These are challenging words to the Church from a good friend of mine, Greg Gordon of Sermonindex.net ministries. Greg himself does not believe that the Evangelical church is finished. This is one of the few area’s that we disagree. The new wine that is coming cannot be poured into old wineskin, just as there was no room in Catholicism for Luthers 95 Theses although many at the time argued that there was, history of course has proven them wrong. The reformation was only a limited reform with much of the model of Catholicism retained. The remnant church of the end times will be radically different, praise God. It will not be a Catholic model, it will be an Acts model. Just as the Catholics fought the Lutherens, so the Evangelicals will srongly resist any attempt to model the church of Acts.

95 Theses To The Evangelical Church by Greg Gordon

**

“It is useless for large companies of believers to spend long hours begging God to send revival. Unless we intend to reform we may as well not pray. Unless praying men have the insight and faith to amend their whole way of life to conform to the New Testament pattern there can be no true revival.” – A.W. Tozer

**

Thesis 1 – The evangelical church at large has forgotten that the chief end of man is to glorify God.
(Romans 16:27, 1 Corinthians 6:20, Mathew 6:9).

Thesis 2 – Evangelicals ignore most of the methods, practices and principles found in Acts chapter 2.
(Acts 2:42,44, Acts 2:46, Acts 2:38).

Thesis 3 – We meet for one hour a week and consider that apostolic church. Many evangelicals treat church like any other social club or sports event that they attend.
(Acts 2:46, Hebrews 10:25, Acts 1:14).

Thesis 4 – We have made Christianity about the individual rather then a community of believers.
(1 John 2:19, 2 Timothy 4:16, Jude 19).

Thesis 5 – In evangelical churches the priesthood of all believers is not acknowledged and the role of pastor is abused. The biblical view of a plurality of elders is practiced by very few.
(1 Peter 2:9, 1 Corinthians 12:12, Ephesians 4:11-13).

Thesis 6 – The evangelical church as a whole has lost the concept of their being engrafted into the promises given to Israel.
(Romans 11:17-18,20, Romans 11:25, Romans 11:15).

Thesis 7 – There needs to be a recovery back to teaching through the whole counsel of God expositionally.
(Acts 20:27, 1 Timothy 4:6, 2 Timothy 2:15).

Thesis 8 – We take it too lightly, the blessing and honor of having God’s Scriptures in our possession.
(Psalm 119:16, Acts 13:44, Nehemiah 8:9).

Thesis 9 – There has never been more access to the word of God yet so little reading of it.
(1 Timothy 4:13, Nehemiah 8:1-3, Psalm 119:59).

Thesis 10 – Some read the Scriptures to attain knowledge and do not practice what they read.
(James 1:22, Matthew 7:21, 3 John 4).

Thesis 11 – Worship has become an idol in many churches. The music resembles the world more than anything else.
(Amos 5:23, Philippians 4:8, 1 John 5:21).

Thesis 12 – The world is shaping the views of the evangelical church more than the church shaping the views of the world.
(Romans 12:2, Matthew 5:13, 1 Corinthians 1:22-23).

Thesis 13 – The evangelical church spends more money on dog food then missions.
(2 Corinthians 9:6, Luke 21:2, Acts 4:34-35).

Thesis 14 – We take lightly the cost of discipleship laid out by Jesus Christ and consider following Him a sort of jovial thing rather then it truly costing us our actual entire lives.
(Luke 14:33, Luke 14:26-27, Matthew 8:19-20).

Thesis 15 – There is a lack of true discipleship and making others to be obedient disciples.
(Matthew 28:20, 2 Timothy 2:2, 2 Timothy 2:14).

Thesis 16 – The modern day evangelical believes the error that parts of life are to be spiritual while other parts are to be worldly and secular. Rather than our entire life’s being spiritual and our walk with God.
(1 Peter 4:2, Colossians 3:3, 1 John 2:6).

Thesis 17 – The modern day evangelical finds Jesus’ command to sacrifice and serve abhorrent.
(Philippians 2:21, James 3:16, Romans 12:1-2).

Thesis 18 – Self disciplines in the Christian life such as fasting, praying, suffering are considered legalistic.
(2 Timothy 2:21, 2 Timothy 1:8, Matthew 6:17).

Thesis 19 – Little thought and contemplation is put towards the lostness of men, the seriousness of the gospel, and the sacrifice of the call of Christ.
(Philippians 3:8, Galatians 2:20, Hebrews 10:34).

Thesis 20 – We are living with an epidemic of cheap grace in the Church. Flippant confession, shallow consecration, superficial surrender.
(Luke 14:28-30, Luke 14:26, James 4:8).

Thesis 21 – Since the inception of the Church, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was preached with the requirements of repentance and discipleship.
(Acts 2:38, Luke 14:26, John 8:31).

Thesis 22 – Presently, the “High-Calling in Christ Jesus,” has never been offered at such a low level. Forgiveness without repentance, discipleship without obedience, salvation without sanctity, confession without consecration.
(Hebrews 10:29, Hebrews 4:11, Luke 13:24).

Thesis 23 – Such terms as: Introspection, counting the cost, godly sorrow over sin, repentance from dead works, are all foreign to this church age of cheap grace.
(Acts 2:37, Psalm 119:9, Hebrews 6:1-2).

Thesis 24 – The modern evangelical church loves itself more than its neighbor.
(1 Corinthians 3:3, Galatians 5:13, Philippians 2:3).

Thesis 25 – The church must repent of its idolization of personality and business principles.
(2 Corinthians 2:17, 1 Corinthians 3:5, 1 Corinthians 12:23).

Thesis 26 – The elders and pastors of the church, as ministers of the gospel, are charged by Jesus to feed the sheep. But sadly many are fleecing the flock to supply their wants.
(John 10:12-13, 1 Peter 5:2-3, Revelation 2:15).

Thesis 27 – The qualities most in demand in today’s pastorate are frequently foreign to the qualities which are made most important in Scripture.
(1 Timothy 3:2-3, 1 Timothy 3:5, 1 Timothy 1:5-7).

Thesis 28 – The professionalization of the pastorate is a sin and needs to be repented of.
(2 Corinthians 11:13, Galatians 3:1, Galatians 2:6).

Thesis 29 – There must be repentance for the ambitious desire and idolization of the celebrity pastorate.
(3 John 9, Jeremiah 17:5, 1 Corinthians 12:22).

Thesis 30 – The evangelical pastor must trust the Spirit, not statistics.
(2 Samuel 24:1, 1 Corinthians 1:25, Romans 8:14).

Thesis 31 – Modern day prophets are being stoned by criticism and neglect.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4, Galatians 1:10, Jeremiah 1:7-8).

Thesis 32 – God’s prophets are ill treated and shunned by most evangelicals and considered too extreme or harsh.
(Jeremiah 6:10, Isaiah 6:9-10, Galatians 4:16).

Thesis 33 – An astonishing and horrible thing has been committed in the land: The prophets prophesy falsely, And the priests rule by their own power; And my people love to have it so. But what will you do in the end?
(Matthew 24:4,11-12, 1 Corinthians 1:19, Jude 8).

