy agent listening in.
As mentioned previously, limit your discussion to those whom you can trust, not to discuss what you have revealed in confidence and then only discuss what is necessary in order to obtain guidance, counsel, prayer, support, or whatever need as equation to meeting. Forgiveness equals cancellation of debt. It is widely recognised that unforgiveness will blight your seed. If you are harbouring unforgiveness toward anyone, this is fertile ground for Satan to attack you. Forgiveness is not just an act of the will. It is also an act of faith. You have to choose to forgive and then ask God in the name of Jesus to assist you to forgive and to forget. If you find that you have not forgotten and you have not forgiven, if you keep thinking or talking about it and telling others or warning them, then you have not forgiven. There are a number of good teachings on unforgiveness. First apply this to your prayer and ask God to bring you into contact with a person who can help you or to bring books, tapes, or other materials across your path from which you can obtain guidance. Refer to the section earlier, on the cup that Jesus drank to gain a better understanding of how to forgive. If Jesus could forgive those who crucified him and drink the cup of all our sins, it is a small thing to forgive those who have harmed us. No matter how terrible their actions appear to us, judgement is God's, not yours.
By holding unforgiveness you put yourself in God's place and therefore stand in the way of His judgement to the person involved should He deem it necessary. Remember also that the person concerned has given Satan a significant foothold in their life. Therefore love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you. Forgiveness is therefore a cancellation of the debt, you remember it no more.
The straight path and the narrow gate: We regularly make reference colloquially to the straight and narrow referring to the passage in Scripture where Jesus warns us the way is straight and the gate is narrow and few are there that enter thereby. For you the straight path has been just that in dense jungle if you are not concentrating on your directions and attacks are coming from both sides, it is easy to wander off the path. Anything that looks like a shortcut or an easier route is not. A straight line is always the shortest distance between two points. The video of the book problems progressed demonstrates this graphically. In the prophetic word delivered recently to an apostle, God described His path as a knife edge where the slightest slip would lead to disaster. As we mature and are used on more dangerous mission, a spiritual balance becomes more and more critical. Likewise the gate is narrow. Only one person can pass through it at a time. Should you enter your stand on your own at the judgement seat of Christ and the called to account for your entire life, at that point only you can give account. You cannot turn to your pastor, an elder, counsellor, friend or spouse to advise you or assist you. You will be judged according to the decisions that you made in your life including the advice from others which you chose to accept that was against the word or the will of God. Where God spoke to you the excuse that your pastor told you that that could not possibly be God would not hold water. Certainly not after you have been serving God for a while.
As an example, the argument that God has not spoken to you about observing the Sabbath will not wash. His word is quite explicit. Remember that God's Sabbath is Saturday and not Sunday. He has never changed that. Discern the Lord's body correctly. Paul warns that many are seconds, some have died because they failed to discern the body of the Lord in the communion elements. Do not treat the Lord so politely or frivolously. Seek to understand the full meaning of the blood covenant and the significance of the bread and wine as types of his body and blood.
Tithing: Obedience in finances is an absolutely critical component of receiving God's financial blessings. If you are robbing God in tithes and offerings, He cannot bless you, not only in finances, but He cannot rebuke the devourer, Satan for your sake. If you are not tithing a full 10% off the top before attacks, then you might as well not read any further. It is highly unlikely that you will be blessed financially. If there is no seed, there can be no harvest. There are numerous good teachings on the subject. If you late tithing, you are required to bring an additional 20%. There are no expenses that are permissible deductions against the tithe in terms of your personal income. It appears that business expenses are a legitimate cost before determining the tithe if you have your own business but I do not find explicit Scripture to confirm this.
Equally, if we consider Scripture, requirement was that the tithe of all the seed and the flock was brought not before a portion of seed has been set aside for planting the next year. God has certainly challenged me to give in the first 10% off the top of my business income before salaries, etc. The only exception is value-added tax which is money you collect on behalf of the government which accordingly never belongs to you. You are simply the agent of the government. Careful reading of the Scripture indicates that there is a second tithe, so tithing on grace business revenue and personal drawings from your own business may well be scriptural as may be a double tithe in your salary. I am not advancing this as a doctrine, but I would suggest that you pray about it and act as the Lord leads.
Infertile soil: Please recognise that the parable of the sower clearly indicates that there is barren ground and fertile ground into which you can sow or tithe or give your offerings. There are plenty of teachings which indicate that if you are not being fed by pastor, the ground is probably not fertile and God may lead you elsewhere. If God has revealed doctrinal error in a congregation, the soil may well be barren for your seed. Only move as God leads but recognise that He kept the children of Israel moving regularly during [inaudible 0:38:55] in the wilderness and do not be intimidated. He may also tell you to remain in the congregation for a while and observe but to tithe elsewhere. If He speaks to you that is not necessary a message for anyone else and you should only share that information if you are absolutely sure that the Lord is leading you to do that. I would refer you to an earlier teaching in the series in terms of dealing with error in the church. It is vital that we are careful not to touch the Lord's anointed and to do His prophets harm.
Beating the sheep: There is an almost universal tendency in the church today to beat the sheep. That is to have someone stand up and deliver a message on giving and then send round the offering basket. In Jesus day, the money was discretely placed in the treasury, a large chest in the Temple. There is no indication that Jesus has ever said that tithes and offering should be collected in any other way. Do not be intimidated to give because it is demanded of you. Give as God leads you and if that is not in the offering basket, that is His prerogative, after all it is His money. There are many prophetic ministers and others who do not have big congregations, but who are busy ministering day in and day out to people who come to them and they would even give them even the smallest offering. Some are destitute because the people who come to them for ministry do not consider the possibility that God might want them to give some of their tithes to the minister concerned who never asks for money, as opposed to the church where they fellowship every Sunday, which demands their money on a regular basis but has not been able to offer the ministry that the [inaudible 0:40:48] profit as an example has provided.
The current church building is not the Temple in Jerusalem. It is the Temple of the body of the individual believer and therefore it is not correct to say that we should bring our tithes to the house of God referring to a specific congregation or building. Every single member of the body of Christ constitutes part of the Temple of the Holy Spirit and therefore it is entirely appropriate for God to direct us to sow our tithes wherever He sees fit whether that is to an individual or to a large ministry.
Tithing as the Lord leads: A tithing portfolio. According to my understanding and experience, tithing involves giving God's money where God wants it, but it appears that Yahweh will often want His tithes brought to the congregation where you are a member. Increasingly this is not always the case. We have been led by the Holy Spirit to give tithes to pastors and poor communities, to evangelists, prophets and apostles, even sometimes to individuals in need. This should not be taken as a licence to give where you want, but it is an injunction to caution you that Yahweh may instruct you to give your tithes somewhere other than where religion and tradition would have you give it.
In some cases, where elders of a congregation have not been allocating God's funds as He want them to be allocated, we have been lead to give directly to the pastor. In other cases, we have been led to purchase specific items in order to avoid the church elders misallocating the funds. Wisdom and prayerful seeking of Yahweh is necessary on this point.
From the above you will note that I am firmly persuaded that God does not necessarily require that you bring all your tithes and offerings to one congregation. For years I did this and in the space of about two years brought about 40,000 rand to one congregation, which I eventually learned had been counselling me from several false doctrines for the entire period when my marriage and my business went downhill. By the time I realised this, my marriage had broken down irrevocably and I subsequently lost my business. Today we tithe as the Lord leads taking care only to make commitments for periods of time that the Lord clearly leads us. Thus we avoid becoming financially yoked on fruitful ground. Over the past years we have been led to develop what I as a former investment consultant would call a tithing portfolio. We have become covenant partners with a number of major international ministries and allocate a fixed available portion of our tithes to these ministries. By doing this I believe that we assist God to give greater direction to His servants.
The congregation, which is assured of regular income because the congregants feel morally compelled to bring all their tithes and offerings is financially securing the way that a congregation, which trusts God to speak to the individual congregants in a weekly basis to meet the needs of the ministries is not, but the latter congregations is in a much safer position for God to gently nudge them back onto the straightway than one that has beaten a congregate into giving them into them alone. I would ask you to also consider an earlier teaching in this series dealing with the financial stewardship of believers, which addresses the subject in considerably more detail.
I believe that God is currently challenging all those in full-time ministry and all leaders of congregation to place an offering chest near the door and stop beating the sheep and start believing God to meet their needs. By all means, [inaudible 0:44:43] tithing from time to time and accept prophetic word if God wants to reinforce it but cease to preach five or ten minutes at every main meeting to get people to give. Apart from anything else, if you are not assisting congregants to deal with the other issues set out in this document, they are going to continue to battle financially; in the world, they call that fraud.
Begging: The reverse of giving is receiving. Many people claim to live by faith. They make a point of telling people that they are living by faith and they mention their financial difficulties. That is not living by faith, that is begging or manipulation. If God is your provider, he knows all your needs and there is therefore no need to tell people of them. If your needs are not being met as a consequence of one or more of the factors discussed in this document, telling people will not assist you unless you are willing to have them point out spiritual problems that they may be able to see. Tell God of your need and He will tell others. There is a fine line between being honest with people who have come to know that your situation and telling them because you want them to assist you financially. Only the Holy Spirit can guide you. If you are truly living by faith, rejoice. God knows your needs and He will provide exactly what you need. You may have to make certain adjustments if He does not regard your needs as being in line with His will, but He will provide all that you need.
Any person in ministry who produces any document inviting people to give in to their ministry should be aware that God is able to instruct any persons to give in to their ministry. It is almost axiomatic that every ministry needs finance. Therefore you do not have to tell people. Any form of inviting people to give has a high risk of becoming begging, particularly if there is something in your ministry that is giving Satan a foothold to attack your finances. In this case, you may be causing others to become yoked to your foothold by inviting them to give or to become covenant partners with your ministry.
Sowing and reaping, naming your seed: Again, there are many teachings that indicate [inaudible 0:46:54]. Reaping naming your seed. Again, there are many teachings that indicate that you should name your seed when you bring your tithes and offerings to any place that God has instructed you. Name the seed whether it would be financial, deliverance, a specific blessing or whatever. I refer you to these teachings if you need more guidance. [inaudible 0:47:26] has a particularly challenging and stimulating testimony about [inaudible 0:47:31] seed. Again, I must stress, if you have not dealt with the sin in your life and the areas which are causing the devil to steal from you, naming your seed and claiming and faming. The blessing is a total waste of time and effort and a waste of God's money.
No private interpretation: The word of God is not subject to any private interpretation. If you get what to you is a new revelation, seek the face of God and request confirmation through prophets, teachings, etc. until you are absolutely certain that you are hearing God. Recognise the church history over the past 2,000 years as being characterised by apostasy and false doctrine and there are still numerous areas of doctrine in the church. If this was not so, there would not be hundreds of denominations or planning they have the truth. At the same time, recognise that just because, as I was once told, 15,000 men of God around the world will all agree on a particular interpretation does not mean that they are correct. For centuries tithing, tongues, healing, water baptism, etc., etc., etc. were corrupted or discarded. The entire church around the world barring a few stalwarts agreed that these things have passed away, that does not mean that they were right. Just that Satan was and is having a field day with gullible believers who are not prepared to turn to their Bible and seek the guidance of the Holy Spirit as to the truth. Others, when the truth is revealed to them, they are not prepared to stand up for the truth. The days of persecution and martyrdom have not passed. The church will still crucify many prophets who hear God and turn away from the private interpretation of God's word. Those prophets should take comfort that they are storing up treasure in Heaven if they submit to God and resist the devil instead of submitting to the devil.
Remember the church of the day crucified Jesus and stoned Him to death. If you accept and believe a false doctrine, even if it is together with 15,000 pastors, that does not mean that in some strange democratic way that Satan is not going to claim his legal right to attack you or that you will be judged at the end of the age.
Dying to self refiner's fire: Self discipline is an unpopular concept in the world and in the church today. As you progress in the walk that is touched on in this document, sooner or later God is going to start crucifying your flesh in a serious way. The way that you are likely to find extremely uncomfortable and painful as someone has said, the living sacrifice can feel every cut of the knife, every lick of the flames. In this hour, God is starting to refine His church in an unprecedented way. Many are crying out to God to send the fire, unaware that the fire that they are likely to receive will burn the dross out of them. Until you reach a point where like Jesus, you can be flagellated, tortured and crucified and then as you breath your last, so Father forgive them for they know not what they do, until someone can abuse you to your face or betray you and you can instantly forgive them and be more concerned about their spiritual welfare and about your loss, you are not dead to self. I have little doubt that this is a lifelong battle. Crucify yourself daily. If you do not, your flesh will constantly come between you and the Holy Spirit and you will never walk in the fullness of God's promises and His blessings.
Unkept and broken vows and promises: At the current age, people have completely lost sight of the power of words. Life and death are in the power of the tongue. Promises and vows that you have not kept or have broken provide fruitful ground for Satan to attack you. As I understand it, where you can still fulfil the promise or vow and it is not against the Word of God, you should fulfil it. If you cannot, you should make restitution. If you can do neither, you should repent and broken this in humility and ask God to forgive you for rash promises and then renounce those vows or promises.
If you have made ungodly vows or promises, particularly before you accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and saviour, you must renounce them and cut them off. You may need prophetic help to identify them and cut them off. In any event, you should ask the Lord to show you all vows and promises which should be cut off. We have a separate document or a teaching on the subject of dealing with broken vows. If you would like a copy, please contact us.
Soul false prayers: Words have power. Prayers prayed against in the name of Jesus by well-meaning believers who think you are in error when you are not can still have a force and can afford Satan a legal right to attack you, as well as attacking the person praying the prayer. Some churches have intercession meetings and it is common to hear people praying about people's situations with their understanding. Often these prayers are totally contrary to God's will in the situation or God does not act on these prayers. The spiritual force of a number of people praying or agreeing in that way is significant. If you are aware of any situation in your life, as it has been misinterpreted by certain believers, possibly as a result of false witness or false doctrine, it is advisable to cut off such soul false prayers from time to time.
Recognise at the same time that if you are completely without sin, those prayers will have no effect in your life. However, if you are not totally sanctified and holy, in other words, if you are not totally like Jesus, it is quite possible that those prayers will open doors into strongholds in your life that Satan will then legally use.
Prayer against God's will: Be aware that if you pray according to your understanding and contrary to God's will, Satan will almost certainly know that you are praying against the will of God and could easily use that situation to claim a legal right to attack you. Thus by praying out of God's will, particularly where third parties concerned and even more so with the third as an apostle, prophet or other person strongly anointed of God, you may be opening yourself to serious attack. If you truly feel God and want to serve Him with all your heart, mind, soul and strength, you should refrain from praying against others in your own understanding. Pray for others only what you would truly have them pray for you in similar circumstances. Remember what you sow is what you reap.
Bloodline curses: Little understood subject in much of the church today is bloodline curses. There appear to be a relatively small number of believers and even fewer congregations who are aware of this aspect. More likely that virtually every person in the world today will have curses on their bloodline. These curses can be relatively minor or can be major. On one account that I have read which is related to a woman as best I recall had her life dedicated to Satan to be taken on her 21st birthday by way of a witchcraft entered into her by her ancestors who dedicated the first female of the eleventh, I think, generation to Satan. As her birthday approached, she tried to throw herself off a suspension bridge. Fortunately she was taken to a believer with an Exorcism Ministry and during the exorcism, the Demon that are being detailed to follow the bloodline and kill her disclosed where his legal right had come from. If your bloodline has been involved in Freemasonry or any other secret society or cult, there are almost certainly be curses on your bloodline. You can cut these off by prayer to the Father in the name of Jesus. There are few books on the subject and there are deliverance ministries around. Pray and ask God to bring you into contact with the teachings and people who can help you.
When dealing with curses of secret societies, I believe that God recently showed me that certain societies, particularly the Freemasons, Knights, [inaudible 0:56:46], certain witches covens and Satanic groups and others keep registers of members whose families have left the cult and regularly curse them. Recently I was led while praying prophetically for an individual to command those curses to return one thousand fold on the agents of Satan praying them. I am not advocating this as routine practice but it has relevance where you are quite certain by which I mean prophetically that such curses are being renewed from time to time. Such cases I have also asked God in the name of Jesus to cover the entries and the registers with the blood of Jesus and thus obliterate them. I further asked Him to close up the lines and the page so the name of the bloodline concerned is forever removed.
Modern curses: Curses are still very much a way of life. Only today we do not realise that curses are real. Cursing and [inaudible 0:57:46] are common on television, which is another reason not to watch. But anything negative spoken over you by a third party whom you have provoked in any way will affect you. A curse without cause cannot alight according to some translations of scriptures, but on another translation of the same passage in Proverbs indicate that a curse without cause can be driven away. In other words, it can alight but if it has no cause, it will not remain if you resist it. But it is important that no matter what the correct translation of that Scripture is, that you should not readily assume that you have not done anything to cause someone to legitimately in Satan's terms, curse you. While bloodline curses can be cut off once and for all modern curses, a curse that is spoken of registers a secret society to keep coming. Clearly, if by your current actions, you are giving people legitimate reason to curse you, you must examine yourself in the mirror of the Word of God and choose to change your behaviour.
If you are being cursed by agents of Satan, including believers who are demonised, you will have to cut off those curses by praying in the name of Jesus. If you have really become active for the Kingdom of God, indications are that witches covens around the world obtain the names of people such as you from various sources and regularly pray Satanic prayers, cursing the people that have been identified. Remember, Satan copies and perverts everything that God does. So as much as you can pray blessings of other people, Satan's servants can pray curses. It is advisable to cut curses off regularly should the Holy Spirit give you an indication to do so. In certain cases you can command curses to return but you should be extremely careful about this. And only do it if you have clear guidance from the Holy Spirit to do it. It appears that certain agents of Satan once they realised that their curses are returning on their own heads will cease cursing you.
By way of an example that you may understand that these are issues that are not to be trifled off or taken lightly. Sometime ago, we were advised prophetically that certain specific individuals were cursing us on a regular basis. Prophet ministering to us commanded the curses to return three fold. Within weeks, two individuals were in hospital, one was in intensive care for several weeks and recovered a changed man. The other died several months later, having had dreams of snakes and all sorts of abominations. That is a measure of the power of the curses that they had spoken over us. It is a measure of the power that was returned against them by prophetic prayer and agreement with the will of God, in the name of Jesus. This power is not to be used unwisely or irresponsibly in our own understanding. In that case, you would be likely to open yourself wide open to attack.
Witches covens and other satanic groups: We generally have an impression of witches in black pointed hats with black cats and riding broomsticks. Today, most people do not believe that witches exist. They do and they are plenty around. Those that have been revealed to me by the Holy Spirit are generally often been extremely well dressed and often very attractive young woman with nothing that can be seen with the natural eye to disclose their true identity. All those that the Lord has shown me have been in churches. In all cases, they have been there to pray against the congregation or its leaders or a particular person or to introduce particular demonic spirits. In one case, the week after the Lord showed me three witches in a congregation, a senior pastor fell in a dramatic way. In another case, as best as I could discern, a witch came into a congregation, having obtained a legal right of entry by the direct rebellion of certain leaders and certain members of the congregation against a prophetic word from god. As best as I could discern, the witch brought with her a Demon, probably a spirit of divination, spirit of vanity, or a familiar spirit, which then caused one of the leaders who was in rebellion to cause supposedly at the leading of the Holy Spirit and reach out to pray for a member of the congregation who was desperately ill. Having performed a word, danced around the person concerned, the witch left. Three days later, the person concerned wound up in intensive care. We dare not ignore these things and we dare not grant Satan a legal right to infiltrate our meetings.
The need for holiness and sanctification has never been greater. At the same time, there is a real need for each of us to pray protection over ourselves and our congregation, particularly that God will keep agents of Satan out of our meetings and out of our lives. However it is no good praying such prayers if by our actions we are granting Satan all the legal right that he requires. The flesh again, why again. In my own experience having been very conscious of the need to put my flesh under and crucify it daily, I became so engrossed in all the other issues that I cease doing it. I was looking for spiritual answers to every problem and seeing Demons where only the flesh was at work. As a consequence, I went off track in the opposite direction and allowed my flesh to rise up seriously. In this way, the flesh weakens our prayer life, weakens our resolve to read the Word of God, and thus weakens our faith and our ability to resist the devil. In this way, Satan gains new avenues to attack us in areas where we were previously strong. Never lose sight of your flesh as an enemy of the spirit.
Wrong and right actions and right and wrong motives: The visions reported by Rick Joyner in the 'The Final Quest' and 'The Call' make it abundantly clear that often we do the wrong things for the right motives and the right thing for the wrong motives. Unless we are dead to self and totally sold out to be lead by the spirit, this is likely to persist. Probably few people can truly claim to be doing only the right things for the right motives. Recently I have increasingly began to see how things that I previously thought were right were wrong, but for reasons that had not even occurred to me previously and vice versa. So we see that Jesus can with all humility and integrity declare that he is the son of God and that his witness is true. If he were to have said the same words with an overbearing arrogant manner, the message would have been totally different. He did it simply to answer the question, not to impress and not to humiliate. His motives were pure.