Thesis 34 – There are many false gospels being preached from pulpits. God has no interest and is not required to honor a gospel that is false.
(2 Corinthians 11:4, Galatians 1:8-9, Jude 16).

Thesis 35 – There is an epidemic of a sort of “mock” salvation being preached from many pulpits today. It is a gospel message that is not authentic. It is correct in doctrine but false in reality.
(2 Corinthians 3:6, 1 John 5:11-12, Romans 8:9).

Thesis 36 – What is this “mock” salvation that is being spoken of? Simply defined it is a salvation that does not make men holy.
(Jude 4, Romans 8:1, Romans 6:17-18).

Thesis 37 – No other evangelical phraseology has caused more damage to true gospel preaching then this simple coined phrase: “we are all just sinners saved by grace.”
(Ephesians 1:1, Hebrews 6:11-12, Hebrews 10:26-27).

Thesis 38 – There is a gospel message that keeps men sinners and never allows them to change and become saints in actual experience.
(1 John 2:29, Colossians 3:5-8, Titus 3:8).

Thesis 39 – The warning of Christ is against this gospel where professors of religion are forbidding people to be a part of the holy body of Christ.
(Matthew 23:13, Psalm 119:1-2, 2 Peter 1:3-4).

Thesis 40 – Preaching has become all about the happiness of man and not the glory of God.
(John 6:26, Romans 4:20, 1 Peter 4:11).

Thesis 41 – Preachers give smooth words to entice men, yet very few give any words of correction or rebuke.
(Jeremiah 6:14, Proverbs 1:23, 1 Timothy 5:20).

Thesis 42 – Run from gospels that focus on your success and prosperity. From those that use the name of Jesus Christ only for personal gain.
(John 2:16, Acts 20:33, Jeremiah 6:13).

Thesis 43 – Run from gospels that focus only on self-improvement.
(1 Timothy 6:5, Hebrews 12:14, James 4:14).

Thesis 44 – Run from churches where men and not Christ are glorified.
(Colossians 1:18, Jude 25, John 16:14).

Thesis 45 – Run from churches where there is no Bible, no cross, no searching Word, no repentance from sin, no mention of the blood of Christ.
(1 Peter 1:18-19, Ephesians 3:13, Revelation 1:5).

Thesis 46 – Run from churches where the worship leaves you cold, where there’s no sense of God’s presence.
(1 Corinthians 5:4, Psalm 80:14-15, Jeremiah 12:11).

Thesis 47 – Run from churches where you’re comfortable in your sin.
(1 Corinthians 14:25, Hebrews 10:30-31, Hebrews 4:13).

Thesis 48 – Run from churches that use the pulpit of God for a personal agenda.
(Jude 10-11, Jude 19, 3 John 9).

Thesis 49 – Run from those who preach division between races and cultures.
(James 2:4, Galatians 3:28, Revelation 5:9).

Thesis 50 – Run from ungodly, spasmodic movements and endless empty prophesying.
(Jeremiah 5:13, 1 Corinthians 14:33, 1 John 2:16).

Thesis 51 – Run from preachers who tell only stories and jokes.
(Ephesians 5:4, Titus 1:8, Titus 2:12).

Thesis 52 – Run from those that are only after money and they use one gimmick after another to get your money.
(2 Peter 2:3, 2 Corinthians 12:14, 1 Corinthians 9:18).

Thesis 53 – The phrase “accept Jesus as your personal Saviour.” Is not found in the Scriptures.
(Romans 10:9-10, Colossians 1:13, Acts 26:20).

Thesis 54 – Evidence of true conversion is something that does not seem important to modern day evangelicals.
(1 John 2:6, 1 John 4:17, Matthew 7:20).

Thesis 55 – In result thousands of sinners think of God having only one attribute, love! which has allowed multitudes to sit at ease with their sins.
(Romans 1:18, Acts 5:11, Psalm 2:12).

Thesis 56 – God loves you and has a wonderful plan for your life has caused much confusion in evangelism to the lost.
(Romans 3:19, Acts 26:18, Philippians 3:18-21).

Thesis 57 – A Gospel of love and grace only without the law of God is being preached. Martin Luther called this gospel a doctrine of Satan.
(2 Timothy 4:3-4, Romans 2:4-5, Romans 3:19).

Thesis 58 – We have inherited a system of evangelistic preaching which is unbiblical. This has clearly arisen from the careless mixture of 20th century reasoning with God’s revelation.
(Colossians 2:8, Romans 1:25, Galatians 1:6).

Thesis 59 – Decisionism and the sinners prayer has been the major cause of false conversions in the evangelical church.
(2 Peter 2:1-2, Ephesians 2:4-5, 2 Corinthians 5:17-18).

Thesis 60 – Evangelicals are swelling the ranks of the deluded with a perverted gospel! Many who have made decisions in churches have been told in the inquiry rooms their sins have been forgiven will be surprised to hear “I never knew you depart from me.”
(Matthew 7:22-23, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, Galatians 5:19-21).

Thesis 61 – Men have taken the place of the Holy Spirit of God in confirming men in their supposed salvation.
(1 John 2:3-5, 2 Thessalonians 1:8, Galatians 6:12-15).

Thesis 62 – The doctrine of hell and eternal suffering is something little grasped by most evangelicals.
(Matthew 13:42, James 5:1, Psalms 9:17).

Thesis 63 – The judgment seat of Christ is perhaps one of the most neglected topics in the modern evangelical pulpit.
(2 Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10, 1 Corinthians 3:13).

Thesis 64 – The second coming of Jesus Christ needs to be re-instated as the general thrust and burden of the church.
(1 John 3:2-3, Colossians 3:4-6, 1 Thessalonians 4:14-17).

Thesis 65 – The evangelical church has lost the fear of God and has over emphasized the love of God.
(Hebrews 12:28-29, Luke 12:5, Hebrews 10:31).

Thesis 66 – The church has left evangelism to a few trained professionals rather than simply obeying the Scriptures call to personally evangelize themselves.
(Acts 8:1,4, Acts 4:29, Romans 10:14).

Thesis 67 – Repentance is considered a one-time act in modern evangelism rather than a way of life.
(Revelation 3:19, Hebrews 12:17, 2 Peter 3:9).

Thesis 68 – The Lordship of Jesus Christ is something that is not imposed on sinners initially and creates half-saved people who have a Saviour but not a Lord.
(Acts 2:36, 1 Corinthians 12:3, Romans 6:18).

Thesis 69 – We are not open to correction, discipline or rebuke. And most would rather just move to another evangelical church somewhere down the road.
(1 Corinthians 5:5, 1 Corinthians 11:31-32, Hebrews 12:7-9).

Thesis 70 – There is a great deal of preaching that amounts to a mere believing of the different theories about salvation, instead of persuading men to come to Christ and be saved.
(John 5:40, Colossians 1:28, 2 Corinthians 4:5).

Thesis 71 – There has been a loss of the fullness and majesty of the gospel.
(1 Timothy 1:11, Jude 25, Romans 15:29).

Thesis 72 – There is little mention of sin or the depravity of man from evangelical pulpits.
(John 3:20, Galatians 5:19-21, Ephesians 5:5).

Thesis 73 – Covetousness, consumerism, and coddling the world’s goods is something that does not appear wrong to evangelicals.
(Jeremiah 22:17, 1 John 2:15-16, 1 Timothy 3:3).

Thesis 74 – Little is made of the resurrection of Jesus Christ in churches or in evangelism. Yet it was one of the major themes and glories of the apostolic church.
(1 Corinthians 15:14-15, Acts 4:10, Acts 4:33).

Thesis 75 – The evangelical church has relied more on technology then God.
(Zechariah 4:6, 1 Corinthians 1:21, 1 Corinthians 2:4).

Thesis 76 – The prayer meeting is considered in the evangelical church one of the least important meetings. The idea of meeting for an entire day together seems ridiculous and a waste of time.
(1 Timothy 2:1, Acts 4:31, Philippians 4:6).

Thesis 77 – Pastors have never prayed less than they do in the evangelical church in our day.
(Jeremiah 10:21, Philippians 2:21, Ephesians 6:18-19).

Thesis 78 – Very few are waiting on God for His direction and purpose for the church.
(Ephesians 1:11, Psalm 37:7, Isaiah 40:31).

Thesis 79 – The evangelical church has many organizers but few agonizers.
(Philippians 3:18-19, Romans 9:1-3, Jeremiah 9:1).

Thesis 80 – We need to have the gifts of the Spirit restored again to the Church. The one gift we need the most is the gift of prophecy.
(2 Timothy 4:2, 1 Corinthians 14:39, 1 Corinthians 12:31).

Thesis 81 – The evangelical church at large has never been more frivolous about the things of God. A serious, sober, self-controlled Christianity is very seldom found or preached.
(2 Peter 3: 11, 1 Peter 4:7, Jude 3).

Thesis 82 – The evangelical church at large has forgotten how to pray.
(1 John 3:22, Acts 6:4, 1 Thessalonians 5:17).

Thesis 83 – Churches are more dependent on tradition rather than on the leading of the Holy Spirit.
(Mark 7:13, Acts 16:6, Acts 13:2).

Thesis 84 – It might seem strange to say that ministers of religion are “pleading for impurity and sin.” Yet this is exactly what multitudes of professors preach and teach that you cannot be free from sin. That you must sin!
(Romans 16:18, Romans 6:1-2, 2 Peter 2:1).

Thesis 85 – The Apostles and Christ always preached from the vantage point of the possibility to walk holy and free from sin.
(Titus 2:11-12, 1 Peter 1:14-16, Romans 6:19).

Thesis 86 – Sinners are not saved to sin but rather saved to holiness and good works.
(Romans 6:13, Ephesians 2:10, 2 Peter 3:14).

Thesis 87 – Cheap grace means the justification of sin without the justification of the sinner. Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of the church.
(2 Timothy 2:19, 1 Peter 4:17-18, 2 Timothy 3:12).

Thesis 88 – A baptism of holiness, a demonstration of godly living is the crying need of our day.
(1 Timothy 6:3, 2 Thessalonians 3:6, 2 Thessalonians 2:13).

Thesis 89 – Most in the Church are utterly confused about the practical godliness, obedience, and good works which the Scriptures readily mentions.
(Titus 3:8, John 10:32, Revelation 3:15).

Thesis 90 – Little or no emphasis is put in evangelical churches on the plan of God to make us like Jesus Christ, conforming us to His image.
(1 Peter 1:14-16, 1 John 2:6, 1 Peter 4:1).

Thesis 91 – Christ did not die on the cross to obtain a worldly Church or for worldly Saints but for a “glorious Church.”
(Ephesians 5:27, Titus 2:14, Colossians 4:12).

Thesis 92 – Christ does not come into our unregenerate, sickly, impure hearts as many contemporary theologians say. He gives us a new heart to dwell in wherein is found holiness and righteousness.
(2 Corinthians 5:17, Matthew 5:8, Ezekiel 18:31).

Thesis 93 – A holy Church is God’s blessing to the world; an unholy Church is God’s judgment upon the world.
(Matthew 5:14,16, Ephesians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 2:12).

Thesis 94 – If Christianity is to make any headway in the present time, it must be proved to be more then a theory.
(2 Thessalonians 3:6-7, 1 Thessalonians 4:1, 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12).

Thesis 95 – Unbelief has us captive; the evangelical church is gagged and bound as risen Lazarus, it needs release in this final hour!
(Hebrews 3:12-14, 1 Corinthians 3:21-23, Hebrews 11:6).

I just wanted to share some worship with all of my brothers and sisters. This is from a sister from Scotland, a friend of mine who I know has an intimate relationship with Jesus. All worship should leave us with a sense of His majesty and His glory, should prepare our hearts and usher us into His presence. Sadly most of it does not. Be blessed, you will not regret downloading this. http://www.sermonindex.net/modules/mydownloads/singlefile.php?lid=17979&commentView=itemComments You can find Aileen’s album on my blogroll under “Latest CD.” Those of you who know me will know that I never promote anyone and in posting this I am hopefully promoting the majesty and glory of the Living God.

The time may come soon for brothers and sisters in the west to face the kinds of decisions that so many of our brothers and sisters had to face down through the centuries. Ask yourself this question, are you ready to give your all for the Lord Jesus Christ? Is He more important to you than your life, your reputation, your worldy goods, even your family?We must never underestimate what has went before us. Yet, as you listen to just one testimony of a saint from a dungeon, your spirit will soar to realize that even in the darkest dungeon the Light of the world will illuminate and pierce the evil. For what is darkness? Darkness is the absence of light. Where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty, indeed, He will never leave us nor forsake us. Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world!

In this piece by Andrew Strom he talks about the way the Church should look. He makes the point that the early church is not to be viewed as sepcial, but as an example for all of us. In The New Testemant there is never a reference to “churches,” plural, in regard to a town or a city, only in regard to a region. Think about that brothers and sisters, every town and city had only one church. I can hear some say ” well yes but they were only very small villages.” That is simply not true, many of the cities mentioned in the NT had as many as 500,000 people. They would meet in houses and gather together when an Apostle like Paul came to share.  In the coming reformation, we will definately see the denominational walls come down, at least as far as the remnant believers are concerned. No doubt the people most invested in denominations will fight tooth and nail to keep the divisions and their positions. A parrallel would be the Pharisees fighting tooth and nail, even willing to kill Jesus, in order to keep the status quo which kept them at the top of their society.  In the coming tribulation, our modern day religious men will do the same, not to Jesus of course but to His people. THE CHURCH of TOMORROW
-by Andrew Strom.

A lot of people probably read some of our writings and wonder,
“Where is all this headed? What is the goal?” A glib answer might
be- “We want to get back to real ‘New Testament’ Christianity.”
But what exactly does that look like?

This is an important topic – and something I have pondered a great
deal over the years. What exactly would the ‘New Testament Church’
look like if it was translated into a modern western city?

To get started, I want you to forget about today’s church just for a
moment – with all her obvious problems and contradictions, and
picture something quite different. I want you to imagine that you
are still living in the same city, in the same year, but you are right
in the middle of a ‘Book of Acts’-type scenario. Somehow everything
has changed.