Wrong thoughts: Thinking the wrong thoughts or as best as I understand it is not known to Satan. The actions that result even from eye movement and facial expression can give Satan's agents and particularly his Demons an indication of what is going on, particularly if they are planting the thoughts. Thoughts can originate from Satan's Demons and should be resisted and rebuked in the name of Jesus. Thoughts of the flesh also result in ungodly behaviour and can also be in conflict without confession. If our hearts are hard or corrupt and going other ways, out of line with the Word of God or the Will of God, He knows that we are not being obedient and this must surely affect our Christian walk.
God willing, I will continue this teaching next week and will continue to discuss concepts and principles which can result in finding ourselves in financially difficult situations. I pray that this message has assisted you in some way to identify those areas of your life where some adjustment is called for. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May Yahweh make His face to shine upon you and give you peace, in Jesus name.
02_07 Poverty in the Church of Jesus Christ
Today's teaching is a continuation of the series on "Poverty in the Church of Jesus Christ," which in turn is part of the series "Concerning Judgement in the Church Today." In today's teaching, I will address a variety of other concepts and principles behind what has been taught with a view to equipping you to have a better understanding of the thinking behind this teaching and how it works in practice. The reason for doing this is simply in recognition of the fact that a lot of what is contained in this document and in this teaching is not something that is widely taught and therefore presents challenges to many believers in terms of adjusting their thinking to come to terms with the accountabilities and responsibilities which are inherent in this teaching. The bottom line of this teaching is that if we are not walking in the fullness of the blessings that God has promised us in His word, there is only one place to look and that is at ourselves. To examine ourselves for sin, to examine ourselves for false doctrine, and to repent and turn around and to do things His way.
I have to say that as I say that, that the issue of false doctrine in the church of Jesus Christ today is an area of major concern to me in just about every area of teaching, in just about every congregation that I have visited in the last few years. I have listened to teachings which do not accord with Scripture. The scriptures are used to support arguments which on closer examination cannot stand up to scrutiny and in this section I will touch on a few thoughts regarding the interpretation of Scripture. But I would really encourage you to recognise that as you apply the teachings in this series, as you examine yourself in the word of God, as you go before God and cry out to Him to show you anything that is causing you not to walk in the fullness of His blessings, be prepared to discover that many things that you have believed are scriptural are in fact not scriptural. And that many things that you have believed are not scriptural are in fact scriptural. It is a time of major change in challenging the church. It is a time of judgement and I truly believe that unless you set aside all your preconceived notions of what the Bible says and bring your heart and your mind and your soul and your body into total alignment with the word of God, you are likely to experience judgement in this life such as being experienced by few of any generations before us. I would therefore encourage you to diligently seek the truth.
I will also suggest to you that if you currently perceive yourself to be walking in the fullness of the blessings of God to be prospering financially to examine your heart and to examine your life against the word of God and to really satisfy yourself that prosperity is truly fully a consequence of the blessings of God, or whether in fact it is because you have compromised in some areas of your life. Just by way of example, the Word of God clearly teaches us that wives should submit to their husbands, that husbands are the head of the family, and that if a husband and wife are not in agreement, their prayers will be hindered and the house will be divided. I have to say to you that if a husband capitulates on being the head of the house in order to get out of strife and division with his wife and to come into agreement with his wife, your house may not be divided, and you may even experience financial blessing as a consequence of that lack of division but the hard reality is that you will not be walking in the fullness of the blessings that God has intended for your marriage because you cannot experience the fullness of marriage where the wife is in fact dominating the husband by her insistence and not coming into agreement on key scriptural issues.
So I would encourage every person who listens to this teaching to diligently examine themselves, to listen to what is presented in the tapes that have preceded this and in this tape and establish exactly those areas of their life that may need adjustment. Father I ask in the name of Jesus that you will open their eyes and their ears of all who listen to this teaching to know your will in their lives and to understand how they apply and that you will open their hearts to act on what they receive from these teachings that is of you Lord and you will blow away anything that is contrary to your word or that is error or that has come from my own understanding and is not according to your word, in Jesus name.
In the previous sections I have devoted a lot of attention primarily to the actions and spiritual principles which in my experience are directly contributed to Satan being able to attack finances and hinder blessings. In this teaching, I will seek to set out some general principles which seem to be relevant to the topic at hand. Before I do that, perhaps I should explain why I see things the way that I do. While preparing the document on which this teaching is based and recording the steady stream of thoughts that have come my way extending into another discourse on being led by the spirit, a discourse on marriage and divorce and discussion of the challenges associated with certain passages such as Isaiah 4:1 together with Exodus 21:10 and a discourse on church governance, I found myself repeatedly faced with the question of why I think the way I do and why I would seek to prepare these documents, all of which seemingly address spiritual issues from a perspective that I have not encountered to any real extent in material that I have been able to obtain and much of which seems to be a catalogue of aspects of church doctrine which to a greater or lesser extent did not seem quite correct. This is not to say that I have more truth than others or that all that is presented here is hundred percent correct. Simply that I seem to look at things and what many seem to view as an unusual way and a way that many seem to find strange and threatening.
It is incumbent on me to state that I faced the same challenge in my business as a management consultant. I seem to see things differently. This has led me publishing widely on the reasons why 70% of major corporations are dissatisfied with their information technology investment, the real issues in information technology. From this base I have delivered presentations in Britain, Europe, and the Middle East to various conferences and seminars, including the British Strategic Planning Society and the British Computer Society. This in turn has resulted in my being listed in the [inaudible 0:08:06] Who's Who in the science and engineering since 1998 and Who's Who in the world from 1999, a publication which contains names of any 40,000 people from all walks of life around the world. Apart from being a testimony to the goodness and greatness of the God we serve, since I truly do not think that I did anything to warrant this recognition and the recognition came with absolutely no effort on my effort, it does seem to suggest that the analytical processes and knowledge and experience base, which God has developed in me throughout my life have equipped me to think differently about intractable problems.
Perhaps at this point, I should also note that more or less since the time of my confirmation in a traditional church at the age of about 13, I prayed daily, a very simple prayer, "God give me wisdom and understanding, in Jesus name." For many years the prayer that I prayed almost on a rep basis every night was a very simple prayer asking for blessings on myself and my family and that God would grant me wisdom and understanding. It does seem to me that that simple prayer has had some impact on the way that I think about the scriptures, walking the spirit-led life, the subject that are addressed in this discourse and the work that I do in my career on a daily basis.
In a sense I suppose that the society suggests that this teaching could alternatively be titled, the reasons why 70% of believers are not walking in divine prosperity, the real issues in Christian financial blessing. But the only real question being whether to 70% or 90% or some other quantum that reflects the correct proportion of believers to which this statement applies. I would try and answer this question by way of a parable. A man was stricken with polio during his youth so that his foot was slightly deformed. When a great war came upon the world, he was determined to fight evil. So he sought to sign up with the army. Because of his deformity he could never become an officer. As a sergeant in the transport corps, he repeatedly criticised his superior officers for their lack of discipline and failure to provide the necessary leadership. History eventually confirmed that officers at that time were so bound by their traditions that his criticism was justified. Eventually in a great battle, he and hundreds of thousands of others were taken prisoner. After many months of hardship, he and some friends escaped and were on the run for several months. Eventually while running from enemy soldiers one of the party fell and injured himself. Rather than desert his friend, the man and his colleagues returned and allowed themselves to be taken prisoner once more. Later, the war turned against the enemy and the victorious allies were advancing. The man and thousands of others were being marched away from the advancing front. He escaped and was one of the first to reach freedom.
Some years later, the man had a son and as the son grew up, his Father shared his war stories with him. The son became an avid reader of history concerning the war in which his father fought and read repeatedly how the incompetence of the generals and their failure to understand the enemy had caused millions of casualties which could have been avoided. Eventually the son grew up and was conscripted into the army. His father's advice to him was "Son, if you are going to be killed, make sure it is as a result of your own orders." Despite repeated rejection because of his tribe the son eventually became the commander of a regiment. In that position he systematically re-examined the way of doing things and led his unit in his own way. This culminated in his regiment being commanded as one of the two best to serve in a certain future operations in one year and setting a new international record for night assault river crossing the following year. The man in the story is my father. As a consequence of this background, I have always looked at things differently and particularly when things are not working as well as they should. I have always gone back to basics and not being afraid to hold the current generals accountable. I hope that this helps you to understand this teaching better.
Paradigm filters: The paradigm is an example or pattern according to the concise Oxford dictionary. In the parable above, the paradigm of the generals at the start of the war led to defeat in most major battles and millions of casualties on the battlefield. Eventually on the brink of defeat, a generation of generals filled in the new way of war, developed a new paradigm and turned defeat into victory. The paradigm acts as a filter through which all information is passed. If it does not fit our paradigm, we have great difficulty in understanding or receiving the information. For example, the Swiss watch industry was nearly wiped out because when they were offered the first electronic watch, they could not see any use for it and it was developed by the Americans and Japanese. In the same way, if your religious paradigm cannot conceive that God could say us certain things, then you will never believe that God is speaking to you. You may well not hear Him and if you do, you may well end up rebuking Satan.
Currently, the church has in place numerous paradigm, or if you like, doctrinal filters which prevent them hearing God on various issues. Many of these issues are amongst those contained in this document and those which follow. As an example, Scripture clearly states that on the seventh day God rested and repeatedly states that the Sabbath is the last day of the week. We all know that Sunday is the first day of the week but virtually all Christians have been raised to regard Sunday as the Sabbath. Until you learn that Sunday is the pagan day for worshipping the sun and that Sunday worship was only introduced about 300 years after the death of Christ, because the gentile church wanted to distance itself from its Jewish roots, you cannot conceive that God could be telling you to return to worshipping on His Sabbath.
The diffusion of knowledge: The ideas typically originate with one or two people and are then disseminated more widely by way of publication, teaching, etc. Depending on the quality-control applied to the distribution process, these thoughts can either be enhanced or they can be contaminated. If there is an agent particularly committed to contaminating them, in this case, Satan, it is relatively easy to contaminate knowledge. At the time of Moses, God communicated to Moses. Moses recorded some of what God told him and communicated verbally to the people many other things. Initially the diffusion of knowledge was in one direction and was precise. As time move on, this knowledge was being passed backwards and forwards and the firsthand account was lost. Over the centuries, the people of Israel descended into apostasy and then exile. The truth was retained on parchment and the rest passed down by word of mouth and other documents. By Jesus' time, there was no firsthand knowledge and all was head knowledge rather than heart. Holy Spirit inspired knowledge other than a few prophets. In all likelihood, religious and other Demons were prevalent. Hence the chief priest describes and the Pharisees could not recognise Jesus for who he was. In the same way, Jesus' initial communication was direct to the apostles and through them to the church. The authority of the initial apostles and therefore the elders in Jerusalem was beyond question.
As the knowledge spread more widely, as the original apostles died, and as persecution and a simulation diluted the quality of the information, apostasy and dispersion followed. Today with the second coming of Jesus possibly imminent, we again have a situation where much of the understanding of Scripture has been lost and were paradigm filters of the accepted way of doing things corrupt our understanding of Scripture. People rationalise and explain verses of Scripture that do not fit their paradigm, turn this into a doctrine and then criticise and attack those who differ with them. Religious and other Demons are prevalent. The question is: Are the leaders, the elders in the church today able to clearly distinguish what is of God and what is not? From own experience, I have to say, by no means all the time and regrettably when it comes to areas of doctrinal difference as seem as in Jesus time unable to rationally consider the facts and go before God to seek the truth.
The critical difference between today and AD 33: In considering the question of the diffusion of knowledge and where we currently find ourselves with regard to church leadership, submission, and other contentious issues, it is important that we recognise the following. Firstly, in Jesus and apostles today, most communication was word of mouth. Two, the copying of a document by scribe was time-consuming and therefore costly. There were not that many scribes who had the necessary training to accurately and reliably duplicate documents. Even The Torah, the books of Moses was only available in limited quantities. Three, as the apostles took the gospel around the world, they relied heavily on their personal knowledge and experience initially at least. The written gospels of Mark, Matthew, Luke and John were not written. The letters written by Paul and others also frequently went to one congregation, although they were subsequently copied and distributed more widely. Four, in most congregations at best, there was probably only one written record and in most cases only an oral account of Jesus' life and teachings and the teachings of the apostles and disciples.
Five, people relied heavily on the Holy Spirit and when there was disagreement, the obvious recourse was to the elders, those who had the most knowledge and experience and to the extent available to written documents. Today, every believer has effectively equal access to all the written record of significance together with innumerable study aids, etc. Jesus injunction to call no man teacher is far more realisable today than it was 1950 years ago, all have equal access to the Holy Spirit and therefore the possibility of personal revelation. In addition, since in the Dark Ages the church fell into effectively total Apostasy and even the most fundamental truths were hidden from view. The church is still recovering from this.
Regrettably, most Christians and positions of authority have decided to take titles for themselves and to position themselves as rulers and judges. They are no longer required to be the custodians of knowledge, nor can they be, now more than ever before, they must become shepherds in the mould of the great shepherd. The primary concern should be the care of the sheep and the recovery of the lost sheep.
Obey God rather than man: Act 5:29. Developing the previous thoughts experience shows that there are an increasing number of people who are hearing God clearly on matters that bring them into conflict with the church. In particular, people are told to submit to elders who lorded over the flock, despite Scripture which clearly tells them not to. People insist on assigning the title pastor to men despite Jesus' clear instruction to call no man rabbi, or teacher or lord. Elders and leaders who are supposed to be shepherds of the sheep, and remember that sheep are dumb animals. Insist on demanding submission from prophets and others who claim to have heard God and in the process, offer Satan massive footholds in their lives and congregations. Regrettably, once more we find ourselves in the shoes of Peter who was forced to [inaudible 0:20:38] in Jerusalem. We must obey God rather than man. This produces the same responses today as then, only in a more subtle fashion. Again, we must do what God has told us to do, failing which Satan will be given a major foothold in our lives. Please understand that I am not advocating rebellion. I am only stating that if you are certain that God has spoken to you, do not let any man convince you to submit to him rather than God.
The Ten Commandments: Somehow it appears that the Ten Commandments have gone out of fashion. You hardly ever hear them quoted, certainly not in charismatic circles and even when they are quoted in other church, they are read off pat and I wonder if anyone ever gives serious consideration to them, or even really seriously considers what they mean. But as best I understand it, these are most of the words that God spoke to a public audience at Mount Sinai and then personally wrote on the stone tablets for Moses. Nothing else in the history of man has been directly audibly spoken by God with such a display of His power or written by Him in person, dare we ignore them. For the record, here they are, quoted from the Living Torah and modern Jewish translation, Deuteronomy 5:1: "And Moses summoned all Israel, and said to them: 'Listen Israel to the rules and laws that I am publicly declaring to you today. Learn them and safeguard them so that you will be able to keep them. God, your Lord, made a covenant with you. It is not with your ancestors that God made this covenant but with us.'"
The first two Commandments: I am God your Lord who brought you out of Egypt from the place of slavery. Do not have any other gods before me. Do not represent such gods by statute or picture of anything in the Heaven above, on the Earth below, or in the water below the land. Do not bow down to such gods and do not worship them. I, God your Lord, and God who demands exclusive worship. Where my enemies are concerned, I keep in mind, the sin of the fathers, for their descendants for three and four generations, but to those who love me and keep my Commandments, I show love for thousands of generation. The third commandment: Do not take the name of God your Lord in vain. God will not allow the person who takes His name in vain to go unpunished.
The fourth commandment: Observe the Sabbath to keep it holy as God your Lord commanded you. You can work during the six-week days and do all your tasks, but Saturday is the Sabbath to God your Lord. So do not do anything that constitutes work. This includes you, your son, your daughter, your male and female slave or servant, your ox, your donkey, your other animals and the foreigner who is in your gates. Your male and female slaves will then be able to rest, just as you do. You must remember that you were slaves in Egypt when God your Lord brought you out with a strong hand and an outstretched arm. It is for this reason that God your Lord has commanded you to keep the Sabbath.
The fifth commandment: Honour your Father and mother as God your Lord commanded you. You will then live long and have it well on the land that God your Lord is giving you. The sixth commandment: Do not commit murder. The seventh commandment: Do not commit adultery. The eight commandment: Do not steal. The ninth commandment: Dealing with false witness and lying. Do not testify as a prejudiced witness against your neighbour. The tenth commandment: Lust. Do not desire your neighbour's wife. Do not desire your neighbour's house, his field, his male or female slave or servant, his ox, his donkey, or anything else that belongs to your neighbour.
God also gave Moses the following creed. Deuteronomy 6:4: "Listen Israel, God is our Lord. God is one. Love God your Lord with all your heart with all your soul and with all your mind. These words which I am commanding you today must remain in your heart. Teach them to your children, speak of them when you are at home, when travelling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Bind these words as the sign on your hand and it can be emblem in the centre of your head. Write them on parchments affixed to the doorpost of your houses and gates."
The question that each one of us has to critically ask ourselves is "Can I truly say that I am observing or conscientiously seeking to observe all the above?" At the very least, unless you belong to a very small minority you are not observing the fourth commandment with regard to God Sabbath on Saturday. God is withdrawing grace on this sin and more and more Christians are hearing Him require of them that they honour and obey this command. On this fellowship, we hold meetings at our house every Saturday morning.
A new commandment: Love one another. In John 13, Jesus said, "A new commandment I give to you that you love one another, even as I have loved you that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciple if you have love for one another." That quote is from the New American Standard version. I am not sure that any of us really fully understand what this means. Jesus loved us so much that he forgave us even as he was tortured to death on the cross. I do not think that there are many Christians who have reached this point yet. Without this love Satan will have a field day attacking us.
Preconditions to the promises of God: Charismatic Christians in particular love to quote the promises of God, my God shall supply all your or my needs, according to His riches and glory through Christ Jesus and many others. Most ignore the fact that all of God's promises or blessings are conditional on our obedience to His word. If you rebel against God, you will reap distraction just as surely as if you obey God, you will reap blessings. Until the church develops a healthy reverence or fear of God and the consequences of disobedience, men will continue to think that they can do things their way and have God bless them. I have yet to experience this. I have experienced that God has extended grace to me and blessed me abundantly where there were certain things still wrong in my life. As set out in my explanation in previous teaching on law and grace and how I understand it, I think that this is entirely understandable. What I found to my cost was that having being blessed and thus concluding that I was now okay with God and that He finished with dealing with me, I completely missed the point that it is now out to me to continue with the process and to prevent backsliding.
On more than one occasion, I presumptuously became too busy prospering, to spend as much time in the word in prayer and in church as before. Inevitably, the worse came off and I find myself worse off financially before God started blessing me. Largely because it took me time to realise that the will had come off and even longer to turn myself around spiritually and start hearing God clearly enough to understand what to do. As an example, these conditions are set out in what the Jews refer to as the yoke of the commandments as follows. Deuteronomy 11 starting at verse 13, "If you are careful to pay heed to my commandments which I am prescribing to you today and if you love God your lord with all your heart and soul, then God has made this promise, will grant the fall and spring rains in your land at their proper time so that you will have an ample harvest of grain or wine. I will grant foliage in your fields for your animals and you will eat and be satisfied. Be careful that your heart not be tempted to go astray and worship other gods bowing down to them. God's anger will then be directed against you. And He will lock up the sky so that there will not be any rain. The land will not give crops and you will rapidly vanish from the good land that God has given you. Place these words of mine on your heart and soul, bind them as a sign on your arm and let them be an insignia in the centre of your head. Teach your children to speak of them when you are at home, when travelling on the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Write them on parchments affixed to the doorpost of your houses and gates. If you do this, you and your children will long endure on the land that God brought your ancestors, promising that He would give it to them as long as the Heavens were above the Earth."
Folks, it is easy to believe that you got it made when the blessings start to flow. It is another thing to really get right with God. It appears that not many people are anywhere near that point. It also appears that even really anointed men of God who have certain areas of doctrine wrong are still under a covering of grace. It has to be that way. Only Jesus has all the truth. I somehow doubt that there is anyone on Earth today who is anywhere near to being as perfect as Jesus.
Love God and obey His Commandments: The Bible also says that to love God is to obey His Commandments and His Commandments are not onerous. It is important to understand that nothing that is taught in this teaching is a legality. All are principles, which if you love God, you will seek to obey His Commandments because you love Him. You will then find that His spirit in you will make it much easier to obey His Commandments.
But about Jesus? In considering all that has been written here thus far surely you have said is cannot be so, they crucified Jesus, did they not? But Jesus himself said that he could have called legions of Angels. Elsewhere it is said that Jesus prayed for the cup to passing by, we know that despite temptation Jesus never sinned and therefore never gave Satan a foothold. Accordingly we must conclude that Jesus was crucified only with the expressed consent of the Father and of himself. We must also conclude that it is possible for Satan to attack us even if there is no foothold. Presumably in certain specific instances where the Father wishes to teach us something, whether any of us will ever get to a point where Satan has such a total lack of foothold, that the Father has to permit the attack despite the absence the absence of a legal right as something that does not seem worth speculating on.