For some reason, all of the Spirit-filled Christians in your city have
left their Denominations and divisions behind. They have truly begun
to fulfill the prayer of Jesus – “That they all may be ONE”. They now
hold huge gatherings all over the city – right out in the open. And as
well as these united gatherings, on most streets there is now a
house-meeting, where all the Spirit-filled believers from that street
gather together, eating and sharing and having communion, etc.
(ie. A “NEIGHBORHOOD CHURCH”). The power of God flowing in
these house-meetings is amazing. Many healings and miracles
are occurring. The ‘gifts’ flow freely every day.

It seems also that many of the church buildings and cathedrals have
simply been abandoned. No longer do Christians want to hide them-
selves away behind “four walls”. They want to gather out where the
people are – presenting Jesus to the whole world. They want to be
truly “one body”. There is no way that any of their old buildings
could contain the crowds, anyhow.

And the men whom God has raised up to lead this vast movement
do not seem much like the ‘Reverends’ or even the ‘televangelists’
of old. In fact, quite a few of them have never even been to Bible
College, and they seem to be very plain, ordinary people from
humble backgrounds. But what an anointing! It is very clear to
everyone that these ‘apostles and prophets’ (as they are known)
have spent many years in prayer and brokenness before God -
drawing closer and closer to Him. When they speak, the very fear
of the Lord seems to come down, and many people repent deeply
of their sins. Demons are cast out and the blind and crippled are
made whole. -These kinds of things are happening all the time.
The whole city is just in awe of what is going on, and thousands
upon thousands are being saved. Even the newspapers and
television are full of it.

As soon as someone repents they are immediately baptized in
water and hands are laid on them for the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
-This is expected from day one! And it is also expected that every
Christian has a gift and calling from God – and that they should be
encouraged to move forward and fulfill their calling. No longer is
there a distinction made between those who are “ministers” and
those who are merely ‘laity’. Now it is expected that EVERYONE
is a minister of the Lord! (However, there are ‘elders’ – ie. older
Christians to guide things).

Some of the bishops and pastors from several denominations have
actually denounced this great move of God very strongly. They say
it is “deception” and warn their people to stay away. (-Every Revival
in history has been accused of this – usually by religious leaders).
But to be honest, it is so obvious to most people that God is the
one behind it all, that very few take these men seriously. The Spirit
of God is sweeping all before Him. The glory of the Lord has come.

One of the reasons that these leaders are so upset is that a lot of
the Christians’ GIVING now does not go to church buildings, but
rather to the POOR. In fact, God has spoken to many people to
start supporting widows and orphans overseas, etc. They also give
generously to anyone in their midst who is in need. Many even sell
their own possessions in order to do this.

The huge over-riding theme of this great movement is LOVE.
“Behold how they love one another” is the catch-cry of many who
watch this ‘new church’ in action. And everyone is given to MUCH PRAYER.

And so, gathering “as one” in the outdoors and breaking bread from
house to house, they eat together with glad and sincere hearts,
praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord
adds to their number daily those who are being saved.

CAN This REALLY HAPPEN?

The above description is taken straight out of the Book of Acts – as
applied to today. Everything in the above paragraphs is put there to
give you an idea of what it would be like to live in the Jerusalem
church at the start of Acts. -And it was like that for YEARS. Imagine
the impact of such a church on the world around it! God is wanting
to do this again. And He wants to use ordinary people like you and
me to help bring it to pass.

I am convinced that we are NOT supposed to treat the early church
as a “special case”. It was given to us as an ‘example’. It is what
the “normal” church should be like all the time! And yet we have
fallen so far below this standard. Only in times of Revival do we
approach it again for a time. But I believe it is supposed to be
“normal” for the church to be like this – day in and day out. This
is the way that Jesus always wanted us to be.

However, one thing is clear. It will take a great “SHAKING” for us
to get anywhere close to the above description today. You have to
be aware that in order to get there from here, a whole lot of
‘hierarchies’ and church boards and careers and titles and positions
would be on the line. And a lot of men simply don’t want to lose
those things. It doesn’t matter to them whether it is Truth or not. If
it affects their reputation, their position or their organization, they
will oppose it with everything they have.

Sadly it is very difficult to see a “smooth” transition to this kind of
Christianity. I believe we are in for a shaky ride. But I certainly
believe that it is on God’s agenda. And like the Great Reformation
before it, I believe He will do WHATEVER IT TAKES in order to
get us there.

Here’s to true ‘NEW TESTAMENT’ Christianity, my friends – the
kind that Jesus and the apostles actually invented in the beginning.

Let us settle for nothing less – WHATEVER IT TAKES.

Please send feedback to-  prophetic@revivalschool.com

God bless you all.

Andrew Strom.

In order to truly glorify God we must understand who He is and who we are in Christ. The time for “woe is me for I am undone,’ is not now. For we are not undone, we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. No army marches into battle with their heads hung low. When the army of God arrays itself for battle it must come to the battle with its head raised high to the heavens with eyes that gaze on the wonder of God. So I would say to every remnant believer, all who have mourned the state of the church and the state of the world, close your ears to that robber of hope, to that deceiver of the saints. He is the accuser of the brethren who has lied and whispers in your ears “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The foundations of this world may shake in the midst of mighty earthquakes. The foundations of our homes may be swept away by fire and by flood but the solid foundations of our Lord and Saviour Jesus shall never be shaken and shall never be destroyed. So, as we focus on God and glorify Him, let us speak this to the enemy of our souls “Behold the Lamb that taketh away the sins of the world.”

BEHOLD THE LAMB!

To every thing there is a season and a time for every purpose under the heavens: A time to be born, a time to die, a time to plant and a time to pull up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal, a time to break down and a time to build up; a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones and a time to gather stone together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to get and a time to lose, a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear and a time to sew, a time to keep silence and a time to speak; a time of war and a time to make peace;a time to love and a time to hate (Ecc 3:1-8)

This is the season for God’s remnant people to glorify God. The focus of God’s people must be to glorify Him in the assembly of the people. As His people glorify Him, God will step down. He will not step down to justify a mans ministry or a mans ability to teach, He will step down when the people seek Him with their whole hearts. Sunday after Sunday, our hour long services are apportioned up and we expect God to respond, we expect God to step down in His apportioned 20 minutes or so. He will not do it.

In order to truly glorify God we must understand who He is and who we are in Christ. The time for “woe is me for I am undone,’ is not now. For we are not undone, we are redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. No army marches into battle with their heads hung low. When the army of God arrays itself for battle it must come to the battle with its head raised high to the heavens with eyes that gaze on the wonder of God. So I would say to every remnant believer, all who have mourned the state of the church and the state of the world, close your ears to that robber of hope, to that deceiver of the saints. He is the accuser of the brethren who has lied and whispers in your ears “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?” The foundations of this world may shake in the midst of mighty earthquakes. The foundations of our homes may be swept away by fire and by flood but the solid foundations of our Lord and Saviour Jesus shall never be shaken and shall never be destroyed. So, as we focus on God and glorify Him, let us speak this to the enemy of our souls “Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world.”

Behold the Righteous one, behold Him that is glorious in majesty. Behold Him that is pure in Holiness. Behold Him that was and is and is to come and evermore shall be. Behold the Son of Glory. Behold Him who was lifted up and now is high and lifted up. Behold Him who is worthy to open the Book. Behold the Lamb of God who was slain before the foundations of the earth were established. Behold Him who is faithful and true. Behold Him who is the fullness of the Godhead. Behold Him who leads the armies of heaven to victory over all the powers of darkness. Behold Him who has conquered hell and death and sin and all the powers of the grave. Behold Him who was dead but is alive and seated at the right hand of the Father. Yes we say behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world and dwells forevermore in the midst of the throne. Behold the Lamb as the angels cry “Holy , holy , holy is our Lord and our God in whom there is no shadow and in whom dwells no darkness. Behold the mercy of God. Behold the justice of God. Behold the righteousness of God. Behold Gods judgment and behold His love.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. Behold, if the Spirit of the one who was raised from the dead dwells in you shall He not also make your mortal bodies alive by His Spirit? For as many as are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God, who do not have a spirit of bondage so that they may dwell in fear but are adopted sons of the living God who can cry out to God and call Him Father. And the Holy Spirit of the living God bears witness in the very depths of our souls that we are His children , praise God. And of course, that majestic truth leads to the truth that since we are His children, then we are His heirs, indeed joint heirs with Christ. And as we enter into His sufferings we count our present trials as mere rubbish in comparison to the coming glory that God Himself will reveal in us. For we have been pre-destined to be conformed to the image of His Son Jesus. This the enemy knows well. It is his full-time occupation to have the saints question themselves and doubt their standing before God. Did not that old serpent, that father of lies even try this with Jesus? He says “If indeed you are the Son of God.” Even his question is an accusation and a deliberate lie for Satan knew well that he stood before the Son of the Living God.

So we do not listen to the enemy across the field of battle who shouts lies and curses at the remnant people of God. We listen to the promises in the Word of the Living God as He leads His children into battle. He says that He has multiplied grace and peace to us according to His divine power because He knows us and we know Him. Not as the world knows Him, we know Him in the depths of our spirits and the Spirit bears witness to that. And He has promised that we would partake of His divine nature having escaped the corruption of this world. These things are not present in those who cannot see afar off and to him who has forgotten that he was purged from the sins of the past. The saints of God are a light that shines in the darkness until the dawning of the day that Christ returns and every knee bows and every tongue confesses that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father and the Daystar arise in the hearts of His people.

And so, all of Gods people in this final season begin to glorify God and they start by saying “Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world.” For in the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. And we know that all things exist through Him and not a single thing exists outside of Him. In Him is life and that life is the light of men. His people who have received Him are given authority to become the children of God. Behold unto us a Child is born , unto us a Son is given and the government is upon His shoulders and His name is wonderful, counselor, mighty God , Everlasting Father. He is the Prince of peace. Before me there was no God formed says the Lord. Nor shall there be after me, I, even I , am the Lord and besides me there is no Saviour.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last and the living one and I became dead and behold I am alive forever and ever amen. And I have the keys of hell and death. I have seven stars in my right hand and I walk in the midst of the seven golden lamp stands. I say this to the overcomers, you will eat from the tree of life which is in the midst of my paradise. Do not fear what you are about to suffer, be faithful to death and I will give you the crown of life. To those who overcome I will give to eat of the hidden manna and will give to him a white stone and in that stone a new name will be written which no man knows except the one who receive it. I am the Son of God and my eyes are like a flame of fire and my feet like burnished metal and I say to the overcomers, hold fast that which you have until I come and I will give to you the power over nations. And I say to those who are not defiled, you will walk with me with garments of white and I will confess your name before my Father and before His angels.

I am He who is Holy and True and I have the keys of David. I open and no one shuts, I shut and no one opens. Behold I have given you an open door and no one can shut it. For you have a little strength and have kept my words and have not denied my name. Hold fast so that no one takes your crown and I will make you a pillar in the temple of my God. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice, open the door and we will dine together.

Behold that Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. The creatures of heaven do not rest day or night but cry out “Holy , holy , holy, Lord God the Almighty who was and is and is to come.” and they worship Him who lives forever and they throw their crowns before the throne saying “Oh Lord you are worthy to receive glory and honor and power.” And a mighty angel shouts with a loud voice “Who is worthy to open the book and to loosen its seals.” Behold the lion of the tribe of Judah. A Lamb , standing in the midst of the elders. He steps forward and takes the book from the right hand of Him sitting upon the throne. And the elders and the creatures fall down before the Lamb along with all the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song. “You are worthy and were slain and have redeemed your people to God by your blood. People from all nations of the world gather around the throne with the angels and the elders and the creatures and they were without number and they sang “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and blessings.

And again the multitude which no man could number, dressed in white and with palms in their hands cried out “Salvation to our God who sits upon the throne and to the Lamb. Blessings and glory and wisdom and thanksgiving and honor and power and might be to our God forever and ever amen.” And the tribulation saints washed in the blood of the Lamb serve before the throne of God day and night and God Himself dwells amongst them. And the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne feeds them and leads them to the foun tains of living waters. And God wipes away all of their tears from their eyes.

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world. And the heavens and earth passed away. And a great voice cried “Behold the tabernacle of God is with men and He dwells with them and they are His people and God is with them and He is their God. There is no more death nor mourning nor crying out, nor is there any more pain for these things have passed away.” “It is done,” says God. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the end. To Him who thirsts I will give him the fountain of the waters of life freely. He who overcomes will inherit all things, I will be His God and He will be my Son. And in this place there is no temple for the Lord God Almighty is its temple, even the Lamb. And in this place there is no need for the sun, nor of the moon, for the glory of God illuminates it and its lamp is the Lamb.

Behold the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins of the world. From the throne of God and the Lamb proceed a pure river and its waters are the waters of life. And the Lamb says ” Behold I am coming quickly and my reward is with Me. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the ending, the First and the Last. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright Morning Star. And the Spirit and the Bride say come. And let the one hearing say come. And let him who is thirsty come. Let him take of the waters of life freely. Yes I am coming quickly. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with you all amen.

So brothers and sisters in Christ. Its time to gaze upon the wonder that is Him. Know who He is and who you are in Christ. His promises are yes and amen. He does not lie , the accuser of the brethren lies. Hold fast in these last days and glorify Him. All of His promises will come to pass and they are to you who know Him, they are to His remnant people. Go into battle with these glorious thoughts. We know in whom we serve, we know who we follow, we know some of what awaits us on the other side of glory. There is nothing in this world that compares to what the Word of God describes to those who overcome. It is a glorious vision and yet we know even this that “eye have not seen,nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the hearts of man the things that God has prepared for those who love Him.”

Hearts that are “fit to break” with love for the Godhead
are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with
opened eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men of the breaking
hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by
common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority.
They had been in the Presence of God and they reported what
they saw there. They were prophets, not scribes: for the scribe
tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells us what he has
seen.
The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between the scribe
who has read and the prophet who has seen, there is a
difference as wide as the sea. We are today overrun with
orthodox scribes; but the prophets, where are they? The hard
voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the Church
waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the
veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder that is God.