God's love: God's love is robust, not namby-pamby, not liberal, not permissive, not limp-wristed. It is firm, directed at salvation after a long race. His love took Jesus to the cross. Until we recognise this, we will continue to deal gently with sin and seek to solve problems in our own strength throughout carnal compassion and in the process help our brethren to remain in bondage. Until we have learned to walk in God and such lack of self-awareness that we can communicate correction from God without any putdown and without being offended when we are put down we will not understand how God's love works.
Recently I began to experience a new depth in this area, what was shown me is simply that since but I have recently experience is so far beyond what I thought I had to go, it seems obvious that I have even further to go now than I thought I had. I initially wrote what I have just said several years ago, and I have to say to you today that that is just as valid today as it was then. The revelation that I have of His grace and the cleansing process and the robustness of God's love today is much greater than it was when I wrote that and even so today I must say to you that I conceive the journey as even longer than I thought it was.
Becoming like Christ: Becoming like Jesus is a lifelong journey, not something to be undertaken lightly. And not something that will ever be completed in this life. God is uncompromisingly righteous and He expects us to seek to be the same. Modern church appears to conduct itself most of the time as like God winks at sin. If someone suggest that there may be an error of doctrine or an error of conduct, the first thing that happens more often than not that the flesh rises up and the messengers attacked. If we truly believe that God was uncompromisingly righteous and that He the same of us, we would be filled with reverent fear of God and His judgement and would eagerly seek to hear what the other party had to say in the hope that we could eliminate footholds in our lives and become more like Jesus. Uncompromisingly righteous means that He is righteous and He does not even know how to entertain the thought of compromise. If He is that way, we must always be willing to change our position in order to come closer to His position. He will never change His position.
God uses strong language to describe sin. As much as the modern church likes to see God as a soft lovey-dovey sort of God, that does not fit the passages in the Bible that talk about God's views on sin and rebellion. He talks of spearing out of His mouth. His wrath being kindled, etc., etc. It seems that He only expresses Himself this way when He has afforded a person congregation, city, nation, etc., numerous opportunities to repent and spoken to them gently and then firmly. But He does speak strongly against sin. Recently He told me to tell a congregation that He was sick and tired of them coming late to His meetings. I was subsequently corrected by the pastor who told me that God did not speak that way and that I have allowed my flesh to rise up. May be they were correct, but as best I can discern, God is still saying to me that He is sick and tired of people coming late to meetings and then expecting Him to work miracles on their behalf. If God is sick and tired, I guess, Satan is overjoyed at the number of footholds that are being created. If you are not sure about the issue of strong language, look at Mayhem, verses 1, 2, and 3 for example.
Planks in eyes: Jesus warned us to remove the plank from our own eyes before attending to the speck in our brother's eyes. The more one lives with the Scripture, the more difficult it becomes to apply. We seem to see so clearly the false of others and to be so blind to our own faults. Many times God sends others across our paths and shows us their faults, not so that we can correct them, but so that we can see ourselves in them. If we can get to a point where every time we see something apparently wrong with someone else, we go before God and ask Him to show us how that applies to us, we will all improve. Bear in mind, as far as I can read the word, there is very little that says that I have to go and correct someone else and if they ask my help, it is a lot to tell me to examine myself. Since Satan probably contributed substantially to putting the plank in our eyes and the speck in our brother's eyes, he is likely to use any hypocrisy on our part to good effect.
Offence equals crime: Criminal is often called an offender and their offence is a crim. We use the word offended so [inaudible 0:37:07] and take offence so easily. The very word indicates that it is a sin to be offended and to cause offence. As someone who is offended by an action that is truly from God and offered in love is sinning. Likewise, a person who by their ugly behaviour and sin causes another to adopt the same behaviour or causes them to take offence is also sinning. Again, this gives rise to footholds for Satan.
Put your hand to what you find to do. Many times believers stand on the Word of God for miracle but do not do everything that they can to find a job, no matter how menial. They seem to assume that God is bound to give them the job they want rather than the job that He has chosen for them. Likewise if God is moving you into a completely different career direction, He may have to move you there through some rather indirect channels. Subject to prayerful consideration, if you are seeking work and are unemployed or seeking to find new business opportunities, rather than striving, you should put your hand to whatever you find to do. Praying constantly for God to show you if you are doing the wrong thing and to turn you back to the correct path if you are mistaken. The more you humble yourself and pray, the more you will confess to God your abject inability to stay on His path for more than a few minutes in your own strength. And the more you will rely on His guidance to keep you on track. As you learn to pray this way, you can expect to become more spirit-led, and probably encounter much more opposition from Satan as He recognises that you are finding your way truly into the will of God. At the end of this teaching I will present a number of prayers around this topic.
Diligence: Diligence is an extension of the flesh issue. We need to be diligent in our work, diligent in our reading of the word, diligent in our prayers, diligent in our praise and worship, and above all, diligent in seeking the will of our Father in Heaven. If you are not being diligent, you are opening yourself wide for attack.
Good stewardship: Prudence versus extravagance. It is reasonable to assume that God will not bless you if you are extravagant and carnal with His money. Until you have a revelation that every cent belongs to God and that it is not yours to do with as you please, it is unlikely that He will bless you. If you have 20 outfits in the wardrobe and you are crying out for additional finance, He is unlikely to approve of you buying more clothes. On the contrary, He may require you to sell some clothes or give them to the poor. If you do that, you may in fact find that you can balance your budget without extra income. You can hardly claim to be a good steward until you are utilising His money the way He wants you to, not the way you want to. Again, footholds seem to flow from wasteful living. Striving after wealth is futile. Strive for holiness and right standing with God.
Servanthood: Jesus made a point at the last supper of speaking about servanthood. If we truly seeking to serve Him and serve His body, we should find it increasingly difficult to order others about. If we are truly His servants, then it is much easier for Him to protect us and if we are trying to be our own lords and to Lord over Him.
Talebearing: Talebearing is an issue that almost everyone I know is guilty of. We like to talk about what others have done. We like to talk about what we have done and in talking, we like to pass judgement on others and make sure that others know what is wrong. That is sin and sin is a foothold. Do not do it. There is another teaching available which deals with this subject in much more detail and presents scriptures with regret to dealing with reports of sin and error in the church.
Translations of the Bible: Previous reference has been made to reading the word of God regularly. It is important to recognise that if you are not reading the Testament in the original Hebrew and the Old Testament in Hebrew or Aramaic, you are reading a translation. It is also important to understand that Greek is not the original language of the so-called New Testament Scriptures. The New Testament scriptures were originally recorded in Aramaic, which was the language of Jesus and the language of the apostles in Israel in Jesus day. Subsequently, they were translated into Greek. There is a translation of the Bible by George Lamser based on the Aramaic text referred to as the [inaudible 0:42:10] which has been preserved east of Israel, in the lands east of Jerusalem throughout the last 2000 years.
Keep in mind that when you are reading a translation, the translation is not what God said to His prophet who wrote down the original text. It is what the translator says that the prophets wrote down. In some cases, there is a critical distinction. In the King James Version, it states that the mark of the beast in the wrist or in the forehead. All other translations state that it is on. Taking account of reports of proposals to inject microchips under the skin of the wrist or forehead in the next few weeks, the question of end verses on becomes one of the most critical of translation facing the church today. There are numerous other issues some of which have given rise to whole doctrines which hinge on the translation or interpretation of the translation of one or two words. It is therefore vital to be selective with regard to the translation that you read. There is strong reasons to believe that while the New International Version and certain other mainstream translations are easy to read, King James version and the Amplified Bible are suggested by many to be the two more accurate translation when it comes to matters of substance.
Keep in mind that the first time that the Bible was translated, there was limited scope for understanding to corrupt the translation. With more recent translations there has been greater scope for the understanding of the translators to correct the translation. Pray and ask God to show you which translation He wants you to read. It will likely depend on where you are in your walk with Him. The Living Torah, modern Jewish translation of much of the Old Testament is in my experience is furthermore more lucid and anointed translation of the Old Testament available. Particularly again, in the area of messianic prophecy, there are aspects of those translations that are questionable. The answer is to read different translations each time or at least every few times you read the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation that way you avoid becoming bound to one translation.
Commentaries and teachings: Many people seem to place great reliance on commentaries and teachings. While these are good for additional understanding and amplification, great care must be exercised. I refer you to the comments made in a previous teaching in this series concerning error concealed among truth to give you an indication of the risk what that approach contains. Every work of man is imperfect. Some are more imperfect than others. There are books which have chapters which are quite possibly prophetic and other chapters which are the work of the flesh or even demonic inspiration. There are some commentaries with certain passages may contain wonderful revelation, but adjacent passages may be completely incorrect. This simply reflects the fallen and imperfect state of man and that none of us are truly yielded to the Holy Spirit to the point that we have the mind of Christ uppermost in our consciousness at all times.
It is not reason to reject the author of His work. Simply we must sieve the wheat from the chaff and once complete, we should move on. Never lose sight of the fact that Holy Spirit is the spirit of Jesus and the spirit of prophecy. He wrote the Bible and he can explain it to you. Learn to pray and ask questions. Do not be afraid to ask him any question you would ask any human teacher or book and ask him the questions that you would not even ask them. He wants to lead you into all truth. It is your choice whether you will let him. The minute that you set your sights on a man or a book or any other human source instead of the Holy Spirit, you are entering into idolatry. Beware that is a minefield of opportunity for Satan to find footholds in your life.
Satan seeks your particular areas of weakness. If you have a particular weakness, be it lust, greed, fear, or anything else, Satan knows about it and no matter how successfully you have overcome and being delivered from that weakness, he will keep attacking us and tempting you with a view to sucking you back into that particular pit. For this reason, no other man's testimony or experience will be precisely what you need. You must permit God to guide you to run your race the way that is right for you. This might be better than not running at all, but at the end of the day, there is a good chance that they will teach you their footholds while failing to help you overcome yours. Satan concentrates his efforts on those who are most afflicted for the kingdom of God. In other words, doing Satan the most harm. Many people seem to think that if Satan is not troubling them, they are walking in victory. On the contrary, it seems that if you are not troubling Satan, he will not trouble you. But if you are not troubling Satan, then it is almost certain that you are not doing anything meaningful for the kingdom of God. Remember that the indications are that Satan only has one-third of the Angels. Therefore his Angels are outnumbered two to one. He has all the Demons but we have the Holy Spirit and the Spirit of God and God is omnipresent and omniscient. That is, He is everywhere at the same time and He knows everything. Satan and his Demons can only be in one place at a time. They can move and communicate very rapidly, but nevertheless, they can only be in one place at one time, that is to say one specific Demon can only be in one person at one time and one specific fallen angel can only be misleading or destroying in the life of one person at one time.
They are therefore seriously outnumbered and were not for the fact that Satan has got of this world as legal authority on the Earth granted him by Adam, he could not win the day-to-day battles. He is therefore vitally dependent on footholds to grant him his urge, hence the emphasis of this teaching. At the same time, if he is going to be really effectively attack anyone, he has to pick his targets carefully, so that he can mobilise his forces effectively. If there are people out there really striking blows for the kingdom of God, it does not make sense for Satan to go and harass some born-again believer who never goes out of doors, never prays or reads the word and just watches secular television. That believer will fall [inaudible 0:49:10] with minimum effort. Satan has mobilised all his forces to tackle those who are really doing him damage. After all, he has read the back of a book and he knows the fate that is in store for him if he does not prevent certain things from happening.
For example, the longer he can prevent the gospel being preached to all world, the more time he gets. To counter his attacks on us, it is vital that we become as holy and sanctified as possible while at the same time learning to use our armour and the weapons of our warfare, the gifts of the spirit, etc. as effectively as possible. For what I have taught in this series, it is my sincere prayer that you will realise that in long-term it is far easier to eliminate the footholds in our lives and reach a place of holiness and sanctification in Christ where Satan's ability to touch us is as restricted as possible. In this position, we can be devastating the effect for God. The challenge is to reach that position, not in our own strength but by the spirit.
Perseverance: Sometimes it appears that Satan is permitted to keep up the attack to the very end in order that God may teach us the most, strengthen our faith the most through the experience and prepare us better for the next round. Perseverance is a vital element of the Christian walk, but should not be confused with the fatalistic hanging in there, which denies our responsibility to examine ourselves and to work at our salvation, etc. God never changes. He is same yesterday, today and forever. So much has been said in the Christian church about things being different in the New Covenant and the Old, where there is no scriptural basis to say so. The question of the Saturday versus Sunday Sabbath is a case in point. There is absolutely no scriptural basis to assert that Jesus changed the Sabbath day to Sunday. On the contrary, he observed the Saturday Sabbath throughout his life and so did his disciples. Paul would notify many people in the synagogue on Sunday when he debated on the Sabbath. Yet, you will find in many commentaries on why Christians are the only people who worship on Sunday. With respect, God is the same yesterday, today, and forever. His Sabbath is the last day of the week, Saturday and He never told us to worship on a Sunday. It is the Christians who are confused and deluded, not the Jews. We make Christianity foolish in the eyes of the Jews who will be called to account for putting that stumbling block in the way of their salvation, a massive foothold in the church today.
Opposition of the saints is opposing God: The Scripture touched not mine anointed and do my prophets no harm is used from time to time in the church to justify why a member has been disciplined. Unfortunately, it is frequently applied against prophets and others whom God uses to speak correction to leaders who are in error or rebellion. Somehow they come to believe that they have the monopoly on anointing. It is important that we all recognise that the Scripture is an injunction that applies in both directions and applies to taking the action in the flesh, not to speaking a word of correction or rebuke prophetically. I am amazed at the number of Christians who take it upon themselves to judge King David, in the process making critical statements about his character and the perceptions of his weaknesses. I really believe that since the Lord says that David was a man after God's own heart, we should really be careful about doing this. It appears to me that this opens the door wide for Satan to climb in and attack us. Not to mention that it is probably indicative of a spiritual pride. It is highly unlikely that there are many, if any men on this Earth today who walk as closely and successfully as David did with God, particularly in a position of secular leadership.
Recognise also that while he was on the run from Saul, David on several occasions quoted the Scripture about touching not the Lord's anointed. We see a classic examples there of David anointed by God to become king of Israel. Saul anointed my God to his King of Israel but rejected by God, clinging to the kingship and yet David does nothing to gain the kingship. He simply flees from Saul and pleads his innocence. And yet, on two occasions when God affords David the opportunity to slay Saul, David simply performs an act in one case cutting off a corner of Saul's robe and in the second case, [inaudible 0:54:06] a water bottle from his side to demonstrate convincingly to Saul that he has no desire to attack and kill Saul. And in both cases, he cites the Scripture to touch not the Lord's anointed. Thus we must see clearly that if we have been anointed by God, and another person who has been anointed by God and even if they fall into the greatest possible error beyond anything that we can conceive ourselves doing, we have no right to criticise them or to attack them. We can pray for them. We can intercede for them. We can remove ourselves from their presence, but by no means should we speak out against them, tell others about this so-called sin or anyway touch them. A previous teaching in this series addresses this topic in much more detail.
Tax: Jesus said reign down to Caesar the things that ceases. I have encountered churches whose elders have embarked on schemes to avoid attacks which turn into evasion. Praying certain expenses on the pastor's behalf and treating them as salary for salary determination but not declaring them for tax purposes as robbing Caesar. Whether a pastor brings tithes in full amount or not, surely that must open the door for the devil. Likewise any scheme that is tax evasion rather than tax avoidance is a sin. Ignorance does not prevent legal entry by Satan. Ignorance of the law may excuse us a maximum that applies particularly when dealing with Satan. But it does appear that God extends grace to protect us in our infancy. There should be no doubt in your mind after these teachings that Satan will use every legal opportunity that he has to attack you whether you are aware of that foothold or not. The whole object of this teaching is to alert you to possible footholds that could expose you to attack. Please realise that these teachings are by no means comprehensive. God willing, more issues will be touched on in subsequent series.
Extreme tests before abundance: From many testimonies that I have heard of modern day great men of God and from consideration of Scripture, it appears that great tests and trials of considerable duration precede real abundance in Christ. We must be refined by the fire and matured and prepared before we can be blessed. Otherwise, the blessings will destroy us. I remain convinced that the financial blessings of God that any person can receive will be commensurate with the calling. As a person called to minister to business executives may require an upmarket house and car and a [inaudible 0:57:04] balance sheet. This will be entirely inappropriate for a small community pastor in an impoverished community. The size of the treasure on Earth is no reflection of God's relative love and favour for the two individuals. It is much more difficult for the wealthy person to enter the kingdom than for a poor person. The refining process should therefore be more stringent before financial blessings of great magnitude are poured out.
The power of the blood of Jesus: Never lose sight of the power of the blood of Jesus. Apply the blood to yourself and your family from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet and to your house, walls, floors, roof, ceiling doors, windows, doorposts, window frames and lintels and your entire property and all you own. Thank the Lord that His Angels encamp around those who fear Him to protect them and give thanks at all times for your salvation. Keep the enemy out of your camp.
Praise and worship: I have not really touched on praise and worship but continuous praise and worship in your life is essential. Enter His gates with Thanksgiving, his courts with praise. You will only really grow close to God if you can praise Him and worship Him with every fibre of your being with absolutely no inhibitions as long as you are led by the spirit. If you love Him with all that you are, you will give Him all that you can in praise and worship.
What is hindering? Elsewhere, reference has been made to hindering spirits. Work of hindering spirits in the financial realm is characterised for example by orders which constantly seem imminent for a business, but which are always delayed and eventually cancelled or awarded to others or downscaled. The existence of One Flesh Bonds is far as I know the source of legal entry of hindering spirits. This originates either from One Flesh Bonds with sexual partners who are not the marriage partner or as a result of division and disagreement between marriage partners.
Opposed script: The curse of the law and grace. Since writing the first draft of the document on which this teaching is based, I spent much time in the Scriptures, prayer and other reading. The challenge of trying to clearly enunciate what I understand remains with me. I am acutely aware of my inadequacies and communicating much in this document which many will find controversial and unpalatable. By implication, this document retains many Christians to confrontation with many issues in their lives which they have been taught or miraculously dealt with at the cross. Am I denying the resurrection of power of the cross? Certainly not. On a recent date, I retreat and made the following notes after reading in Deuteronomy 28 about the curses, Revelation 22:3 about there being no more curse at the end of the age not today, and other passages which clearly indicate to me that many of the curses of the Old Testament are still in force today as indicated in this teaching.
If this is the case, then what about Jesus becoming a curse for us? A partial interpretation is offered by the following interpretation of Galatians 2:17-21. The key seems to be verse 18: "If I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor." The implication is that if I continue in sin, I become a transgressor and the law regains a foothold in my life insofar as Satan gains a legal right to attack me. But I have the Holy Spirit and Jesus sacrificed to return for that sin if I confess and repent. This is as opposed to animal sacrifices at a remote altar, at a remote temple, that I could have best visit a few times a year or even less frequently under the Mosaic covenant. Thus the temple at Jerusalem could be destroyed. Animal sacrifice ended and the officiation of the priests at the Temple ended as a consequence of Jesus' sacrifice, once and for all because the Temple is now within me. Jesus is sacrificed once and for all and he is my high priest, thus transforming the law into grace whereby God deals with me personally in the process of refining me towards holiness and sanctification. But insofar as my sin transgresses the grace that God has extended to me, I make myself a transgressor and therefore vulnerable to the curse of the law.
Ephesians 4:18-32 lists much that is relevant to this teaching. It is on verse 27 nor give trace or foothold to the devil, that the core thesis of this teaching is based. This passage warrants careful study at this time as you listen to this teaching. I hope that this clarifies what I have endeavoured to communicate throughout this teaching. I fully appreciate that what I am addressing here is incredibly complex and that I do not have all the answers, I sought to communicate it as effectively as possible on my understanding based on real life observations and experience of what has worked and what has not, together with a large amount of prayer, Bible study and other research. If my choice of words to subscribe the scriptural basis of what I have presented is not entirely accurate, I would value your suggestions. However, please do not permit this to distract you from extracting what is of importance to you out of this document.
There is still much that I can write on this topic, but increasingly this relates to the challenge of becoming truly spirit-led. God willing, I hope in due course to produce a further teaching which addresses this subject in a similar format to this.
In conclusion, I have sought to set out some principles which from my experiencing seem important to the topic. My prayer is that as you read through these points, the Holy Spirit will lead you to those factors that apply in your life right now. For there it is up to you to work out your salvation, healing and deliverance with fear and trembling. Pray and ask the Lord to lead you to relevant scriptures, teachings, books, tapes, etc. Ask Him to lead you to people who can help you, speak to you through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, and other believers. You are also welcome to contact me. I cannot guarantee that I can help you, but God willing, we will try. I can be contacted on South Africa international dialling code 27, dialling code in South Africa 83 from outside the country or else 083-251-6644. That is my cellular phone. Or Johannesburg in South Africa, 011-791-2327. Fax 791-5004. Email: Jamesr@infodoor.co.za.