HAVE YOU PENETRATED THE VEIL? SCRIBE OR PROPHET?

Do you often wonder why some men seem learned and speak and teach from knowledge of the Word and others speak from what they have saw. Now what they see does not contradict the Word, no it expounds it, yet it is beyond the scribe. Tozer writes this……..

Hearts that are “fit to break” with love for the Godhead
are those who have been in the Presence and have looked with
opened eye upon the majesty of Deity. Men of the breaking
hearts had a quality about them not known to or understood by
common men. They habitually spoke with spiritual authority.
They had been in the Presence of God and they reported what
they saw there. They were prophets, not scribes: for the scribe
tells us what he has read, and the prophet tells us what he has
seen.
The distinction is not an imaginary one. Between the scribe
who has read and the prophet who has seen, there is a
difference as wide as the sea. We are today overrun with
orthodox scribes; but the prophets, where are they? The hard
voice of the scribe sounds over evangelicalism, but the Church
waits for the tender voice of the saint who has penetrated the
veil and has gazed with inward eye upon the Wonder that is God.
… A. W. Tozer (1897-1963), The Pursuit of God [1948],
Christian Publications, 1982, p. 40

So the question is, have you penetrated the veil and gazed with inward eye upon the wonder that is God ?. For those who have penetrated the veil , theyhave a three dimensional knowledge of God and those who have not have only a flat two dimensional knowledge of God, that which they have gleaned from learning and self-effort. The man who has penetrated the veil knows both the awe fullness of God and He also knows the majesty of God.

Now, how do we determine the scribe from the Prophet? Are there identifying characteristics that we can look at and discern? Well we know that the Bible tells us that all of our righteousness is as filthy rags. We know that Scriptures teach us that all have fallen short of the Glory of God. We know that outside of Christ all is darkness and death. All of this would be common knowledge to both the Scribe and the Prophet, they would both agree that this is man’s state. In fact, we even see in Scripture, a scene from heaven itself as a mighty prophet stands before God, lets see what his reaction is for it will give us a clue.

Isa 6:5 Then I said, Woe is me! For I am undone; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, Jehovah of Hosts.

You see, all at the same time Isaiah sees his own state and then He sees the King of Glory. It is fire from the alter that cleanses the Prophet and enables him to continue and listen to God and then receive his commission. Without the fire from the alter the Prophet would have never gotton past his own lowly state. And anyone who comes into the presence of God immediately knows their own lowly state. That is why men of the OT fell flat on their faces in the presence of God, as do men today. Not slain in the spirit, so called, made popular in many Pentecostal churches, no men fall to their faces trembling to their very core in the awesome presence of an almighty God. So if fire from the alter cleanses the prophet and enables him to continue, what does blood from the alter of Calvary do to those who are covered by it? Was not that the very purpose of Calvary? Reconciliation to God the Father, Jesus made the way behind the veil, he penetrated the enmity between man and God. Now, according to the Scriptures, we can come boldly before the throne of grace.(Heb 4:16)

Yes, we will still know our lowliness, but we will lift up our eyes and see Jesus and know why we are there. The scribe, who is not covered by the blood, can only every know the vile part. He has no coal, he has no blood, he only has knowledge, and that leads him to focus with the intimate knowledge that he does have, the intimate knowledge of his own sin. So he gazes upon his sin and his sin is magnified. And ultimately out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Mat 12:34) The scribe is under the Old Covenant and is condemned, the Prophet is under the New Testament and is redeemed. So the Scribe preaches condemnation, the Prophet preaches reconciliation. The Scribe’s words condemn and enslave, the Prophets words are designed for freedom of the captives.

Now the Prophet, as he comes away from the presence of God will have a heightened awareness of his own ungodliness, sin in his own flesh, but this will be overwhelmed by the glory of God. When a man has seen the King, he understands his own state, yet the mercy and grace that he found before the throne enables him to finish the commission that God has given him because his focus is not on his own sin, his focus is on Jesus. He will long to be away from this world, not because he hates the world, for in fact he loves it more as God does , but because of his heightened awareness of sin itself. You see, the greater the revelation of God, the greater the awareness of sin, the greater the desire to go and be with God , just as the Old Covenant of Laws was a revelation of sin, which led to a magnification of sin which led to despair and a knowledge that one needed a Saviour.

The man who has penetrated the veil hates sin. It makes him sick. He longs for the time when sin will be no more. He loses , piece by piece, all desire to even be in this world apart from fulfilling his commission to God. The things of this world are meaningless to the one who has seen the King. Their only desire will be to see God glorified. One of their greatest passions and zeal will be to refute the Hypocrite and Pharisee because to them, mis-representing God is worse than not believing God.(Rev 3:16-18)

The Scribe only every gets to the heart of himself, if even that. Now one must journey to the center of ones heart, this is true. Every spiritual person takes this journey on. They discover, much as Paul does in Romans 7, that at their very core they are wretched, but if that is where the journey ends, then one has decided to take up shop in a pigsty. Think about the prodigal son. Consider his journey in more of a spiritual setting. He takes what is his(we all have free will) and he sets out and discovers just how vile he is and where that leads to. Yet, the greatest part of this story by Jesus is not about the fact that he ends up in a pigsty, its about the fact that he looks around, discovers his true self, his true condition, and then seeks to be reconciled with his Father. He gets up out of that pigsty and goes and presents himself to his Father, and of course, even while he was a long way of, his Father sees him, which means He has been watching and waiting on him, and his Father runs to him. It took brokenness and humiliation for the son to be reconciled with his Father.

So, the Scribe lives in the pigsty and bemoans his state, the Prophet gets up and makes his way to the Father. The Prophet teaches about the way back to God, the Scribe teaches about how dirty the pigsty is. The Prophet rejoices loudly at the grace and mercy to be found if one takes a certain road, the Scribe is stuck in the pigsty because his eyes are set on himself. Today, the prophets and priests of God understand the true state of the world and of the church. One portion of the church is blind to this, another is stuck looking at his own sin. If you only know about your sin, then its time for you to seek the King. The true mark of one who has seen Jesus is the joy that they have. Yes they despair at the state of all things that are without God, and the rise of sin, but their heart is full of gladness. They live in victory. Their eyes are blinded to the things of this world, they only have eyes for Jesus. They have a “Spirit of wisdom and revelation in the Knowledge of Him.” (Eph 1:17) Their eyes are opened and enlightened(Eph 1:18) They have a hope and know the riches of His glory and they know that as adopted children of God. That they have an inheritance, guaranteed and sealed by the Holy Spirit(Eph 1:18) And they have experienced the exceeding greatness of God’s power(Eph 1:19 ) They were dead and now they are alive (Eph 2:1) They know that they have been raised with Christ and sit with Him in the heavenlies (Eph 2:6) And they know that they are rich, rich in mercy and grace and rich in Spiritual blessings(Eph 1:3) This is the abiding marks of those who have penetrated the veil.