In the final part of this teaching, I will set out some prayers that I found helpful in walking the road that I have touched on in this teaching. Some prayers that have worked for me. I hope that from the comments made throughout this teaching as well as the guidelines for using the teaching provided at the beginning, you will realise that I truly believe that the only way that you will be delivered from bondage is through what I would call "diagnostic prayer." That is, accept that God wants to bless you, accept that His word is true and accept that He has said that he will answer every prayer prayed in accordance with His will and in faith without doubting in the name of Jesus. If this is the case, then the only possible reason for you to be in lack, sickness, or any other form of bondage must lie with you. That is not a criticism, it is a statement of fact and is in fact I believe a statement that should fill you with hope and joy.
If you are all that stands between you and deliverance, then you are no longer dependent on any third-party. God can and will deliver you as soon as you have dealt with whatever it is that is giving Satan a foothold. Certainly God may use other people to assist you but even if you are the only person in the room on a desert island and you have your Bible and are filled with the Holy Spirit, that is all that you will ever need for your deliverance. Nevertheless, somehow most people do not seem to know how to pray diagnostic payers. To me as an engineer, scientist, analyst and military commander, diagnostic prayers are simply the spiritual equivalent of the reasonable questions that anyone facing a problem in the world would ask in order to solve the problem.
Diagnostic prayers are prayers prayed in faith believing that God will answer in which you ask God to help you and discover what is wrong and why you are not walking in His blessings whatever the blessing may be. In other words, ask God questions and if you do not understand the answer, ask more questions and keep on asking questions about the answers until all aspects of the problem have been dealt with and you have the victory. Clearly when an answer requires action, whether it be restitution, repentance or any other form of action, you will need to take that action, however much of it may not be to your liking. Equally the answer you receive is not necessarily going to be the same answer that someone else would obtain and therefore they are not necessarily going to be able to assist you to act on it. After all it is your personal sin. However, if you pray thoughtfully, if you listen attentively, if you observe carefully what goes on around you, you will begin to understand where God is leading you. As you gain understanding, you will progressively pray more incisively until you have prayed through to the solution.
Remember always to pray in the spirit without ceasing. You could also pray defensive and protective prayers. As you begin to understand how totally incompetent you are in your own strength to achieve anything in the spiritual realm, you will also begin to pray prayers which grant God permission to operate more and more deeply in your life. As you do so, you are likely to begin to diet yourself and become increasingly Holy Spirit led.
The prayers that follow are a direct transcription of the lists that I have developed over several years, which I have from time to time prayed over myself. They are not offered as some form of recipe, simply as a list that has helped me and which I believe if you pray them sincerely and with faith will help you. All prayers are prayed to the Father in the name of Jesus and I will therefore not state that explicitly necessarily with every prayer. Please note that I do not claim that every prayer is scriptural or entirely within the best will of God. This is simply a list of prayers that I have prayed.
Nothing that follows should be construed suggesting that you should abdicate your responsibility to hear God and to act on what He says to you. No matter what the wording may suggest to you or must be prayed as a humble petition, not an arrogant demanding or avoiding of responsibility. If you do not like the wording, you are free to change them. If you have suggestions, I would welcome hearing from you. I will simply utter each prayer and you may pray them with me or change some as you see fit.
Father God in Jesus name I ask you to please show me any unforgiveness, bitterness, offence, error, unrighteousness, or other sins that I need to repent of and anything else that will keep me from hearing you or fellowshipping with you. Please bring to my attention the sins that I am currently are unaware of and forgive me even the sins that I do not know about or I am unaware of, in Jesus name.
Create in me a clean heart. Pray Psalm 50:1 over yourself regularly. Pray Psalm 119 over yourself regularly. Father I ask you to speak to me through apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers books, tapes, or in any other way to show me things that I am not hearing you clearly on or things that I need to know, in Jesus name. Father God in the name of Jesus, send apostles and prophets to me for correction or direction as necessary. Keep me from false prophets, lying, false vanity, religious proud and antichrist spirits and all other demonic influence, in Jesus name.
Father God in the name of Jesus, crucify myself, selfishness, self-righteousness, self-centredness and all other forms of self that I may become Christ-centred and let my flesh die daily. Grant me a revelation to truly see myself as the chief of sinners as Paul did in Jesus name. Father in the name of Jesus, help me to discipline myself daily to read your word and pray continually and in tongues and to be in your presence all the time in Jesus name. Father God in the name of Jesus make me critically aware of anything that is hindering my prayer life, reading of the word or hearing you. Help me to keep from backsliding again in Jesus name. Father God help me to put you first in everything and help me to keep from becoming too busy from you in Jesus name. Father God help me to seek first the Kingdom of God and your righteousness and to do the things that you have called me to do as my only priority in Jesus name.
Father I thank you in the name of Jesus that you will bring the right people into my life and take and keep the wrong people out of my life. I thank you that you will provide all my needs, both physical and financial in Jesus name. That last prayer I would suggest to you is one of the most significant prayers that I have prayed in my life. In the years that followed praying that prayer I experienced enormous turmoil as the Lord showed me what was in the hearts of various people around me that I truly trusted and relied on but without praying prayers like that we are likely to spend our lives constantly being misdirected and doing things which are not pleasing to God.
Father God in the name of Jesus I apply the blood of Jesus to my wife and my children and myself from the top of our heads to the soles of our feet. I apply the blood of Jesus to the house, the walls, the floors, the roofs, the ceilings, the doors, windows, the window frames, the doorposts and the lintels, to cars, to property and all that we own, in Jesus name. I ask you to help me to be continually conscious of self and confessing the power of the blood of Jesus in Jesus name. Father God guide me to take care of my body, your temple in Jesus name. Father God guide me to be a good husband and father and worker in Jesus name.
Father God give me wisdom and understanding and lead me in all that I do in Jesus name. Father, teach me to pray in Jesus name. Father make me more like Jesus day by day, in Jesus name. Father show me your priorities every day, in Jesus name. Guide my every step, every minute of every day. Let me do only your will every second of every minute of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year for the rest of my life. Father let me acknowledge you and Jesus before men at all times in every way in Jesus name. Father, guide my business and all those who work for it, grant them wisdom and understanding in all things and help them to work as a team and come to know you more in Jesus name. Father, thank you for abundant finances and that you take us out of debt in Jesus name. Father, guide our rulers that we may and our land may have peace in Jesus name.
Father I thank you that I put on and constantly wear the whole armour of God. I wear the belt of truth and the breastplate of integrity, moral rectitude and right standing with God. My feet is [inaudible 1:14:18] with the firm foot of stability of the gospel of peace lifting up over all the shield of saving faith upon which I can quench all the flaming missiles of the evil one. I wear the helmet of salvation and carry the sword that the spirit wields, that is the Word of God. I thank you that you help me to pray at all times and on every occasion in the spirit and to keep alert and strong, in Jesus name.
Read Ephesians regularly and pray the appropriate passages. Father I ask you in the name of Jesus to help me to keep from self confidence, pride and other carnal or demonic influence and show me immediately any Demons tends to attach itself to me or my family, in Jesus name. Father I ask you to show me all demonic bondage that I am currently in, all Demons that are presently oppressing my flesh and I ask you to show me what is necessary to get rid of them. I ask you in the name of Jesus to bring me into contact with people and teachings that will bring me to a place of complete deliverance, in Jesus name. Father I ask you in the name of Jesus to show me what else I should pray in Jesus name. Father I ask you to remind me to ask you before I do anything that will take time, cost money, or impact anyone anything, your work or your kingdom. Help me to do your will and not mine, in Jesus name. Father I ask you to lead me not into temptation, in Jesus name.
Pray the so-called Lord's prayer or pattern prayer on a regular basis. Thy Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be down on Earth as it is in Heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil from thy is the glory, the power and the kingdom for ever and ever, amen.
Use that outline that Jesus gave us as a basis for your prayers but amplify and extend the concept of each step of the way as you pray. Father help me to speak your word with boldness in every situation in Jesus name. Read Romans 8 regularly, especially with regard to Jesus Christ as our unrighteousness. Father help me to remember that in 1 Timothy 1:15 Paul referred to himself as the chief of all sinners. Help me to see myself as the chief of all sinners, in Jesus name. A prayer which Rick Joyner reports in his book 'The Final Quest' which to me is profoundly important is quite simply: Father in the name of Jesus I ask you to judge me severely and correct me harshly that I may serve you more perfectly, in Jesus name. Also, Father I ask you to show me the level of my present deception in the name of Jesus and I ask you to show me what you require of me to deal with the deception in my life in Jesus name. Father I ask you to give me a teachable heart and a teachable spirit that I will respond immediately to new truth that you reveal to me in Jesus name.
These prayers are by no means a definitive list. They are certainly prayers that have been helpful to me. I have certainly seen answers to these prayers in my life as I have grown in Christ. I would encourage you to pray these prayers or pray similar to them and whatever other prayers that the Holy Spirit of God leads you to pray on an ongoing and continual basis as you press in and seek to know Him more nearly and see Him more clearly day by day. Please realise also that much of what is requested in those prayers will take time to manifest in one's life. In some cases, we may need considerable spiritual preparation before we can receive those things. In all cases, I will not allow my flesh to stand in the way.
Understand that when you ask God to take people that He does not want out of your life, there is a distinct possibility that He is going to remove people from your life that you do not expect Him to remove. Understand also that it is likely to be difficult and painful because Satan is going to manifest in those situations in ways that you quite possibly have never previously experienced. In the years that followed after I first prayed for the Lord to take people He did not want out of my life, He systematically removed one of my business partners and I gave my staff, a man, my wife in the process of revealing massive treachery and betrayal in a number of instances. However, to live a life in which such demonically inspired treachery and dishonesty is constantly going on behind one's back, is a life in which one cannot walk in the fullness of the blessings of God and accordingly I would encourage you to pray that prayer with great sincerity at the same time being aware that you will almost certainly encounter demonic manifestation in the lives of people around you, such as you have probably not expected.
In conclusion, with regard to the prayers that I have just prayed with you, I still wrestle with the question of whether some or all of them should be prayed in the process of thanking God from granting the prayers as opposed to petitioning Him. In some cases I think it will be presumptuous to pray all of those differently, but I am unsure and I would encourage each of my listeners to seek God and to pray as they see fit and as they feel led. I sincerely pray that you have found this teaching series to be of some help. I welcome your comments and suggestions, particularly of significant omissions and serious errors. At the same time, I appeal to you to focus on what is good in this document, rather than on that is wrong with it. None of us is perfect and I increasingly realise how imperfect I am. While correction is important, if we become too focused on correcting others, we miss out on what God is seeking you to do in our own lives and we are primarily responsible for our own lives. At the same time, pride very quickly gains a foothold. If you are constantly seeing people's errors, errors in books, etc., and are telling them what is wrong, you are very sure that God has told you to speak to them if not pride has probably become established. Rather keep quiet and pray for them.
God bless you. I pray that you will take a few steps closer to Jesus and to victory in your life as a result of what is being taught in this series. May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face to shine upon you, in the name of Jesus, amen.
02_11 Spiritual Warfare Prayers Preparing for the Coming Judgment
In the Judgement series, Judgement in this Life. It was recorded on the 20th of December, the year 2000, as an add-on to the series in response to a set of spiritual warfare prayers which I felt impressed for the Lord to prepare for the Foundation for Living, Christian Fellowship in Pretoria last week. It has became apparent to me that with the level of onslaught that is taking place on the church today and the level of judgement that is coming on the church today that it is absolutely vital that Christians start praying effective spiritual warfare prayers, specifically directed at the realisation that we are now at the end of the age and that Satan and his cohorts will be consigned to the pit, the Abyss for a thousand years at the end of this period. The tape that I prepared for FFL would be included in this tape in full and then I will provide further information for your reference at the end of that recording. Before I do that, let me share a little bit more of a context with you. My background is civil engineering and I have some experience in mining engineering as well. And when the Lord first led me to start praying in the fashion that is included on this tape, I had a vision in terms of the manner in which ore bodies, deep ore bodies, particularly diamond pipes are mined, and I will endeavour just to give you a verbal picture of what that entails.
Here we are talking about an ore body, which is extremely deep and extremely massive and the problem associated with that is that you cannot go down from the surface indefinitely, otherwise the size of the pit becomes unmanageable and in particularly with a diamond pipe you are dealing with relatively soft ground at the middle and very hard rock around it. So what is generally done is that they come in from underneath the ore body. They drill in tunnels with drives and they then draw three-dimensional fan of blast holes up into the roof of the drive. They pack those with explosives, they detonate them and a portion of the roof then collapses into the drive and they go in with equipments, sometimes remote controlled loaders and they laid out the ore body. Once they have cleared out the void, they go in and they blast the next component. Slowly what happens is what is initially a very small hole in the roof out of which not very much ore comes, gets bigger and bigger and the whole cascades upwards until in some cases it may actually reach the surface of the opencast mine which then collapses into the whole and there is a whole all the way to the surface which may in some instances extends thousands of feet.
Now, the metaphor that the Lord showed me in that vision is that currently we sit on ground level under a massive oppressive blanket of principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions. My understanding is that the principalities are the relatively small demonic groups and groups of angels serving Satan, very close to the ground which are operating over particular families, particular communities, particular churches, particular areas of political endeavour, such as education, nightclubs, etc. Above them are the powers which are more far-reaching, above them are thrones, and above them are the dominions, each of which is a hierarchy. I am not absolutely sure of the exact progression of that. So please do not take that as an absolutely definitive statement of fact, but the reality is that there is this hierarchy and on top of all of this sits Satan. So Satan gives his commands to the dominions under him. They give their commands to the thrones under them. They give their commands to the powers under them and they give their commands to the principalities under them and the principalities they give their commands to the individual junior or lower ranking Angels and Demons who are the ones who actually generally manipulate and controls human beings on this Earth, be that believers or unbelievers. It is important to understand that the majority of Satan's efforts are directed at believers. He is just exercising enough influence over unbelievers to keep them coming to salvation but as long as he can keep them coming to salvation they are no real threat to him, recognise that it is generally believed that Satan took one-third of the Angels with him when he fell from heaven, which means that Satan's Angels are outnumbered 2:1. On the other hand, Satan has seemingly billions of Demons but the Demons are in a sense outweighed by the Spirit of God in whom we live and move and have our being and who pervades the entire universe, outweighed by the spirit of Jesus in the heart of every born-again believer and outweighed by the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the believers who have received the baptism of the Holy Spirit. But in each case recognise God is gentle, God is kind, God does not go against our will, God gave mankind in the form of Adam dominion over the Earth, Jesus came to gain the authority to cast Satan out and he gave that authority to men. Men have to exercise that authority until the great day when Satan and his cohorts are cast into the pit. So God will be aware of what is going on. He can tell you what to pray. He can tell you what to pray in the spirit. He can speak through prophets and reveal the principalities and powers, thrones and dominions, but we have to pray in order to tear them down.
To go back to the mining analogy, basically recognising that any congregation, which is at a specific geographic location where God has placed them as being placed there for purpose. I have seen progressively over the last few years that God tends to place congregations directly under pivot points in principalities, powers, thrones, or dominions, and if we can tear down and create a clear Heaven above that point, it weakens the principalities and powers around it. In other cases, it seems to me where they may be great darkness God may put a ring of churches around that area or a ring of people playing around that area and if they can pray a clear circle around that place, then the principalities and powers within that circle can be torn down. So it is important to see that each person who listens to this tape, each congregation has a responsibility before God to operate consistently and effectively in praying the prayers which are contained on this tape, in Jesus name. And so basically if you start today praying over your house and binding and tearing down the principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions that are operating over your house, it is like that ore body, it is like that first little fan-shaped drilling that I spoke about, and depending on how strong you are in your faith, how confident you are in your priority, the magnitude of the anointing that you are walking under today, you will start firing little shots into the darkness above you dwell and as you pray and you pray out into the broader space above your house, you would tear down and tear down. And so every time you pray, you bring down and weaken a few more of Demons and Angels that are operating over your property until eventually if you are diligent, if you walk in the full revelation of the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ, you will come to a place where God will grant you an open Heaven.
I have on two occasions praying these prayers had the Lord shown me an open Heaven. In one case, it was quite a major opening above a particular ministry and the skies opened and we knew that our prayers were going through for a season. But understand that when that happens, Satan immediately comes to kill, steal, and destroy. He will launch a serious attack on that ministry. He will try and bring division what have you and sadly in that particular case, he brought rebellion, witchcraft, and various other sin into that congregation like a flood and it fell apart within weeks.
In another instance I saw what was initially a shaft of gold light, like a size of a lamppost and then we prayed again the following week, it opened to the diameter of a tunnel that a man could have passed through. So if we are diligent, we will pray through and we will create a hole in the demonic darkness above a particular location, be it a congregation, be it above a dwelling place of family and if we keep praying, we will slowly break more and more of those things into that hole and they will be cast out. As we pray, as we pray by faith, if we keep an agreement and we keep resisting what the devil is doing, we will eventually collectively around the world, the people who are praying this prayer will come to a place where sometime and the indications are maybe three years, it may be about seven years, Satan and his cohorts will be cast into the pit for a thousand years. So I encourage you, please listen to this teaching. When it is not a teaching, just please listen to the prayers, pray along with them. The first couple of times, you may need to have the tape playing and pray in agreement, but ask the Holy Spirit to implant the basic principles of this prayer in your heart and start praying them over every situation, in Jesus name.
I will just record the tape that was done for a particular ministry in a particular location. When you listen to it, just pause at that point and put in the name of your congregation, the name of your pastor and pray further with the tape.
This tape was prepared on the 9th of December, the year 2000, and it contains a series of prayers for the congregation of Foundation For Living Church in Pretoria North to pray over Pretoria North and the country. The context of this prayer is that the Lord has indicated that there is a particular Demonic principality that is operating over the geographic location where we are meeting and that in order for the Lord's purposes to be accomplished in Pretoria North and in fact in the country of South Africa and the world, it is necessary for this principality and power to be broken at this stage. In order to break it, it is necessary that as a congregation collectively and individually, we offer up a concerted prayer on a regular basis and intercession against this principality. In order to equip the members of the congregation for this warfare, I have prepared this tape, which includes some Scriptures setting out the basis of what is contained in this tape and then a series of prayers which I would ask you to pray and agree when you listen to the tape and to pray that on a regular basis in Jesus name.
Few Scriptures, 2 Corinthians 10:3-6: "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled." So we see that the war in which we are engaged is not a carnal fleshly war, it is a spiritual war and that the weapons of our warfare are also not physical than mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down of arguments and casting down every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ. We are going to be focusing our attention on pulling down strongholds over the Paul and the immediate vicinity over Pretoria North, over Pretoria, over South Africa, over Africa and over the world. 1 Timothy 2:17-19: "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, to God who alone is wise, be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen. This charge I commit to you, son Timothy, according to the prophecies previously made concerning you, that by them you may wage the good warfare, having faith and a good conscience, which some having rejected, concerning the faith have suffered shipwreck." And so we see that it is scriptural for us to wage warfare. It is necessary that we have faith in the good conscience, which means that we examine ourselves before God and deal with anything in our hearts, any sin that God requires us to deal with at this time. You should examine yourself carefully and see part of this process of being to seek holiness and sanctification in your own life which would equip you to be more effective as an intercessor for the congregation for the area and for the world. To intercede and wage warfare against Satan without going before God first and searching your heart and not seeking to make right with God and to deal with sin is something that you should be wary of doing.
Ephesians 6:10-18: "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armour of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armour of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.
Stand therefore, having girded your waist with truth, having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the preparation of the gospel of peace; above all, taking the shield of faith with which you will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked one. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God; praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, being watchful to this end with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints."
Romans 8:35-39: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written:
'For Your sake we are killed all day long;
We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.'
Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
We see from the passage in Ephesians that the armour is truth and righteousness and salvation, faith, and we see that in fighting this warfare, there will be tribulation, distress, persecution and so forth. But that we are not dealing with things of this life, we are dealing with things of the life to come and that at the end of the day, we are obedient and we do what God has called us to do, nothing will separate us from the love of God. Colossians 1:16: "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him." And we see here that there are four levels of angelic rulership over the Earth, thrones, dominions, principalities and powers and there are two categories of these. There is those that are serving God and there are those that are serving Satan. We will be praying in a few moments to tear down the principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions that are operating over the areas that we are dealing with.
To put this in a broader context, Revelation 20:1-3: "Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while."
So we see that at the end of the age, Satan and as I understand it, that includes all his cohorts, Demons and fallen Angels will be cast into the pit for a thousand years and then the kingdom of righteousness will come on the Earth for the millennium reign of Christ on Earth. As we have seen in the teachings over the last two months or so, the time of tribulation is at hand. The fulfilment in Matthew 24 in that area is at hand and therefore we understand that it is the time when Satan will be cast into the pit for a thousand years is fast approaching, but we also understand that God has given the authority over the Earth to mankind. Mankind sinned and gave that authority to Satan. Jesus came and died on the cross and he took that authority back and we read in Scripture that Jesus says that all authority in Heaven and Earth was given on to him and he then charged us to go forth and to do the work that he was sending us to do. So only men and God speaking through men by His Holy Spirit have the authority to take authority over Satan and cast him into the pit. Therefore for Satan to be cast into the pit for a thousand years, it is necessary for us as believers to join an agreement to tear down the principalities, powers, thrones and dominions that are operating over this world and cast them into the pit and to ask the Father to send His mighty warring angels to give effect to our prayer in order that victory may be achieved, that Satan may be cast into the pit, and that peace may come upon the Earth in the spiritual realm.
So with that context I am going to go through a series of prayers based on the Scriptures that I have just read to you and I would ask you to listen prayerfully and to pray along with the tape to very least to align your heart with what is being said and to agree with it and I would ask you to do this on a regular basis in the days ahead. We have a very serious responsibility on this congregation to intercede for this particular location where God has seen fit to situate our meeting place and it is important that we recognise that as was mentioned on the 3rd of December, there are a large number of congregations on the same city block and in the immediate vicinity and the fact that God has found it necessary to establish another congregation on the same piece of territory indicates that the spiritual warfare that is required in that area is not being seen through to completion and therefore we are called to pick up the battle wherever it may be at this moment in time and to take it and see it through to completion and we are required to overcome to the end. So I would ask you to pray with me. Firstly, based on Ephesians 6:10-18. We will put on the whole armour of God and I will just pray through that. We will then ask the Father in the name of the son to cover ourselves and the congregation and the leadership and so forth with the blood of Jesus so that we are safe from demonic attack and we will then systematically tear down the principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions that are operating over the area and over the country and over the world.
It is important to understand that there is a force of prayer which has to be generated. We read that in Daniel, that Daniel prayed and interceded and fasted for three weeks before the Angel was able to get through to him and in the interim was warring with the Prince of Persia. So again, it is scriptural to understand that we cannot just pray a prayer like this once against the massive principalities and powers of darkness that are operating over this world and expect them all to be cast into the pit. We have to raise up a concerted voice of intercession in harmony and unity to tear these things down and we must do that for as long as the Lord requires us to do it and my understanding is we must keep praying these prayers until we know that Satan has been cast into the pit for a thousand years and my understanding of that is that is something of the order of three and three and a half years in the future. So we need to start praying this, we need to start praying it over the meeting place. We need to start praying this prayer over our individual homes [inaudible 0:23:53] Lord to pray more or less as I am about to pray for something of the order of nearly two years now and the picture that we have is that as each congregation prays continually into the darkness over the Earth, they slowly are rolling back the darkness. They are pulling down the principalities and powers immediately over the geographic location where they are and it is like opening out a dome of light over that location and slowly as more and more is pulled into the opening that we create, the whole of Satan's kingdom will crumble and as more and more people around the world pray this basic prayer on a consistent basis, these little domes of light over the places of pray focus will get bigger and they will start to join together and eventually we will see the darkness rolling back and eventually at the end, the entire kingdom of Satan will collapse and be cast into the pit.
So it is important that we should run and not go weary and that we should keep interceding in this even if the Lord moves you on to another congregation, it is important that you keep praying this prayer not only for the [inaudible 0:25:07] and the location where we are currently situated but for your house where you live, any new congregation the Lord my take you to, He will require you when He does move you to share this teaching and this information with them if they are not aware of it and to pray it over that area. And so this truth needs to be spread out now across the world so that more and more believers can start systematically tearing these things down.
Father we come to you in the name of Jesus and we put on the whole armour of God that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil for we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but against principalities, powers, and the rulers of darkness of this age, against the spiritual house of wickedness in the heavenly places. Father we commit today in the name of Jesus to come against these things on a consistent basis and to tear them down over the [inaudible 0:26:08] in Pretoria North and over our country and over the world in Jesus name. Therefore, Father in the name of Jesus, we take up the whole armour of God that we may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. We guard our waists with the belt of truth, having put on and we put on the breastplate of righteousness. We put on the shoes which are the preparation of the gospel of peace and we take the shield of faith with which we will be able to quench all the fiery doubts of the wicked one. We take the helmet of salvation and we put it on our heads and we take of the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God. Father we ask you in the name of Jesus to strengthen truth in our lives, to strengthen the preparation of the gospel of peace in our lives, to strengthen righteousness and holiness and sanctification in our lives to give us a revelation that Jesus Christ is unrighteousness. Father to strengthen our faith to nourish our faith and that our faith may grow, to implant and to establish the truth of salvation in our lives, that helmet will protect our thoughts and everything that we do. We ask you father in the name of Jesus to anoint us to read your word. We ask you to open your word to us, such as we have never seen it open before. We ask you to engraft and implant in our hearts the truth of your word and the scriptures that we need to know and to have written on the tablet of our heart for the purpose of what you have called us to do for this warfare.
Father we ask you to teach us to use the sword of the spirit, the word of God, in every situation to cut through the darkness of this present age. And Father we ask you in the name of Jesus by your Holy Spirit to give us utterance in prayer at all times and without ceasing to pray by the spirit that we may be watchful with all perseverance and supplication for all the saints for the deliverance of this world from the powers of Satan, in Jesus name. Father I ask you now in the name of Jesus and I would ask each one of you to as you pray just to put in the names of your own family and to see your family covered by the blood of Jesus. It is important that you understand that the blood of Jesus is the sign and the mark of the covenant that we have with God. The blood of Jesus was shed at the cross voluntarily by Jesus Christ to purchase our redemption and it is that blood that has given us the right and the authority to use Jesus' name. It is that blood that protects us and shields us from the works of the enemy and it is up to us to claim the blood and to plead the blood over every situation in order that we may be safe to conduct this warfare. Father we come to you now in the name of Jesus and we plead the blood over our families, over our congregation, the leadership, over every believer in Pretoria North, over the [inaudible 0:29:58] property in the name of Jesus. Father I just thank you now in the name of Jesus that you cover every member of my immediate and extended family with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet.
I thank you that you cover Neil Dryer and Lewis and their family with the blood of Jesus from the top of their head to the soles of their feet, Father, their children and their grandchildren, all cousins, uncles and aunts, nephews and nieces covered with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. Father I ask you to cover the entire congregation of Foundation for Living Church and their families and relatives with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet in Jesus name. Father I ask you to cover every believer in Pretoria North with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. I ask you to cover every believer in South Africa with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet. I ask you to cover every believer in this planet with the blood of Jesus from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet in Jesus name. I ask you to cover the [inaudible 0:31:07] in Pretoria North, [inaudible 0:31:11] with the blood of Jesus, the walls, the floors, the ceiling, the roof, the doors, the windows, the window frames, the doorposts, and the lintels covered with the blood of Jesus.
I ask you Father to cover the entire [inaudible 0:31:23] property with the blood of Jesus in Jesus name. Father we thank you that the blood of Jesus is against Satan and we plead the blood over all of these things and we thank you for the blood, we thank you for this safekeeping of the blood. We thank you for the blood covenant. We have with you Father cut in the flesh of Jesus with the blood flowing down the cross on to the mercy seat and we thank you for mighty deliverance. We thank you that we come before you not trusting in our own unrighteousness, but in Jesus Christ who is our righteousness. We thank you that we come before you in the authority of the name of Jesus, the name above all names, the name at which every knee shall bow, every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. Father we thank you that as believers brought with the blood, covered with the blood, we have the authority to come against these principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions and tear them down in Jesus name.
Father, we thank you that Jesus is coming soon. We thank you that peace is coming on the Earth soon. We thank you that soon this world will be free of Satan and his Demons and fallen Angels in the name of Jesus. We praise you for that Father. We glorify your holy name. We worship you Lord and God, Saviour and King. Father we ask you to bring the people that you want into the FFL congregation in Jesus name and we ask you to take anybody that you do not want out. We ask you to open doors that no man may close and close doors that no men may open. We pray Father that you will keep any agent of Satan, any witch or warlock Satanist or any other servant of Satan from coming into that meeting place, coming into that congregation in Jesus name.
[Foreign language 0:33:16]. We praise you Jesus. We praise you Father. We praise your holy name. We worship you Lord and God, Saviour and King. [Foreign language 0:33:33]. Have I not called you just the Lord, I have called every one of you to assist the Lord. I have established you and I have planted you in this place for a season to do the work that I have called you to do. Therefore be bold and very courageous says the Lord. Step out now and tear down my enemies. Tear them down and cast them into the pit for I am coming soon says the Lord. But victory must be one, all my enemies must be put as a footstool under my feet and I have called you and I have established you and I have anointed you and I have anointed you to do the work. You are the soldiers in my army. You are the soldiers whose spiritual authority is required to deliver and set this world free and take back all that the enemy has stolen. So be bold and very courageous. That ends the Word of the Lord.
Father we come to you in the name of Jesus and we just come in unity and harmony and agreement to take authority over the principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions that are operating over this world and to tear them down and cast them into the pit for a thousand years, in Jesus name. I come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the South African [inaudible 0:35:11] in the block north of station street, bounded on the west by Jack Hindon street and on the east by UFS road in Pretoria North. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over that hall. In the name of Jesus we blind you, we tear you down and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over that property in the name of Jesus. We bind you, we tear you down and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in the name of Yahooshua. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over that city block in the name of Jesus. We bind you, we tear you down and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name.
We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the immediate suburban area of the [inaudible 0:36:09] in the name of Jesus. We bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in the name of Yahooshua. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over Pretoria North in the name of Yahooshua. We bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the city of Pretoria and in the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the province of [inaudible 0:36:48] and in the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the [inaudible 0:37:01] province and in the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the Republic of South Africa and in the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name.
We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over Southern Africa in the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the continent of Africa. In the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the planet Earth and in the name of Yahooshua, we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name.
Satan we come against you in the Jesus and we declare that the word of God states that on the appointed day, the Father will send one of His mighty warring Angels to bind you and chain you and cast you into the pit for a thousand years. Father, we thank you now in the name of Jesus that that day is close at hand. We thank you Father in the name of Jesus that you will send your mighty warring Angels to bind Satan, to chain him and to cast him into the bottom of pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. Father, we ask in the name of Jesus that you will send your mighty warring Angels to bind and tear down every principality, power, throne, and dominion that we have named and cast them into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over Neil Dreyer and in the name of Jesus, we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years. Father in the name of Jesus, we speak now that everything that is holding back Neil Dreyer's ministry as an apostle to reach out and touch the nations is torn down and broken down now. Father, we thank you that you anointed him and you have called him to go forth to the nations as you have appointed and we thank you Father that you release him and that you open every door that needs to be opened and close every door that needs to be closed in Jesus name.
We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the Dreyer family and in the name of Jesus we bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years. We come against every principality, power, throne, and dominion that is operating over the Dreyer family residence in the name of Jesus. We bind you, we tear you down, and we cast you into the pit for a thousand years in Jesus name. Father we praise you, we worship you, we glorify your holy name. Father, we thank you for mighty deliverance in our congregation in the area of Pretoria North and in the world at large. Father, we thank you that the day is coming when we will no longer be harassed and persecuted by Satan. The day is coming when peace will come on Earth in Jesus name. And we praise you for that, we glorify you for that, we give you all the honour and all the glory. We thank you father that you have given us the opportunity to intercede for this world to be your servants and we ask you Father to help us to be faithful to the end to overcome to the end, not to grow weary and to give up. Father it is our desire to be found to be faithful servants at the end of this age and for that reason we ask you to judge us severely and correct us harshly that we may serve you more perfectly.
We ask you Father in the name of Jesus to reveal the level of our present deception and what you require of us to do about it. We ask you Father to show us everything in our lives that you want us to deal with, everything that you want us to change that we may come to a place of holiness and sanctification that we may be vessels for honour in your house in Jesus name. And we worship you and we praise you and we glorify your holy name in Jesus some.
Some further points arising out of the prayer that has just been prayed. [inaudible 0:41:18] was in fact about three and a half years ago that we started praying this particular prayer. More or less shortly after Tabernacles in the year 1996, for which there is scriptural indication that that is the beginning of the tribulation. There is increasing evidence that the tribulation has in fact commenced if we have eyes to see. It is spiritual tribulation which it appears will move into a physical tribulation in the days ahead. I said this to you by the spirit and not according to some rigorous pharisaic interpretation of Scripture. We must be aware of the fact that when Jesus came, very few people on the Earth knew that he had come and those who were best qualified to determine that he had come in fact did not recognise him and in fact the very people who should have been best qualified to receive Jesus when he came, crucified him. Accordingly, please be aware that you are called by God to hear by His spirit. You are called by God to discern by His spirit what the truth and the signs of the times are. It is not for you to rely on the interpretations of Scripture of any other man. They are useful in so far that there are many who are saying that somewhere between Tabernacles 1996 and Tabernacles of Passover 2004 represents the day at which something will happen. Many are talking about a rapture before tribulation, but it is dealt with earlier in the series, there is absolutely no scriptural basis for rapture before tribulation. The church must be judged first. God is righteous, His word says that judgement begins in the House of the Lord. He cannot judge the world until He has fully righteously judged the church and there is so much wrong in the church today that great judgement is heaped up for the church.
Many of us have been undergoing intense refining, intense chastisement, and intense tribulation in the spiritual realm, financial lack, health and other areas of the last few years. Those with discernment are aware of it. I believe that we are about to move in to a phase where it is going to become much more physical. It is perhaps relevant to note that on the Passover even the 1999 my wife and I found ourselves by the Lord's leading alone in a small twin-engine aeroplane flying over the centre of Washington DC and we were impressed by the Spirit of God to pray more or less the prayers that are on this tape. In other words, we prayed over the President of the United States, over the White House, over the Pentagon and progressively over Washington, over the State of British Columbia where Washington is situated, over the eastern seaboard of the United States, over the United States as a whole and over the world binding and tearing down the principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions. We intercede most Tuesday evenings and as the Lord leads, frequently find ourselves binding, tearing down the principalities, powers, thrones, and dominions over specific world leaders, over specific world institutions such as United Nations, such as the World Banking System, such as the Government of the United States, Government of the United Kingdom, in particular the Swiss Banking System, the Vatican, the Pope and various other principalities or various other earthly situations over which principalities and powers are operating, over the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, Jerusalem as a whole, Israel as a geographic entity and the people of Israel, around the world. Over the body of Christ, over education, and over the government of this country.
It is important that you do not just slavishly pray just what has been prayed on this tape over your particular house or your particular congregation, but that you pray it as the Lord leads of other congregations. We pray that prayer over a number of congregations and specific church leaders around the world. You need to pray as the Lord leads. Together He will raise up an absolute barrage of prayer in this whole thing. It is also important as a said earlier on in this tape, Satan is outnumbered, his Angels are outnumbered as we understand it, at least 2:1. We read in Genesis that before the flood the sons of God, Satan's Angels as I understand it, came to Earth and had sexual intercourse with women. They fathered children by women and we read in, I think in Tites and in Jude and in 2 Peter that those Angels have been reserved in chains for the Day of Judgement. So it appears that many of Satan's Angels were used by Satan to try and corrupt the bloodline of Adam in order that they would not be a pure bloodline through which the Messiah could be born. It seems that one of the main reasons for the flood was that Noah and perhaps some of his sons were the only remaining pure bloodline on the Earth that had not been contaminated with the bloodline of Satanic Angels and that that was a factor in why God had to destroy the Earth.
It appears that all of those Angels are cast into jail or are reserved in chains until the Day of Judgement and therefore it appears that Satan may have significantly less than the full quota of Angels that fell with him. It is almost certain that has caused him to be very cautious in the manner in which he deploys those Angels, but however, if we are not [inaudible 0:46:58] years before Satan is to cast into the pit. We must be certain that he is going to put up a massive final fight. It is important also to understand that the final authority on the Earth still rests with human beings. Jesus regained that authority from Satan for mankind, but we have to exercise it. It is my understanding of Scripture that if there is not a single born-again believer who has a revelation of their authority in Christ, is not filled with the Holy Spirit on the day that Satan is appointed to be cast into the pit for a thousand years, the hands of God will be tied. He requires a man or men to pray on that day to cast Satan into the pit. And if there is no man who is filled with the spirit of God, has the anointing, has the knowledge to cast Satan into the pit on that day, Satan does not have to go and Satan will have the victory.
So Satan, if you can understand it, Satan is a convict on the run. He is outnumbered. He is therefore going to behave as a murderer in that situation will behave. He will shoot indiscriminately and seek to destroy as many people as he can because his perverted mindset will tell him that if he can destroy all of those who are arranged against him before the day that he is scheduled to go to jail, he does not have to go. So please expect that in the days ahead, Satan is going to come against everybody who is called by the name of Christ in an absolute flood. The teachings of this series are absolutely critical to preparing yourself. He is going to seek at the very least take down as many people as he can, cause them to lose their salvation. I heard a day or so ago talking to somebody, the level of backsliding of mature men and women of God in the church at this stage is becoming absolutely appalling. Recent instance of a man whose wife had opposed him repeatedly in terms of doing what God had called him to do had a vision recently in which the Lord showed a rotting corpse in his bed which was his wife that his wife had lost the salvation and was spiritually dead. I have experience in my own case with my first wife rebelling against the word of God for something like three or four years, spoken to her personally by the spirit of God until eventually Jesus appeared to her in a vision and once more, asked her to do what he told her to do. She refused. It was a consequence of treachery towards me over 25 years, he turned and walked away from her in that vision and rejected as his child and a few weeks later, the Lord took me out of that marriage in a supernatural way.
People are falling daily. If you are not strong in the Lord today, I urge you above all things to seek Him as a vital necessity. You have no hope in what is to come unless you are strong in the Lord. If you start to fall away, then in the years that are coming there will be no opportunity for recovery. We are coming out of the age of grace and we are moving into an age of judgement very, very rapidly. You have to clean up your act. We are moving I believe, we have gone through a lot of spiritual persecution and that I believe is the first three and a half years spoken of by Daniel. I believe that we are now in the second three and a half years, I believe that any day now we are going to see an increase in physical persecution. It has come to my notice in the last few months of believers in the United States who believe certain aspects of critical doctrine with regard to marriage who are putting that into practice, they are being persecuted, they are being monitored by Federal Agencies, they are being handed, their neighbours are being told to have no dealings with him. Their phones are possibly being tapped, they are finding it harder and harder to find jobs. There is massive persecution. I think the figure is something like 50,000 martyrs a month in Asia, India, Tibet, places like that. All hell is breaking loose on Earth. It may not have broken loose visibly in your neighbourhood but it is coming. There is talk of something like 50 concentration camps in the United States of America with computers programmed with warrants of arrest of all Christians who are known to have a strong influence on the people around them.
There are reports of other concentration camps elsewhere in the world, two in South Africa, each allegedly with a capacity to gas and incinerate 3,000 people a day together with electric guillotine. We have no hard evidence of this but spiritually I have to say to you, it is becoming more and more probable that this is at the very door. I was in Israel in 1996 in the Holocaust Museum and the spirit of God said to me very clearly, this is nothing compared to what the church is about to go through and in that museum I was looking at pictures of thousands of emaciated Jews stripped naked, men, women, and children in front of bulldozed trenches, being machine-gunned down, being herded into cattle trucks, being herded into gas chambers, being bulldozed out of those gas chambers like rotting carcasses and cast them to the ovens, being subject to the most frightful medical experiments. There are rumours of global policies directed at reducing the world's population to about 500 million people, that means destroying something like 4 or 5 billion people, I am not sure of the exact numbers. There are all sorts of indications that the days that are coming are going to be the most terrible on Earth and it is important that you do not look to the things that are seen there, just a manifestation of what is taking place so heavily. We are coming to a place where Satan is going to pull out all the stops. We are coming to a place where Satan may again send his Angels to seduce women to take them away from God, particularly where those women are in a particular situation to influence powerful men of God.
It is vital that women accept the need for recovering. Unmarried Christian women are coming into an age where they are at terrible risk of being seduced and taken away and taken apart by Satan. Isaiah 4:1 shows us clearly that in this age there will be seven times more women than men in the body of Christ. The implication of that is that a Christian woman looking for a husband today has to be extremely careful. There are not enough men to go around and in terms of current church doctrine, those women are being laid into adultery, they are being lead into adultery, they are being into marrying outside the faith. They have to come to a revelation of what the word of God says about the situation. They need to study and pray about verses like Exodus 21:10 and see the implication that that has in their lives. The church as a whole needs to realise its responsibility to ensure that all women come under a godly covering. We have produced or in the process of completing a set of 55, approximately 55 teaching tapes on marriage, called "Understanding God's Way in Marriage." It is a three-volume set. The first volume deals with the scriptural basis in terms of what God intends marriage to be. The second is entitled "Towards Heaven on Earth in Marriage" and it deals with the scriptural principles about coming to a place of experiencing the fullness of what marriage is intended to be, walking in perfect harmony, becoming a formidable spiritual force for the deliverance of this world and the third volume deals with practical aspects of applying the teachings.