This post is the vision that the previous post made reference too. I would urge you to read this with care and lift up your eyes and see where we are right now. The distractions that we are in the middle of right now are part and parcel of a greater plan by the ant-christ to get the believers eyes of Jesus and onto the things of the world.  What war do you want to be a part of. I have added Scriptures to the end of this post to help you undersatnd what God says about these matters. Remember, this world changes constantly, but the Word of God never changes. No matter how pressing the issues seem to be, trust in God and His unchanging Word. God knew all of the circumstances down through the ages when He wrote His word, therefore we must follow the word of God . It may not always make sense but this narrow way finds only a few, be obedient to Him and do not be distracted by the “pressing issues ,” of the day and you will stay on the narrow path that leads right through the mountains and deep, deep valleys, but it also leads us through the harvest fields and home to Jesus.

HARVEST OR CIVIL WAR

This post is the vision that the previous post made reference too. I would urge you to read this with care and lift up your eyes and see where we are right now. The distractions that we are in the middle of right now are part and parcel of a greater plan by the ant-christ to get the believers eyes of Jesus and onto the things of the world.  What war do you want to be a part of. I have added Scriptures to the end of this post to help you undersatnd what God says about these matters. Remember, this world changes constantly, but the Word of God never changes. No matter how pressing the issues seem to be, trust in God and His unchanging Word. God knew all of the circumstances down through the ages when He wrote His word, therefore we must follow the word of God . It may not always make sense but this narrow way finds only a few, be obedient to Him and do not be distracted by the “pressing issues ,” of the day and you will stay on the narrow path that leads right through the mountains and deep, deep valleys, but it also leads us through the harvest fields and home to Jesus.

A VISION – HARVEST or CIVIL WAR?
-by Robert Holmes.

To fight or not to fight, that is the question. Or rather, to fight
this enemy or that. There is a battle Christians all need to wage
against the enemy of our souls, the enemy of the church – Satan.
But there are many other skirmishes and insidious battles being
fought by the brethren. These are the skirmishes of church warfare.
There are lines drawn between this movement and that, between
this crowd and that, battles being fought to divide the church…

But the Bible teaches us that we should not skirmish and rail against
flesh and blood, but against the evil rulers of the air, who influence
and affect our brethren (Eph 6:12). We are to take up the shield of
faith with the sword of the spirit and join God’s warriors fighting a
common enemy (Eph 6:16-17). I have asked myself why we are
led to divide the church, why we go into battle when we should be
building the kingdom…

A PICTURE of WAR

I had an open vision in early September 1997 that showed me a
startling reality of what is happening right now in the church. A
cinema style video opened up before me as I was praying one
evening. I saw a black and white film, which looked like it was made
in the 1940’s. It began on a farm. Dozens of men were working in
the fields, preparing instruments for the harvest. Then suddenly,
they began to leave the fields and walk toward a railway line. Trains
pulled up with streams, banners and a band playing. Many of the
men climbed aboard to go off to war.

The scene panned back to the field where many shovels, spades,
forks, scythes and machinery had been left idle on the ground.
Before me was a vast harvest of wheat, with scarcely no one left to
work the fields!

The scene changed and I saw women and children learning in various
schools and colleges. There were women learning trades and how
to operate machinery, children at lathes learning woodwork and
smaller children learning at school. So many women and children
had been left behind as their men went off to war. They had to learn
how to survive and remain productive without them.

The vision closed with a picture of a lone man standing in the field.
Behind him lay all the discarded tools of the harvest, before him
was a huge field of wheat. He did not look perplexed or dismayed -
he simply prayed God’s blessing and began to work.

The HARVEST

I ask you, is God’s agenda for us to lay down our tools of harvest
and run off to war? I know for sure a battle is raging, there is no
doubt of that! Indeed the enemy comes to devour our harvest, he
comes like a plague of locusts to eat the crops and steal the seed
before it can germinate. It is true we must fight, and fight hard
against the devil today, but let me ask you – what war are you
running off to fight? Where is our focus?

“Do you not say, ‘Four months more, then comes the harvest’? But
I tell you, look around you, and see how the fields are ripe for
harvesting. The reaper is already receiving wages and is gathering
fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together.”
(John 4:34-36).

WHERE is OUR FOCUS?

The rumble of an exciting opportunity to go off to war resounds
across the land. These days we run, leaving the weak and the
young behind to do the productive work. We want to glory in the
temporal, while Christ is working the eternal. We are putting down
our tools, and taking up guns and weapons…. And there is Christ,
standing alone in the fields crying, “These fields are ripe unto the
harvest, pray for labourers”.

Where are you going Christian? What is consuming your energy
right now?… Are you one to run off and join the train, the band, the
noise, the army gathering or will you stay and fight for the harvest?
Will you join those who devour the land before them or strike at the
plans of Satan to destroy the church? God is preparing a harvest,
lift up your eyes and see the work it ready to be done! Behold the
fields are ripe unto the harvest and the reaper is already collecting
his wages.

-Extracts from ‘Harvest or Civil War?’ copyright (c) Robert Holmes, 1997

 
And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. [8] And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. [9] If any man have an ear, let him hear. [10] He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Rev. 14:12-13
Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus. [13] And I heard a voice from heaven saying unto me, Write, Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.

Ephes. 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Matthew 16:17
And Jesus answered and said unto him, Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.

2 Cor. 10:3-6
For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war after the flesh: [4] (For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) [5] Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; [6] And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Col. 3:1-2
If ye then be risen with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right hand of God. [2] Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.

Col. 3:8-17
But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth. [9] Lie not one to another, seeing that ye have put off the old man with his deeds; [10] And have put on the new man, which is renewed in knowledge after the image of him that created him: [11] Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor free: but Christ is all, and in all. [12] Put on therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, bowels of mercies, kindness, humbleness of mind, meekness, longsuffering; [13] Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. [14] And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness. [15] And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to the which also ye are called in one body; and be ye thankful. [16] Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. [17] And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.

John 13:34-35
A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. [35] By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Luke 10:2
Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.

Years ago a friend of mine, Robert Holmes, saw a vision of Christians
leaving the Harvest field to go and join in with a “Civil War”. They were
leaving their primary mission (the gospel) to go and make war against their
own countrymen. What does it mean and why would they do such a thing? -This
was unclear.

IS OBAMA REALLY THE PROBLEM?

By Andrew Strom

Years ago a friend of mine, Robert Holmes, saw a vision of Christians
leaving the Harvest field to go and join in with a “Civil War”. They were
leaving their primary mission (the gospel) to go and make war against their
own countrymen. What does it mean and why would they do such a thing? -This
was unclear.

Like a lot of you, every day I get bombarded with the latest emails against
Obama – and what he is up to. I can truly understand this.
Unlike a lot of overseas Christians who can’t comprehend this kind of
American political partisanship, I truly get it. I lived in America for four
years, and one of the things I saw clearly while living there is that
America is at WAR with itself. And it is getting worse. Right against left,
liberal against conservative. And there is no doubt that as an evangelical
Christian, I am truly a “conservative” myself. But there is a lot that
troubles me about what is going on.

When the US conservatives elected Bush, a lot of the world could not
understand it. I understood it completely. America is at war with itself and
Bush seemed like the most robust campaigner against the liberal agenda. It
did not matter that he was not the “smartest” guy. He was strongly on “our
side” in the culture war – and that is what mattered: Homosexuality,
abortion, taxes, health care, and so-on. To a lot of US Christians, politics
has become THE main arena where they fight and take a stand. So if I am a
conservative myself, why am I so troubled by a lot of this?