If you have any problems in your marriage, if you are an unmarried woman, if you are concerned about the level of divorce, there is something like 60% to 70% of all Christian marriages today end in divorce and remarriage, the vast majority of those are not divorces in the sight of God. They are adultery. There are men of God in the last couple of years. I have ministered to one man, married a woman, divorced in the sight of the church, within six months he was bankrupt because he was living in adultery. Reported recently another man, apparently a gentleman of God, married a lovely divorced Christian woman, within six months he was dead, by the Word of God he was living in adultery. This is an age where judgement is coming on the church, judgement is going to come on those who are divorced in the sight of the world, but not in the sight of God and are therefore living in adultery. If you may be in that situation, if you are a woman and you have had sexual intercourse with more than one man, you may be on the point of facing massive judgement. You need to get these tapes, you need to get in touch with us. You desperately need to sort things out. If you are a man who has taken the virginity of more than one woman, you need to understand that you have awesome responsibilities in the sight of God towards every woman whose virginity you have taken. You need to get these tapes and find out what is going on. If you have had intercourse with more than one woman, if she was not a virgin, you need to understand the significance of that. If you are living in marriage in terms of a civil contract, in terms of an ecclesiastical church marriage and the woman that you are living with was not a virgin at the time that you met her, you may well be living in adultery. You need to get clear on what is going on. There is a series of tapes in these teachings which deals with resolving One Flesh Bonds, establishing what your situation is before God, you need to do what you need to do in order to get your marriage sanctified and made holy if there is a scriptural basis that is acceptable to the court of Heaven for that to happen. Otherwise you need to terminate your adulterous relationship, even though the church may call it marriage.
These are harsh things but there are harsh times. If you do not deal with your sin now, the day is coming where you will find yourself exposed to the most terrible harassment physically, emotionally and spiritually and if you have sin in your life, you will not overcome to the end. You will find yourself at the very least with the part in the Lake of Fire of sulphur and brimstone and if you are not careful, you may well find yourself in hell for eternity. I cannot under stress it, it is time for us to sanctify ourselves and make ourselves holy. There is no more time to play games with sin. There is no more time for us to rely on the teachings of men to determine whether we are in sin or not. The word of God clearly tells us to call no man rabbi, no man teacher. We are to rely on the word of God and the spirit of God to lead us into all truth.
The teachings that are prepared by this Ministry will assist you to do that, but I urge you to seek God as a vital necessity and every sin that you find do what the spirit of God tells you to do no matter how difficult it is using the series of tapes as a frame of reference, listen to this entire series of tapes. God willing, in the days to come, we will produce more teachings around this. If you are a man who has had sex with more than one woman or a woman who has had sex with more than one man, if you are a man and woman living in marriage and the woman concerned was not a virgin at the time that marriage was consummated, you need to get the series of tapes on marriage. If your marriage is not everything God intended it to be, you need to get the series of tapes on marriage from this Ministry.
To reiterate, we are moving into a period where Satan is going to pull out all the stops he is going to use even the smallest sin in our lives to seek to utterly destroy us. A marriage where man and woman are not in harmony, where the wife is not in submission, God cannot protect you. Satan will destroy you. To give you a little bit more context, I want to read you a passage from the book called [inaudible 0:59:32]. It is a story of a young Russian man [inaudible 0:59:36] who came to salvation after a miraculous escape from Russia. But let me just read to you a passage from that.
The book that I have was published in Afrikaans translated by Mrs. [inaudible 0:59:53] and published by [inaudible 0:59:55], PO Box 132, South Africa. There was a book published in English. I do not have the reference. It was published by Marshall Morgan and Scott. The passage that I am about to read is an extract which we translated back from the Afrikaans into the English. It is entitled "Extracts from Sergai: Two women who changed a destiny." The first section I have entitled a beautiful 18-year-old who would not forsake her saviour and the second from pages 167 to 173 of this book. We raced down the street and jumped out of a pickup van before it had time to come to a halt. We rushed to the front door and forced it open. To our amazement, the room was full of young people. We had uncovered a secret youth meeting caught everyone by surprise. We started work immediately, grabbed them, hit them, kicked them and punched them. The context of this is a time in Russia, Sergai has grown up as an orphan. His parents were Christians. They were murdered shortly after the Second World War. He grew up with a very brutal life. He became the leader of the Communist Youth League in the naval base where he was sent for military training, and as such he was co-opted by the KGB to intimidate believers who were seen to be the greatest threat to communism because they would not submit to the core doctrines of communism and we see here the sort of the demonically-inspired persecution that can face believers. This group is a group of young men in their early 20s, extremely fit, extremely strong who went from place to place at the instruction of the police and the KGB breaking up private church meetings.
There he is, grab him, I shouted as I pointed in the direction of the 23-year-old leader. Some of my team grabbed him and others used some of the other believers as punch bags. I glanced around the room and could hardly believe my eyes. There she was again, the same beautiful girl. Only three nights ago, she had been badly hurt and abused at the other gathering and here she was again. This was the first time I could have a good look at her. She was more beautiful than I could recall. A rarely beautiful girl with locks of long blonde hair, big blue eyes and a beautiful complexion. She was one of the most beautiful girls I had ever seen. Victor had also spotted her and called out "She is back. Look here guys, she is back." "Well," I replied, "It does not look as if we did a good enough job at the last time Victor, you did not teach her the lesson she needed to learn. Now it is my turn." I lifted her and threw her face down on the table. Two of us stripped her naked. One of us held her down while I started striking her with my flat hand as hard as I possibly could. Again and again I struck her until my hand started to burn from the pain. Blisters started forming on her skin. I continued striking her until pieces of bloody flesh stuck to my hand. She groaned and bravely fought not to cry. To do this, she bit her lower lip until blood was pouring down her chin.
At last she gave up and started crying. At that stage I was so exhausted that I was unable to lift my arm to strike her even one more time and her body was a massive raw flesh. I pushed her off the table, and she collapsed on the floor in a heap. I left her there and looked around. Young believers were lying all over the room. There was no reason to prolong the task as we had already had the leader. "We have our man," I called. "Get the names of all these people and let's get out of here." When we arrived back at the police station, Nicky Forov was at the front door, smiling broadly. "Well, my children," he said, "That was quick." "Here is your man," I said and pushed the 23-year-old to Nicky Forov. He was immediately taken downstairs for questioning. In the meantime, I looked at the names of other youngsters. I could understand how old foolish people could believe these things, people that were mixed up with religion before the coming of communism years. But young people who believed in God that was one too much for me. These were people of my age, my generation. I was astounded that that one girl had undoubtedly learned her lesson. I teased Victor again, "You did not do it right old boy, but I had taught her a lesson tonight. We will not see beautiful again."
The following day when I reported back to the police station, I walked in while Nicky Forov was busy questioning the young leader from the night before. I listened in amazement the Nicky Forov's technique of interrogation. Swapping between brutal breaking down and sudden softness, he used both hard and soft tactics to confuse the young unbeliever. He was doing what he enjoyed most ‑ trapping a man. "Do you believe in God?" "Yes." "Tell me are you stupid, insane or just plain mad?" The young unbeliever replied, "Well sir, you will not be able to understand why I believe what I believe, because what I believe is something that is very hard to explain. I believe in God because he lives and because he lives within my heart." Nicky Forov exploded with anger. "Why do you say that I cannot understand? Do you think I am stupid? I have also read this book." He pointed to the confiscated Bible. "Do you think I cannot read?" The young man was brutally beaten the previous night and had to endure further abuse in the prison cell. But responded firmly, "You may be able to read, but you need eyes to see and ears to hear and a heart to understand what the spirit of God is saying in His book." I listened in total amazement, totally caught up by this. Nothing made the least seen to me. "If you only read to attack" the young man continued, "You will never know what it really says. Only God can open your eyes so that you can understand what we believe and why we are willing to pay any price for our faith." Nicky Forov interrupted, "I must admit there are certain things I do not understand." The young man answered, "Well sir, you have answered your own question. You do not understand because your eyes are closed to the truth. If you open your heart to God, your eyes will open to understand His word, then it will become just as real to you as it is to me and these other young people. Why do not you open your heart to God? He will change your life and..." "Keep quiet," Nicky Forov nearly exploded. "Do not preach to me you fool or I will change your life forever." He called the guards and the young man was taken to the cell. He was later sent to a punishment camp for a number of years. I had attended many such interrogations but they never made any sense to me. These believers never lose courage I thought. They even try and convert the peace. Nicky Forov returned. "These people are mad," he said and I totally agreed with him.
I was interested to find out more about Natasha Sudnova because the youth league was responsible for young people. We keep a file on everyone in the district. We know exactly who they are, where they grew up, went to school, everything. I went through Natasha's file. She was born in the [inaudible 1:07:00] region of Ukraine in a small village with the name of [inaudible 1:07:03]. Her parents were workers on a collective and very poor. To seek a better place in life, Natasha left the region when she was small and came to live with her uncle in [inaudible 1:07:13]. She had attended the schools there and completed her education at the maximum [inaudible 1:07:19] school number four. After that at 18 years of age she became a proofreader at the [inaudible 1:07:25] newspaper. When I went through her report, I was stunned to find that she was a member of the [inaudible 1:07:32], a Communist youth league in the school and had done well. The report clearly showed what had happened. When she left school, she fell into the hands of the believers and soon became one herself. A perfect example of how the believers took people prisoner in their poisonous web. I then went to the offices of the newspaper and inquired about her. "She is an outstanding worker," one of her seniors said. "We have never had any problem, she is friendly, reliable and honest and outstanding worker." That sort of report had always confused me. With other workers, we had problems with drunkenness, theft, laziness and incompetence. But whenever I had to complete a peace report and the life of a believer, the answer was always "outstanding worker" or "very reliable" or "never drunk." One thing about these believers that I found out they were earnest and hard-working. I wondered a lot about this but it was not my job to wonder. It was my job to take action.
"Why do you want to know?" They asked me. We have on two occasions found her in secret meetings of the underground churches. She is a believer. They were aghast. The workers looked at one another. It was as if they had just been told she was a leper or a mass murderer. "Well," one said, "Now that you mention it," and then there came a stream of complaints. Suddenly they had many bad things to say about her. I left a message in her office to report to me at the police station at a fixed time. I knew this would frighten her and that was my objective. She entered my office half hesitant and sat down in the chair across the desk. I could see she was afraid. Such a beautiful person and here she was sitting in my office with her head hanging and just staring at the floor. I asked her why she was a believer. "What must I be?" She asked. "An alcoholic? A prostitute? And then did you find anything wrong in my work report?" "No, I did not," I had to admit. "Why do you have an objection to my personal beliefs? Am I harming anyone?" "No, but somewhere you went wrong and you mixed up with people who are great danger to our country." I then quickly preached to her and warned her of great trouble if she continued. At last I realised that this was not producing any fruit. Again, I warned that this would be recorded on her file and that she should not be found in the company of believers again.
Notwithstanding her initial fear, she began to explain to me why she believed in God. I thought that the assault together with the interview at the police station would cause her to come to her senses that Natasha [inaudible 1:09:58] would not cause us any problems again, but she was a remarkable girl. While we were talking, I became aware of the deep marks on her lower lip, which she bit herself while I was beating her. "What a pity," I thought, "That cut spoiled an otherwise perfect face. If only we could have met under different circumstances I could really be interested in a girl like her." As soon as I had obtained all the information from her and completed my lecture, I dismissed her summarily. This is part of the intimidation programme and I congratulated myself with my own conduct.
About a week later, we were called to the police station for action against a secret church. I went through the routine procedures of street map investigation to locate the address. This gathering was a house in [inaudible 1:10:43] street. On this occasion, there were only six of us in the paddy wagon. Alexander [inaudible 1:10:49] and myself. When we reached the place, I set guards and located the street and then we stormed in and swung our truncheon wildly. The well-mannered, confused believers began running around and trying to shield themselves against the rain of blows. The meeting room was very small and with eight believers and six of us that was chock full. There was much noise and much shouting and crying. "This one will take very long" I thought and then I saw something familiar. I could not believe it, here she was again, Natasha Sutnova. Some of my men also spotted her. Alex moved towards her, hate in his eyes and his truncheon lifted above his head. Then something happened which I would never have thought that I would see. Without warning, Victor jumped between Natasha and Alex and looked at Alex. "Out of my way," shouted Alex. Victor did not move. He lifted his truncheon and threateningly said, "I am telling you Alex, leave her alone. Nobody touches her." I listened in disbelief, unbelievable that Victor, one of my cruellest men was busy protecting one of the believers. "Stand back," he ordered Alex, "Stand back or I am ready for you." He was shielding Natasha who was lying on the floor. Angrily Alex cried out, "You want her for yourself." "No," Victor shouted back. "She has something that not one of us has. Nobody touch her. Nobody." I had to break it up quickly. Alex's wild temper would result in a fight. "Listen Alex," I said and pointed to another believer who was attempting to escape. "Catch him." His attention distracted. Alex chased off to the man. I sighed with relief.
Victor was still standing with his arms outstretched protecting Natasha, looking around him, challenging anyone to dare touch her. Natasha stood behind him and did not understand what was happening. This was not the sort of treatment she expected from our group. I nodded my head to her indicating that she should leave. She turned and ran. I looked on approvingly. For one of the few times in life, I was deeply moved. It was like the time when my friend Sasha died. Natasha had something. She had been abused in a hideous fashion and beaten. She had been warned and threatened. She had suffered unbelievably but here she was again, even tough old Victor was touched by it, and had seen it. She had something that we did not have. I wanted to run after her to find out what it was. I wanted to talk to her but she was gone. This heroic believer girl had suffered so much through us, touched me in one or other manner and also made me think.
Shortly afterwards Natasha left the province and returned to her place of birth. The gossip and mockery by her co-workers got too much for her. I sent her personal file to the Communist Youth League in her home town and gave them a detailed report on her life as a believer. I was strangely hurt that she was gone. For the first time I felt that the believers were perhaps not the fools and enemies that we thought they were. Natasha had toppled all my ideas about the believers.
Before I read the next extract, I urge you to consider the possibility that no matter where you live, this level of oppression and victimisation may not be more than a few years away. Are you prepared to stand for your faith like Natasha stood? Not to forsake the gathering together of the brethren no matter what it costs you. Are you prepared to witness for your faith as that young man did knowing that he would spend many years in unbelievable hardship in a prison camp? Are you prepared to testify for Jesus even though you have bitten through your lip and blood is running down your chin and your back has been beaten to a pulp and you have been stripped naked and humiliated? Are you prepared to overcome to the Day of Judgement? If you are, if that is your heart's desire to do whatever you have to do to be crucified with Christ, I urge you to give serious attention to everything that is contained in this series of teachings on Judgement and to go before God daily to judge you severely and correct you harshly that you may serve Him more perfectly. To be quick to listen, quick to repeat whenever you become aware of sin in Jesus name.
The second extract from Sergai that I would like to read to you comes from Page 197 to 198 and I have headed it "The elderly woman who prayed for the one about to beat her." This is another raid, it is a few weeks later. At the door we stopped for a moment, my men awaiting my signal. Suddenly I shouted "Now." The raid had started. The door was unlocked, obvious that they were not expecting us and we burst in. As the spy had said there were 15 or 16 believers present, all pressed tightly together in the small space. We had trapped them in the middle of prayer. [inaudible 1:16:13] grabbed a Bible from a believer and tore to pieces. One of the women called out "Why? Why are you doing this?" It was a heartbroken deep cry that irritated Vladimis, so he hit her right in the face. It was a professional well-aimed blow that would flatten any man, what more to say, a small, frail woman. She fell backwards against the other believers and collapsed on the floor her face bloodied. Screams cut through the air as my men went to work. I pressed the lever on my truncheon and set it at its shortest, so it was more usable in that small room. Truncheons and fists were already at work and the cries of the believers were enough to burst your eardrums. Some was screaming out of fear and others from pain. I saw an old lady near the wall, fear on her face, her lips quivering in prayer. As a consequence of the noise I could not hear what she was saying but had prayer angered me. I took a few paces forward and lifted my truncheon to strike her. She saw me ready to strike and prayed out loud. I hesitated for a moment, more out of curiosity than anything else.
While my arm was in the air ready to bring my truncheon on her defenceless head, I heard her words, "God forgive this young man. Show him the true way. Open his eyes and help him. Forgive him dear Father." I was astounded. Why did she not pray for help for herself? She was the one about to be struck. I was furious that she, an unknown woman, was praying for me, Sergai [inaudible 1:17:39], leader of the Communist Youth League. In a fit of rage, I gripped my truncheon more tightly and prepared to bring it down on her head. I was going to strike with all my strength enough to kill if necessary, I began to swing. Then a most peculiar thing happened. I could not explain it. Someone or something gripped my wrist and pushed it back. I was astonished. It really hurt. It was not my imagination. It was a real pressure on my wrist until it hurt. I thought it might be another believer and turned around to hit them, but there was no one. I looked again, no one could have gripped my arm and yet I had felt it. It was still sore. Shocked I stood still. I felt the blood rise to my head and I became warm while fear spread over me. This was beyond my comprehension. It was confusing, unreal, and then I forgot everything. I dropped my truncheon and ran outside with a warm blushing feeling in my face and blood throbbing in my head. Tears began streaming down my cheeks. Since the age of four, I had only cried once that I could remember. Even during those brutal beatings of uncle [inaudible 1:18:41] in the orphanage, I had never cried. I was too tough to cry, so I thought I swore that nobody would ever make me cry. Tears were a sign of weakness. But now as I was running away from that nightmare scene, I cried. Real tears were streaming down my cheeks. I was confused and lost things that I did not understand were busy happening to me.
I ran and walked and then ran again and could not remember anything. Hours passed, I could not remember anything except the running and the crying. I did not know how long I walked to where I was but when I came to myself, it was already dark. Slowly I found my way back to the police station. It was about 9 PM at night. I had hardly entered the room when Nick Forov exploded, "Where have you been [inaudible 1:19:25]?" It was more of a challenge than a question. "I just had to think things over," I replied and I have decided to stop doing this type of job. Subsequently [inaudible 1:19:37] was granted furlough. He went on a mission with a spy ship off the coast of the United States and Canada on the Pacific Coast, offshore of Vancouver. He jumped ship with a makeshift life jacket in the middle of a major storm 5 miles off Vancouver. He was washed back to the ship once. He has tried to swim ashore again, he was washed up on rocks. Eventually he cried out to God to save him and he found himself unconscious with no recollection of how he got there on the beach. He came to salvation, and he started preaching the gospel and telling people around the United States and Canada what was going on in Russia. Eventually he was assassinated by the KGB, but the truth was out and this book was possible.
I urge you to consider no matter where you live, particularly if you live in countries like the United States, Britain, Australia, South Africa does not really matter. There is a strong possibility that before your life is over, you will face persecution of the magnitude described in these two stories. Will you forsake your saviour or will you remain true to Him? Will you suffer and take up the cross the way Jesus did? If that is your heart's desire, please understand holiness and sanctification are of paramount importance. If you want to be in the place of the old lady who when that man came to beat her could only think to pray for her enemy and received supernatural protection, you need to do what needs to be done in the spirit realm now.
Satan cannot cause a man to be beat you, to lock you up, or anything else if there is no sin in your life. If you desire to be like Daniel and to have the mouths of the lion shut up by God's Angel when you crossed Him, if you desire to walk in the furnace like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, you must sanctify yourself. You must make fervent prayer for the revelation of sin a daily occurrence. You must with all your heart and all your mind and your soul and all your strength turn to the Father in the name of the son and petition him daily to show you the sin that needs to be dealt with. Do not allow Satan to persuade you that you are free of sin. At the end of his life, Apostle Paul called himself the chief of sinners. We dare not become complacent about the things that we know to do that we have not done and things that we are not to do that we have done on a daily basis. Every second you spend out of the perfect will of God in sin and if you believe things that have been taught to you by men concerning the Sabbath, concerning Christmas and Easter, concerning so many things, concerning virginity, adultery, fornication, marriage, now is the time to seek the truth with all your heart and all your mind and all your soul and all your strength in Jesus name.
Father I ask that if there is anything in this teaching that is not according to your perfect will that you will blow it away and that it will find no root in the hearts of the hearers in Jesus name. I ask Father that everything that is according to your will and your word will find deep root in the hearts of the hearers and be established in their hearts in Jesus name. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, saviour of the world, in Jesus name. Amen.
Message has been recorded by a church without walls and Ministry of End Time Issue Ministries, PO Box 898, Randpark Ridge, Randburg 2156, Republic of South Africa. We can be contacted by email at James@EndTimeIssues.org.za. Our phone numbers, international dialling code normally 0027 but this may vary from country to country, the 27 is standard. Our land line, 0027-11791-2327 or when South Africa 011-791-2327. My mobile number 0027-83251-6644 and in South Africa, 083-251-6644. Our fax number internationally 0027-11791-5004 and locally 011-791-5004. All materials produced by this Ministry are available at no cost to those who require them, irrespective of financial means. At the same time, donations and offerings are clearly welcome to support the work
Please feel free to copy any of our materials in part or in full as the Lord leads you understanding that the manner in which you utilise these materials and the manner in which you cite them and quote them is for your account on the Day of Judgement. So we would ask you to use the materials widely, but please feel free to copy them however you see fit and to share these truths with anybody as the Lord leads. I would urge those of you who receive copies of these tapes at no charge that once you have listened to them that you consider passing them on and blessing others with them. Our hearts' desires that they should not become artefacts sitting on a bookshelf and gathering dust but the Word of God contained in these teachings should be spread as far and as widely as possible.
Should you be lead by the Lord to sow into this Ministry, our bank account is End Time Issue Ministries, the account number is 0427527805. The branch is the Standard Bank of South Africa, Randburg Branch and the branch code is 018005. If in listening to these messages you have realised that you do not have a personal serving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and that if you were to die right now you would not spend eternity in Heaven with Him, I would urge you to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and to pray the prayer of salvation.
The steps to salvation are as follows: Firstly admit and recognise that you are a sinner. Romans 3:23 says "All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God." Secondly, accept and believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he came to Earth as a man, that he was crucified and died on the cross, that on the third day he rose again and is now seated at the right-hand of the father and that by his death and resurrection, he took your sins for eternity. Romans 5:8 says: "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Thirdly, confess your sins, repent of your sins, and turn around. Repentance means turning around. It remains ceasing to do what you now realise is wrong. 1 John 1:9 says: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Four, confess your faith that Jesus Christ is Lord, that you believe this, and receive his salvation and invite him to dwell in your heart. Romans 10:9-10 says: "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation." Give thanks to God for your salvation. Pray and cry out to God and give thanks to Him for saving you.
Sixthly, work out your salvation by the Spirit of God. Philippians 2:12 says: "Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Salvation is a process. You are saved the moment you pray the sinner's prayer, the prayer of salvation and invite the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your heart and be Lord of your life. But salvation is also a process whereby your mind is renewed and you come to have a personal and deep relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is your choice how far you go in that relationship. He desires a wonderful and a deep and an intimate relationship with you, but it is your choice whether you will do what is necessary to come to that place through reading your Bible, praying, seeking counsel, seeking guidance. You should be water baptised at the first possible opportunity. Matthew 3:6 says: "And were baptized by him in the Jordan, confessing their sins." I encourage you to ask the Lord to lead you to somebody who has some knowledge of the basic ordinance of water baptism who can water baptise you or to lead you to a church where they can water baptise you. There is no reason why you cannot be water baptised today as a symbolic cleansing and washing of your sins. In fact, the minute you pray the sinner's prayer, it would be preferable for you to be water baptised. Choose to be obedient to the Word of God, accept the Bible in its original Hebrew as given by the Spirit of God and choose to live your life according to that.
1 John 5:3 says: "For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments. And His commandments are not burdensome." I encourage you to read the Word of God daily and to put into practice everything that you encounter as a principle which I believe will bear fruit in your life. I would encourage you to make an effort right now after you prayed this prayer, start reading your Bible from the Book of John through to the Book of Revelation and then make a discipline of reading the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation at least two, three, four times a year and read the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi at least once a year and I would encourage you to do that using different translations.
Ask God to lead you to the church where He wants you to be at this time where they will teach you, they will guide you, they will pray for you, and they will help you to walk in the fullness of what God has called you to be. Be aware that God may move you from church to church over time to teach you new things and you should not be reluctant to do this. The service of God is a personal choice. It is a wonderful choice and if you will step out by faith today and pray the sinner's prayer and follow Him, you will reap a rich harvest if that is your desire to be found faithful on the Day of Judgement. Should you have listened to this and have decided that you are now ready to make Jesus Christ the Lord of your life, I would ask you to pray the following prayer with me in Jesus name. "Father I come to you in the name of Jesus and I confess that I am a sinner. I confess that I do not have a personal knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and I recognise that without Jesus if I were to die right now, I will spend eternity in hell and not with you. I confess that I have sinned and I repent of those sins and I turn around, I choose to turn my back on sin and to serve God. I confess that Jesus Christ came to Earth as a man, that he was crucified, that he died and was buried and that he was resurrected on the third day and that he sits on the right hand of the Father. I confess by faith that he died to take all of my sins and I thank you Jesus for taking my sin and I give you my sin right now in Jesus name. I confess by faith that Jesus Christ is King of Kings and Lord of Lords and I choose now Lord Jesus to make you the Lord of my life. I invite you to come and dwell in my heart. I invite you to take charge of my [inaudible 1:34:08]."
02_12 Words + {Prophetic Words + Mark of the beast}
This is tape #12 in the series "Judgement in this Life." It was added to this series some months after recording of the basic series. The message was recorded on the 17th of December, the year 2000 at Foundation for Living Church, immediately after the core message on the previous tape regarding "Spiritual Warfare" was prepared and in the meeting after the praise and worship was completed, there was a strong prophetic flow and the move of the spirit in terms of the praise and worship. That was followed by a series of prophetic words and was followed by a teaching on the power of words which confirms certain things that had been said in the prophecies and which had been said in this tape series, which was followed by a further elaboration from myself in terms of certain things that the Lord had been saying to me that morning regarding the coming judgement and the coming tribulation. This entire message taken together the prophetic praise and worship, the prophetic words, the message itself, and then the additional information at the end of it collectively represents a very strong indication by the Spirit of God through his prophets that judgement is now being poured out on the church of Jesus Christ that we must as a matter of extreme urgency seek God with all our hearts, minds, souls and bodies, stop playing games and flirting with the world and flirting with the things of the devil and seek to serve God totally that great judgement and great tribulation is about to be poured on the Earth and that we should be prepared and a strong indication that the Mark of the Beast is in fact not a physical mark, it is a state of mind and a state of being in terms of whether one is prepared to align one's thoughts and one's contracts with the Word of God or whether one will remain silent and compromise the Word of God and compromise the testimony of Lord Jesus Christ.
I believe that the Lord has called me to add this into the end of the judgement series in order to present a complete picture with regard to judgement. The previous tapes deal with the leading to where we are in history now. I urge you to listen to the balance of this tape prayerfully and give it to a most serious consideration in Jesus name. Amen.
[Prayer Song 0:02:36 - 0:03:34]
I want you to do more than that. Go to one another and tell one another that, will you do that? Just go and find out. [Background conversation 0:03:48]. You better come and give me one of those squeezes too, otherwise you will be in trouble. We love you darling. We love you. Praise the Lord. Praise Yah, praise Yah. Love you this morning. [Background conversation 0:04:32]. Amen, amen, amen. Love you Lord. Love you Lord. And Jesus Christ. And Jesus Christ. And Jesus. Praise your lovely name. Worship you. Exalt you Jesus. Magnify your name and adore you.
[Prayer Song 0:05:42 - 0:09:48].
We bless you. We worship you. We adore you. We magnify your lovely name. We thank you O God that you open our eyes that we may behold the glory of the Lord, that we may understand who it is that we are dealing with. Lord, we thank you. You are the son of the living God and you came and touched our lives. You came and saw these men. We weren’t looking for you and you found us when we didn’t want you Lord. O God, we worship you and we magnify your name for such grace we have never encountered. Lord, we know that grace was what made it possible for us to find you Lord. O God because you were looking for us long before that time. Blessed be your holy name because you have been so good, so merciful, so kind. Thank you Lord, thank you. You did for us what no one else could do. You made us into new people, O Lord, changed us in an instant of time by your divine grace. We bless you and exalt you O God. We magnify your lovely name, praise the Lord. O my soul and all that is within me. Blessed be his name. Halleluiah. Halleluiah. We worship thee, praise His name.
[Prayer Song 0:11:19 - 0:11:32]. We thank you Lord. We worship thee and we adore thee.
[Prayer Song 0:11:43 - 0:14:00]. [Background conversation 0:14:00 - 0:16:00]
What shall it be, says the Lord. If I move in a brand new direction, shall I first consult with you? Shall I ask you the way that I must go? Shall I seek advice from the sons of men whose breath is in their nostrils or shall it be that man shall seek my face and seek me for the direction that I go for I say to you I blessed the direction in which I go and those that walk with me in that direction shall naturally be blessed? There shall be a pool out of the blessings of the Lord on every side for I say to you at this time even in the history of the world it is more vital than ever before says the Lord. Even for my own to take hold of my word and do according to what I said. It is vital that you understand what is written for I say that I not say on to the [inaudible 0:16:50] long ago that ye do earn not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. I say to you in this time it is vital that my knowing should understand what it is that I have spoken what I have said so that they might be directed and governed by it. And that it might be a compass around them said the Lord, that which keeps and that which blesses I say to you. I abide you within my word for by the word so man be judged. By the word shall they be assessed I say to you even by the word which I have given. Therefore stand by it for it is a precious lamp on to your feet that you should not stumble, that you might walk in the light of not be in the dark that you might understand for I say to you that there may be in the world lean to the wisdom of the man, walk in darkness and they do not understand that I say blessed are your ears while they hear and your eyes what they see for there is understanding in the hearing and seeing of the word. Know that I blessed says the Lord and that I use it for my glory.
[0:18:41]
And once you lift the eyes of men from of the Earth from which they came. What shall it be that lifts their eyes to the heavens and the things that I have in store for them, that my word it shall be as a ladder says the Lord that ye shall walk up on and as he claim what my word says, so my word becomes powerful within your life and I say to you things begin to flow through you that were not before because you understand and you are walking in the light and I say to you my word is a director, my word is a director from my throne and in workers within the sons of men and within their hearts that they may know that the way of the world is not the way of my God and the wisdom of the world is not the wisdom of the goal word of my Lord, and they may understand that here is wisdom even in this word that I have given, therefore say I on to take the word for He will lift your eyes even to those goals that are before and those things that must be accomplished from my word must find fulfilment I say on to thee. The things that I promised must find fulfilment and I say to you that the generation that is, is a generation that is seeing the end times and seeing the things that are coming upon the face of the Earth, that generation leads the word of God to understand the direction that I am going in and the direction of the history of the world is going in, it is in my word, it is recorded I say on to you. Therefore take heed on to it as the light that shines in a dark place and walk in the light thereof that you do not stumble, so shall you walk with me and know this, I shall walk with you even in the light of that word that I have given. Jesus. Jesus. We worship thee. We bless thy name. Oh God. We exalt thee and magnify thy name. Jesus.
[0:30:36]
Lord, in Jesus name, we come before you as a congregation. We saw Lord, [inaudible 0:30:43] our life. Here we are. We say Lord, we understand that there is no alternative to God, no feasible alternative to God. Your will is paramount. Your word is definitive. We need to hold to that word with everything that is within us, O God. In Jesus name, strengthen every person here this morning, anointed by the holy ghost O God we pray that O Lord we will see things in a different way even as the spirit of God reveals the will of God that each one of us. The Lord that ministries here that we need to be carried out, pray in Jesus name that the [inaudible 0:31:24] sitting in the backseat is passed, that the [inaudible 0:31:27] of sitting forward to do the work of the Lord has come. For Lord if we have the urgency of the spirit upon us, then Lord we will understand and we will know within ourselves now that the pace is quickened O God and the time is short.
We are asking in Jesus name to guide and to direct and we give you all the glory and the praise and the honour. Thank you Lord, in Jesus name. Amen. We bless the Lord and magnify His name for His goodness and His mercy. It is so good to see everyone of you and to share with you on this lovely occasion these things that are happening around us. We praise God. He has got a word prepared for us. Our brother Dutch is going to bring the word for us this morning that God has laid on his heart. Are you ready? Are you ready? Amen. Praise the Lord. God bless you my brother.
Questions start off. When last? Could any of us proclaim the word, not to the nations, to our neighbour? I think few of us realise the power of words. In the secular society we use them to transfer knowledge, ideas. It is the basis of our communication. And as kids we chanted sticks and bones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me. It could not be more wrong, because that is so wrong. We have this movement in the world today against physical violence. Now me personally I believe a good [inaudible 0:33:16] behind the ears is the best psychology for a child that is getting out of way. But you know, on the surface it is commendable. We are not allowed to chastise our children. A child may not be canned. I think just recently I have read about children who have taken their parents to court because they gave them [inaudible 0:33:40]. People who use violence are supposed to be barbaric but I think that physical bully is no worse than the verbal bully.
In all the hysterical fulminating against violence we have gotten the colloquial damage that words can do. We do not see it as damaging because the fix are not immediately visible, but they slowly manifest themselves like a cancer damage and the damage is often worse than a violent act. How many lives have been destroyed by parents and teachers with careless words to young people? We call them stupid, dumb, and we go to street children who do not have nice clothes, parents who do not have a nice [inaudible 0:34:32] and make fun of them. And we do not realise that deep wounds we make in the psyche of those people. In Matthew 5:22 we read, "But I say to you that everyone who continues to be angry with his brother or harbours malice (enmity of heart) against him shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the court; and whoever speaks contemptuously and insultingly to his brother shall be liable to and unable to escape the punishment imposed by the Sanhedrin, and whoever says, You cursed fool! [You empty-headed idiot!] shall be liable to and unable to escape the hell (Gehenna) of fire." I think all of us at someone seemed the helpless predicament of the verbally inefficient being criticised by the verbally proficient. Words that cut the flesh from ourselves, words that destroy the spirit that lay waste to our hopes and dreams and permanently damage the delicate fabric of our personalities. So also it can be used to lift people up, to raise them above the circumstances and see the glorious vision of God. I believe that one of the greatest things in life today is to see life as it is and not that it should be. We should see the glory of God in everything. We should see His [inaudible 0:36:25] of purpose in anything that happens to our lives and I just recently have begun to experience this. We had a terrible two weeks, my wife and I, all sorts of calamities of [inaudible 0:36:38], strangely enough, not once was I worried, not once was I concerned and people could not understand that I was so laid back but you see, I know who is on my side.
We should manifest this love of God in our lives, in our actions. We should see the potential of people and not their circumstances. We should act believing that we can and are making a difference. We should be boldly declaring who and what we are and most of all we call ourselves Christians, we must be careful not to [inaudible 0:37:19] the good name of Jesus Christ by what we do and what we say and all too often we fall down on that. It has been said that the pen is mightier than the sword and that is very true. It is true because words give the birth to every deed that has ever been committed. If you look the great things that happened in life and the bad things that have happened in life in history, all started in the imagination that are articulated with a word. They have changed lives, forced people to get involved in noble deeds, given people [inaudible 0:37:53] and compassion. Words are the stimulus that launch dreams, destinies and noble causes. Words are the weft and woof of everything that is good or bad in our society. The Bible often talks about words and names that are important. Just as an example, Abram became Abraham which means father of many. God saw it is so important that He changed his name and that word, just the word Abraham meant so much. It was the word of God that created the universe and all that is in it and He created out of nothing with words.
In Genesis 1:3 we read "And God said, Let there be light; and there was light." Words, He just spoke them. In the beginning was a word and the word was of God and the word was God, John 1:1. Hebrews 11:3: "By faith we understand that the worlds [during the successive ages] were framed (fashioned, put in order, and equipped for their intended purpose) by the word of God, so that what we see was not made out of things which are visible." Our words are either destructive or creative. They have an effect on everybody around us and on ourselves. Careless words can be so damaging. Modern doctors and psychologists only now beginning to understand what the Bible has been talking about for 2,000 years, how important words are. In James 3:2 we read: "For we all often stumble and fall and offend in many things. And if anyone does not offend in speech [never says the wrong things], he is a fully developed character and a perfect man, able to control his whole body and to curb his entire nature." Words are the causes of our blessings and our curses. Words are the causes of people to be broken down and people to be lifted up. Words are the start of great things.
A mature person is one who is able to control his words. This of course does not justify those who find it easy to say nothing, who parade their lack of purpose or opinion as being the strong silent type. You have met them I am sure, I am thinking about this, but they do not say a thing because they do just put their foot in it. Our life reflects what is our mind or imagination. That is why all our actions and work starts in our mind and they come through in the word. Our thoughts and words are also influenced by our association, negative or positive. They are good, they are either on God's business or in Satan's business and understand this, there is no middle ground. You cannot just withdraw. It is this or that. This is manifested and influenced by our marriages, what we say, how we say, when we say it. Just to give you an idea, you look at your wife and you say to her, "My dear, when I look into your face, time stands still. I could only say you have a face that stops the clock." I do not know which one will get me anyway but what I am trying to say is the way you use the words is very important. Unless we protect ourselves with a word and allow the Holy Spirit to strengthen us, count our words, sparingly use them, otherwise we will get into a lot of trouble. Words are so easily uttered, so insignificant, sometimes they can have a catastrophic effect and consequences physically and emotionally beyond anything we can think and I would like to just relate one silly little episode. During the Second World War, the Americans have dropped the first bomb, I think it was Hiroshima. They then sent an ultimatum to the Japanese High Command and they said, "Surrender." The Japanese wrote back and they used the word called Mashimutsu. What it means in Japanese is "No. Maybe." When the American translators got this, they looked at this message, we know the Japs means "No." One of their colleagues said, "It could be maybe." And for that one word, the second bomb was dropped at Nagasaki. Over hundred thousand people died just of the wrong understanding of that word.
Just recently in South Africa, there was a young couple that went on a murder spree. I think they murdered something like five people. When the young lady was asked, "Why did you do it?" She said, "He told me he loved me." That word was so important to her that she became a criminal, murdered people just to get that from him. Our words come from our heart and divulge the very paint of our thinking. They also reflect the power of the person who is speaking them. I think we have all experienced that. Many time people say something and we forget about it. The Romans in Matthew 8:8 understood the power of the word and the person who is speaking when he told Jesus just to speak and my servant will get well. He understood that. We must remember that when we speak we should be speaking in the power of God Jesus and the Holy Spirit. We should not just use words so idly.
In Proverbs 18:21 reads: "Death and life are in the power of the tongue." And we can commit suicide with this thing. We can do it and I think I have done it many times. In Romans 8:37: "Yet amid all these things we are more than conquerors and gain a surpassing victory through Him Who loved us." In Mark 11:23: "For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, ‘Be removed and be cast into the sea,’ and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says." When we speak, we must have a clear objective and this is so important. We must just not idly talk, babble. Think, count your words, use them purposely. When we just think for a moment, when we read the Bible and we try to interpret it, we look at the words that are used. Changes have been made in the course of Christianity by some men seeing the true meaning of those words and the whole thing changes. Where the word is all or they or you or us make such a difference. Many prayers I believe go astray today because we muddle in the words we use. We just sort of go on and get it over with, which shows it clearly, like someone shooting at a target and point your words directly and clearly on what you want. It also speaks what is in line with the Word of God or just talk.
In Psalm 19:14 we read: "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer." Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in thy sight O Lord. I think if of us have thought of that little verse before we open our mouths, we would not talk so much, because we begin to think of just what are we saying. We must learn to use the words and that word for the purpose that God Almighty intended. We are supposed to speak about our fantastic God and how many of us do. We are admonished to rejoice in the Lord and pray without ceasing and yet whenever I have spoken about this, I have met resistance because I am told you cannot do that at work, you cannot do it, it is like we have to take this word and just set aside little times for it. Sunday is the two hours we spend. At night that one hour we spend in the quiet time in the morning and the rest of the time we got to jump to the world. Paul said at many times, "I will speak in and out of season. People keep telling me you have to find an opportunity." That's not what the Bible says. I am simple and I am pretty stupid. So I just go what it says and we have to learn that. We have to learn to understand because so often we interpret to certain means. All what happens is we go and attend it. We only look at this one aspect of the Bible. We must be calmly influenced in our environment. I want to describe it. We must be an antiseptic in our environment. We must be the symbol of truth. We must be the leaders in thought and action and the word of truth. And most importantly, we need to know our Lord intimately and do articulate who and what He is. I have heard on talk shows and when you listen you see some of these TV shows in America, let me say you something. When one of our people a Christian meets a Satanist or an atheist, they eat us for breakfast. They wipe the floor with us, why, because we do not know our Lord properly. We have not read enough about Him, we have not taught enough about Him. We are not ready for it because they make fools of us. And they use catch phrases, we struggle, we do not know what to do.
We must defend Jesus at all times without [inaudible 0:49:42]. In Matthew 12:26, "But I say to you that for every idle word, men may speak. They will give account of it on the Day of Judgement." It frightens the [inaudible 0:50:15] idle words that I have spoken. We always talk about the last words that a person has. They are normally very important. Dying words, before the person dies they say something. I just want to give you Jesus Christ as a reminder. Matthew 28:19-20: "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." I ask you a metaphorical question, when last did we do it? I think last time I preached out I said you must not take too serious what I say because normally I am preaching to myself and I ask myself that question, when last did I do that. When we look at a church, the environment of a church we find...you get the people who do the manual work and those that go out and do the evangelising and you get the preacher. Now the funny thing is, we expect the preacher's fate to carry us through. When we go on to some new project we want to do something, the faith of the congregation are with the preacher. We expect his faith to carry us through. And then you get the people who are very happy to do the busy work, and wash the floors, wash the dishes, bake the cakes, but do not ask me to talk to a stranger about Jesus. You know what I am talking about? Do not ask me. That is not barbaric but it is barbaric. It is everybody's job. Because we are too busy, we run off and we work at the bizarre, now we are doing something good or we collecting for something but you have to speak to people about it, otherwise we are wasting our time. They must fear and know. The word, that word that is in this wonderful book, it has got we have spoken to everybody around us. I think you all know the power of that word. The lives have changed.
It is vital that these things like the bizarre, the feeding schemes, there is not a question about it. They are vital to the church, but not at the expense of preaching the word. People will often offer to do all the manual work as long as [inaudible 0:53:22]. We have to learn to do the practical things that Jesus did. To tell people about God, to live your sermon without fear, to walk with your feet on the ground, to pray continually and most of all and this is a warning to us. Pentecostal churches, we must be very careful that our exuberance does not become any hindrance to other people. I have been in a situation where I invited somebody to a church, he vowed never to go there again, it was crazy. The [inaudible 0:54:02] exuberance does not chase people away. In shortest [inaudible 0:54:07] we must become all things to all people so that we can spread the Word of God. And just a little aside, when we believe, all of us here are believers and we must ask ourselves this question and I think this is key to what I have been speaking about this morning, why do we believe and if we look at it we will find we got it from our parents. We went to church when we were kids, it is our environment. We lived in a small town. Everybody went to church, everybody believed. We got it from our society, our environment. Now these are the things that cause us to believe, but which is faith, it is not good enough. It is not good enough, because we have to look at our reason for believing. Our reason and there we talk about internalising the Word of God and experiencing the changes in our lives in our thinking. The supernatural experience of the Holy Spirit, the intimacy with Jesus Christ and the word. When the reason is in place, when the reason is there, it is not just what we exert from other people, but it is a deep seated reason. We know now why we can then may be [inaudible 0:55:42]. Revelation 12:11: "And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]." I just ask how many of us here would be in that position and die for our witnessing. It is a question we must ask ourselves over and over and over. We cannot pay lip services to God. It has got to be meaningful and it must be something that comes from the heart, life changing. Amen.
Now may the Grace of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you now and forever more. Amen. O Father, Lord God Almighty, we have gathered here this morning to the Lord as sinners, acknowledging that you are our God, our Father and our Creator and we are but your creatures who humble ourselves in humility and worship and praise you. Amen.
We rejoice in the Lord and magnify His name for His goodness and His mercy. We have heard what our brothers have been saying this morning, vital message. I want to say to you that we have been speaking to you for some time now about the tape ministry, these cassettes. My brother James has made this beautiful album here. Take a look at it, there are all those sermons in there. These are for distribution.
These tapes are eight tapes, [inaudible 0:58:17] Lord told us to come and bring this tape recording. The title the Lord gave me is "The coming tribulation." [inaudible 0:58:30]. There is no charge for them. The only requirement is that the Word of God [inaudible 0:58:39] prophetic word this morning and [inaudible 0:58:44]. This has been prepared specifically with the mind to giving to other Christian leaders. The only reason it is free is to spread the gospel. [inaudible 0:59:18]. There are two other tapes there. The message that [inaudible 0:59:28]. There are about 10 copies of that tape and the idea is that you can take that and [inaudible 0:59:46]. You are free to make as many copies of all of these tapes that you want to. For those of you who do not touch a full set of tapes [inaudible 1:00:17]. There are a number of copies of last week's message [inaudible 1:00:34] copies of that as well for any of the other Samuel friends that are here. This city block is under a major demonic satanic [inaudible 1:00:52]. The fulcrum of Satanist power over this entire geographic area is settled above this area, this geographic area. That is why there are so many churches here, if the church has not been diligent in tearing down those principalities and power. [inaudible 1:01:20] nearly two and a half years. I got some experience in mining engineering and if you go and combine all ore body like a diamond [inaudible 1:01:33]. So on this tape there are about 10 copies of this [inaudible 1:01:45] spiritual warfare over Pretoria North. I would encourage each family to take this tape, listen to it, pray in agreement with it till you [inaudible 1:01:55] context of the prayer and then start praying that prayer every night when you [inaudible 1:01:59]. So [inaudible 1:02:00] over this geographic location and secondly over Neil and his ministry, and thirdly over your house for your family and your property and basically it is like that diamond pipe, it is [inaudible 1:02:14] into the spirit realm and slowly carrying this thing down. The more we tear down, the more the individual families have individual congregation who overlap until eventually Satan cohorts can be cast into the pit for a thousand years. If I just take one more minute, I will add, very interesting in terms of Dutch's message today. My brother moves out from the States and he was very...my ministry is called End Time Issues and he gets email from me from time to time. He said to me yesterday, I really need to sit down with you and hear in more detail what your interpretation of Scripture in that area. So we took him to the airport this morning and I was expounding my understanding of where we are at and what have you and I think [inaudible 1:03:03] he said what about the Mark of the Beast? And we have been hearing about microchips and what have you and I have been wrestling with this. It did [inaudible 1:03:10] coming back from the airport. What I am seeing more and more and Neil touched on this the other day that you are not even going to be able to tell people that they are sinners. I have been ministering over the internet to people in the States as being persecuted in a serious fashion for [inaudible 1:03:33]. They have the FBI monitoring them. They are basically getting into a place where they are completely in bondage. [inaudible 1:03:43]. That I am a committed Christian, it is important to me, that does not affect my work in the sense of the quality of the work that I have been doing. They want to meet with me on Saturday. We observe Saturday as Sabbath. I said I am sorry I do not work on Saturday and they never came back. The point there is what we are moving into. I am almost [inaudible 1:04:19] Dutch's message this morning, I am almost a hundred percent certain, the Mark of the Beast is on the forehead and it is on the hand. What do you do with the hand. You communicate contractually the word that come through your mouth, that come out of your mouth. I think that the Mark of the Beast is actually whether you are willing to speak the Word of God and acknowledge Jesus Christ in any situation. If you will not, if you will bow to Satan, if you will bow to the world and deny your faith, that you are prepared to teach, why? I could have had that job, I was [inaudible 1:05:03] with million rand a year as a chief executive of 25 companies. All I have to do was take that paragon to the bottom of my TV and [inaudible 1:05:17] on that subject when I spoke of that first. And that is more and more the case. If we are prepared to compromise, we are expecting the Mark of the Beast. If we are not prepared to compromise, if we are willing to put on our TV, to put on our company lead ahead if we have behind companies, Jesus Christ is Lord.
The Word of God says, if you will acknowledge me before men, I will acknowledge you before the [inaudible 1:05:43]. But if you will not do that, if you will keep quiet, if the road can't see that you are any different to the rest of them, and they discover by accident after knowing for three years that you are a Christian, you are accepting I think the Mark of the Beast. You are silencing what is in your heart, [inaudible 1:06:03] from coming out of your mouth and you are not writing this [inaudible 1:06:07]. There is more and more situation becoming for example, it is getting more and more [inaudible 1:06:15] in the United States. For example, there is [inaudible 1:06:19] they want to remove any teaching with regard to morality in secondary education in schools. In other words, they now want to teach sex in schools as a subject that you practice and they want to remove all reference to abstinence or anything else. It is just another biological subject, it is a bodily function that you perform with whoever you think fine performing. And the reason they want to remove it is because they claim it is religion. And the constitution [inaudible 1:06:50] religion. And the thing that has struck me is [inaudible 1:06:55] teacher in the United States a Christian, you are either going to have to when you apply for a job, say I am sorry, I cannot compromise on that. That is fornication and adultery. I cannot teach sex education without telling people about adultery and fornication, which means they will probably not get a job. And the thing that struck me this morning is if you do not have a job, you can buy. So if you are not prepared to compromise with the world, if you are prepared to say I cannot teach sex education without morality, I cannot do this, I cannot do that, I cannot be in business in my own account without acknowledging Jesus Christ as Lord. If you do that, you are going to find it harder and harder to get a job, to keep a job, to be in business. But if you compromise, I think, you might just be accepting the Mark of the Beast and we need to understand that. Tribulation is upon us. Judgement is upon us. We cannot [inaudible 1:07:59] anymore. I just shared this with you. I am sorry for holding this, but I am really overflowing at the moment.
[inaudible 1:08:13] who was an alcoholic all his life, he came home blind drunk, he got to a point where he was so demonised that Ingred and the children set behind locked doors for three months before God finally took her out of that marriage. She got custodian [inaudible 1:08:35] the bloodline was so strong, influence was strong, he was getting all his father's Demons, they were manifesting, it was becoming more rebellion, it was becoming absolutely inseparable. And in June-July this year we were getting [inaudible 1:08:53]. Father we cannot handle it anymore. Whatever we do, however we pray, he is just going down the same path. [inaudible 1:09:04]. That was beginning of August-September. [inaudible 1:09:18]. I am so blessed. I am bubbling over. I got to give the glory to God. [inaudible 1:09:49] it does not matter how bad [inaudible 1:09:54] children, your staff, whatever. God is able but we have to pray right. We have not because we ask not and we ask [inaudible 1:10:05]. We have to pray the will of God, we got to stop telling God the answer to our problems. All we say is Father we do not know what to do and the minute we stop telling God what to do and the child [inaudible 1:10:19]. He has been doing absolute miracles in our own lives. Amen. [inaudible 1:10:33] we ministered to him, we went back. The Lord took me all the way to Pretoria [inaudible 1:10:46]. Come back to the Lord. [inaudible 1:10:52] I am sharing this because [inaudible 1:10:59]. At the age of 5, mother divorced his father. He has a whole bunch [inaudible 1:11:13]. At the age of 8, she remarried [inaudible 1:11:23] you are a thief, you are a liar, you are this, you are that. And yesterday I was ministering to him and he said to me, you know, James [inaudible 1:11:36] at least a hundred times. [inaudible 1:11:40] remain with Jesus. You are not a liar. [inaudible 1:11:48] and the change in that man's life just with that revelation and [inaudible 1:11:54] and last month I went through [inaudible 1:12:00] like I have never experienced it. You cannot be so [inaudible 1:12:07] so good that we have to understand the power of mercy. That guy surely have a lot to go through. He is drunken, he is addicted to [inaudible 1:12:20], lovely gentle guy. [inaudible 1:12:33] entire life has been absolutely distorted and destroyed for all those years [inaudible 1:12:41]. We have to understand. Amen.
[inaudible 1:12:52]
[1:15:02]
From the message that is being presented, I pray that you will see the magnitude of confirmation of the current status of the church, the current status of the world. Tribulation and judgement are at hand. The church is about to be judged in a way that is beyond anything that we can comprehend. I remind you of something that I have mentioned previously. I was in the Holocaust Museum in Jerusalem in 1996. The Lord had arranged me to travel there on business and I had a day to spare and I went on a bus to the Holocaust Museum and as I was looking at these pictures of thousands of emaciated Jewish men, women, and children stripped naked and being mowed down my machine guns and bulldozed into trenches in gas chambers, being subject to terrible torture, mutilation for medical experiments and all sorts of horrendous things, pictures of ghettos, pictures of people starving, pictures of people being brutally assaulted. The Lord said to me this is a pale shadow of what is about to come on the church. To the day I still do not know how much of what is about to happen will be physical and how much will be spiritual. I am increasingly persuaded that much of what is happening and what is going to happen will happen in the spirit realm and if we look for it to happen in the natural realm, we may be seriously mistaken. I say again, Jesus the Messiah came and the very people who had most reason to be expecting his coming through the prophecies of Daniel and others, those who had access, most access to the word of God were the ones who crucified him. The high priests, scribes, Pharisees, the lawyers crucified the Lord of Glory because they were looking for God to act in a manifest way according to their understanding, according to their paradigm and he moved differently and they missed God.
I sincerely urge you, Jesus ushered in a spiritual covenant. Everything that happens in the New Testament is primarily spiritual in nature. Whatever happens in the Old Testament was primarily physical in nature. God uses metaphor, parable throughout Scripture, but particularly in the New Testament. When we read about the goat stampeding over the world in Daniel, that is not any physical goat, it is a king or a kingdom that was Greece, which was manifested in Alexander the Great, but Alexander himself did not stampede over the world, his armies did. So it has a spiritual connotation. If we look for the beast to be a man that is clearly identifiable as the beast, we are probably missing the point. The beast is a spiritual state. It is a carnal earthly brutal state associated with Satan. We seen at the end of Revelation that the beast, Satan is cast into the pit. It is a spiritual state.
There is every evidence that the Antichrist is powerfully active in the world today, anti the anointing, anti the anointed one, and his anointing and the demonic activity is all anti the anointing. There is every reason to my understanding of what the Spirit of God is saying after the events of the last couple of days, which have given rise to the recording of this tape and the message which was given on Sunday, the prophecies and everything else to conclude that the Mark of the Beast is not a physical mark, it is a spiritual mark, it is a state of mind, a state of being. It is something in which we choose not to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ before men in order to keep our jobs, in order to be able to buy and sell. The day that you compromise your faith in order to buy or sell, I submit to you, you are accepting the Mark of the Beast. If you have done that I suggest that you repent now as a matter of urgency, that you confess it as sin and you turn from your wicked ways. I suggest that if that means that you have to resign your job, if that means you have to take a stand with your employer regarding stuff that you know to be immoral, if you are a teacher and you are teaching a course which permits or encourages children to believe that they can have free sex, sex outside of marriage, anything like that, you need to take a stand and if it costs you your job, well then God will reward you. He will protect you. He is your provider, not your employer. If you have put some aspect of Scripture into place in your life, such as the observance of the true Sabbath, such as the observance of your responsibility, if you are a man in terms of marriage, it is time for you to understand that you cannot do that secretly. You cannot conceal the Word of God in your life and expect God to protect you or defend you. You have to be committed to God, you dare not contractually or verbally deny Jesus Christ. The probability is if you do that you will be spiritually marked as having bowed the knee to the beast. And I say again, if you are doing it, if you have done it, it is time to repent and turn around in Jesus name.
Father I pray that anything on this tape, which is not according to your will and according to your word that you will blow it away by your spirit and it will find no root in the hearts of the hearers. I thank you that everything that is according to your will and according to your word will be implanted and engrafted in their hearts that it will be watered and nourished by your spirit that it will grow and produce abundant fruit to the glory of your kingdom, in Jesus name. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. Amen.
Community church is a Pentecostal church that believes the gospel is the most important message for this and any other generation. I was therefore surprised to read a poster put out by the male and godly newspaper that the day of the Christian church is numbered. I do not believe that there is any power that can annul what Christ alone could do and that this message of redemption must be to the end of the Earth. To this end, we are producing these tapes for distribution free of charge. If this one has been a blessing for you, please assist us by passing it on. We thank you for your cooperation. God bless you.
I you have listened to this tape and it has made an impact upon your life and you realise your need, may I pray for you that Jesus Christ might enter your life and bring about the changes that are necessary. In Jesus name, pray that God will move by His spirit upon your life that your whole future shall be coloured by the fact that Jesus is alive and that he is alive and triumphant in your life. May God bless you and use you for His glory. We need every mouth, we need every effort to bring the message across for those that stand in desperate need. God bless you. Amen.
Foundation for Living community church meets at the South African [inaudible 1:23:27] hall, Jack Linden Street, Pretoria North. It is pastored by Neil Dryer, an apostle of God, who can be contacted on 012-808-1650. Meetings are every Sunday at 9:30 in the morning at the [inaudible 1:23:49] hall. Should you be led by the Lord to sow into this Ministry, our banking account details are as follows: Account name: NJ Dreyer, Bank: First National Bank. Branch: Silverton. Account number: 51030119874. Branch code: 25084500. You are free to copy these tapes without restriction and to distribute them as widely as you feel led. Please remember only that each of us is called to account on the Day of Judgement for what we do with the Word of God. Should you require additional copies of this tape, please contact me James Robertson on Johannesburg, that is 011-791-2327 or cellphone 0832516644 or fax 011-791-5004 or email Jamesr@infodoor.co.za and we will make arrangements to get copies of this tape to you.
May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face to shine upon you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Lord of Lords and King of Kings. Amen.
This message has been recorded by a church without walls, a ministry of End Time Issue Ministries, PO Box 898, Randpark Ridge, Randburg 2156, Republic of South Africa. We can be contacted by email at James@end-time-issues.org.za. Our phone numbers, international dialling code normally 0027 but this may vary from country to country, the 27 is standard. Our landline, 0027-11791-2327 or in South Africa, 011-791-2327. My mobile number 0027832516644 and in South Africa, 083-251-6644. Our fax number internationally 0027-11791-5004 and locally 011-791-5004. All materials produced by this ministry are available at no cost to those who require them, irrespective of financial means. At the same time, donations and offerings are clearly welcome to support the work. Please feel free to copy any of our materials in part or in full as the Lord leads you understanding that the manner in which you utilise these materials and the manner in which you cite them and quote them is for your account on the Day of Judgement. So we would ask you to use the materials widely but please feel free to copy them however you see fit and to share these truths with anybody as the Lord leads.
I would urge those of you who receive copies of these tapes at no charge that once you have listened to them that you consider passing them on and blessing others with them. Our hearts' desire is that they should not become artefacts sitting on a bookshelf and gathering dust but the word of God contained in these teachings should be spread as far and as widely as possible. Should you be led by the Lord to sow into this Ministry, our bank account is End Time Issue Ministries. The account number is 0427527805. The branch is the Standard Bank of South Africa, Randburg Branch and the branch code is 018005.
If in listening to these messages you have realised that you do not have a personal serving relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and that if you were to die right now you would not spend eternity in Heaven with him, I would urge you to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and to pray the prayer of salvation. These steps to salvation are as follows. Firstly, admit and recognise that you are a sinner. Romans 3:23: "For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God." Secondly, accept and believe that Jesus Christ is the son of God, that he came to Earth as a man, that He was crucified and died on the cross and that on the third day He rose again. He is now seated at the right hand of the Father. And that by His death and resurrection he took your sins for Eternity. Romans 5:8 says "But God demonstrates His own love toward us but while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."
Thirdly, confess your sins, repent of your sins and turn around. Repentance means turning around. It means ceasing to do what you now realise is wrong. 1 John 1:9 says, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just forgives us our sins, to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."
Four, confess your faith that Jesus Christ is Lord that you believe this, and receive His salvation and invite Him to dwell in your heart. Romans 10, 9 and 10 says, "If you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes into righteousness and with the mouth confession is made and to salvation. Give thanks to God for your salvation. Pray and cry out to God and give thanks to Him for saving you."
Sixthly, work out your salvation by the Spirit of God. Philippians 2:12 says "Therefore, My beloved as you have always obeyed, not only in My presence, but now much more in My absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling." Salvation is a process. You are saved the moment you pray the sinner's prayer, the prayer of Salvation and invite the Lord Jesus Christ to come into your heart and be the Lord of your life. The salvation is also a process whereby your mind is renewed, and you come to have a personal and deep relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. It is your choice how far you go in that relationship. He desires a wonderful, and a deep and an intimate relationship with you but it is your choice whether you will do what is necessary to come to that place through reading your Bible, praying, seeking counsel and seeking guidance.
You should be Water Baptised at the first possible opportunity, Mathew 3:6 says "And we are baptised by Him in the Jordan and confessing his sins." Encourage you to ask the Lord to lead you to somebody who has some knowledge of the basic ordinance of Water Baptism who can Water Baptise you or to lead you to a Church where they can Water Baptise you. There is no reason why you cannot be Water Baptised today as a symbolic cleansing and washing of your sins. In fact, the minute you pray, the sinner's prayer, it would be preferable for you to be Water Baptised.
Choose to be obedient to the Word of God, accept the Bible in its original Hebrew as given by the Spirit of God and choose to live your life according to that. 1 John 5:3 says "For this is the love of God, that we keep His Commandments. His Commandments are not burdensome." I encourage you to read the Word of God daily and to put into practice everything that you encounter, as a principle which I believe will bear fruit in your life, I would encourage you to make an effort right now after you have prayed this prayer, to start reading your Bible from the Book of John through to the Book of Revelation and then make a discipline of reading the New Testament from Matthew to Revelation, at least two, three, four times a year and read the Old Testament from Genesis to Malachi at least once a year. And I would encourage you to do that using different translations.
Ask God to lead you to the church where He wants you to be at this time where they will teach you, they will guide you, they will pray for you, and they will help you to walk in the fullness of what God has called you to be. Be aware that He may move you. God may move you from Church to Church over time to teach you new things and you should not be reluctant to do this. The service of God is a personal choice.