Well, let me ask you some questions and hopefully you will see why:

-Is “Politics” the arena that Christians are supposed to be putting so much
time and energy into fighting? Is that what the early church did?
-Aren’t we supposed to be more passionate about prayer and the gospel than
we are about pulling the “liberals” down?
-Couldn’t this be a total distraction from our real mission?
-Doesn’t a lot of it amount to a giant “smear” campaign of rumor- mongering
that should be beneath Christians to participate in? -In other words, isn’t
the way we are speaking often gossipy, slanderous, mocking and ungodly?
-Why are prayer and the gospel taking a backseat to Obama-baiting?
-Is the Christian community in any country supposed to become a “voting
bloc” for one particular party?

I think those are pretty important questions. And I think a lot of
Christians may have trouble answering them.

The fact is, I get more “political” anti-Obama emails from US Christians
every day than ’spiritual’ emails. What does this say about conservative
Christians? It says they care more about politics than the gospel. That is
the conclusion I have to come to. And I believe this is Idolatry – pure and
simple. Politics has replaced the pure milk of the word for a lot of
Christians. They are on a “campaign”
alright, but it is not a campaign for Jesus. And they devote hours and hours
to it. They are feverishly checking out the “latest dirt” on Obama every
night and hungrily devouring Fox News (which makes more and more ratings
dollars as it drives every fresh controversy).
They love it! There is only one problem: It is not Jesus, it is not the
gospel, and a lot of it is simply not godly at all. In fact, it is replacing
Jesus and replacing the gospel.

If I was the Republican Party or Fox News or Talk Radio (each hungry for
more ratings and dollars – these are not Christian organizations at all)
then I would absolutely LOVE the fact that the Christians are so easy to
whip up into a frenzy of Obama-rumors and Obama-trash-talk. But none of this
is godly, is it? It is not remotely Christian. The early church would have
renounced it utterly. They took no interest in politics. They only cared
about Jesus and His simple gospel. And that is still the only thing that can
save America today. We are being sidetracked.

But the frenzy continues. “Did you hear the one about Obama being likened to
Hitler?” ‘Did you hear the one about Obama’s birth certificate?’ ‘Did you
hear the one about Obama’s “death panels”? ‘Did you hear that there are
really demons in the Swine Flu vaccine?’ (canned laughter please).

A lot of this amounts to a kind-of Christian “smear” campaign. In politics
much of it would be considered in the ‘dirty tricks’ category – the kind of
thing you do when trying to ruin someone’s reputation with sick rumors and
innuendo. No matter if it’s true or not. As long as it does the job of
“smearing” the person. Is that the kind of thing Jesus would want us
involved in?

Here is the truly major thing that I believe the devil is trying to do in
America today:
-He is trying to create division so bitter and so extreme that both sides
literally start to fight one another with guns drawn. He is trying to tear
America apart.
-He is trying to sidetrack the one group that truly has the answer.
He is trying to wrap them up in fighting politics, so they will forget that
the pure GOSPEL OF JESUS CHRIST is the only real hope for America today.

I believe the devil is truly succeeding in both of the above aims.

To conclude this article, I would like to ask some questions of the
Christians who spend so much time on this “Obama War”:

-Do you spend as much time spreading the pure gospel as you spend spreading
stuff about Obama? Why not?
-Is your mind and your energy and your passion more focused on knowing
Christ – or defeating Obama and the liberals in politics?
-If you were asked to turn off Fox News and delete the “Obama”
emails and turn off Talk Radio, etc, could you bear it? Or are you
more-or-less an “addict”?
-Do you really think it is right for this to be the big focus of your life?

I truly believe these are huge issues and huge problems in the American
church today. I guess I can expect a wave of angry disagreement in response!

God bless you all.

Andrew Strom.

JEHOVAH RIDES UPON A SWIFT CLOUD

Even as you read this, there is a gathering storm. The time is short and a great darkness is approaching. A darkness such has never been seen before. A great flood of evil approaches the gates of Zion, its thunderous noise not only shaking the city but shaking the whole world.

THE GATHERING STORM

Even as you read this, there is a gathering storm. The time is short and a great darkness is approaching. A darkness such has never been seen before. A great flood of evil approaches the gates of Zion, its thunderous noise not only shaking the city but shaking the whole world.

Rev 12:15 And the serpent cast out of his mouth water like a flood after the woman, so that he might cause her to be carried away by the river.

The remnant Church will soon face such a flood of evil as has never been seen before. It is time to prepare. We must gird up our hearts and our spirits in such a way as to be completely dependent upon the Lord. Indeed, that is why the Lord is conveying His people into the valley of Acacias, into the desert place, into that final place of gathering before the great and notable day of the Lord. Once before, the Lord carried His people on Eagles wings.

Exo 19:4 You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to Myself.

The tenderness and beauty of the Lord can be seen in this Scripture. He delivered His people from bondage out of Egypt. Now, Egypt is synonymous with the world. The Lord has begun to convey His people on eagles wings from the world, from the established church, into the desert where they will be prepared for the final battle. His people are being prepared for Martyrdom. They are being isolated so that He alone will be their sustenance. Jesus Himself was also taken into the desert as a place of testing and preparation.Mar 1:12 And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. Notice the word “drove.” Interesting ,is it not, that the Spirit “drove,” Jesus into the wilderness. The Greek word for drove and its meaning is …….

ekballō
ek-bal’-lo
From G1537 and G906; to eject (literally or figuratively): – bring forth, cast (forth, out), drive (out), expel, leave, pluck (pull, take, thrust) out, put forth (out), send away (forth, out).

Interestingly enough, this is the same word used to describe how Adam and Eve were “driven,’ out of the Garden. You see, no one wants to enter the wilderness. One has to be driven into the wilderness . And what does that word wilderness mean? erēmos
er’-ay-mos
Of uncertain affinity; lonesome, that is, (by implication) waste (usually as a noun, G5561 being implied): – desert, desolate, solitary, wilderness.

You see, the wilderness is a desert place. It is a valley, its a place of isolation, a solitary lonesome place, a place of “uncertain affinity.” Perhaps you may find yourself in that place today. It is as necessary to you as it was to Jesus. This was a place that Jesus proved that He was fully dependant upon God the Father. He would not turn rocks into bread, even although He had the power to. He would rely upon what He knew about His Father. We too must rely upon what we know about our Father. We must surrender to this place of testing, this loneliness, this isolation that brings us to a place of utter dependence upon God.

Rev 12:14 And two wings of a great eagle were given to the woman, so that she might fly into the wilderness, into her place, where she is nourished for a time and times and half a time, from the serpent’s face.

You see brothers and sister, once again God’s people carried on the wings of an eagle and being “brought to myself.” God is drawing His people close to Him in order to prepare them. What was the Lord being prepared for when He was driven into the wilderness? He was being prepared for humiliation, rejection, false accusation, imprisonment, torture and ultimately death on the cross. We too brothers and sister, we too. I visited Washington DC a few weeks ago. One of the museums that I visited was the Holocaust mu seam. A very sobering place indeed. This perhaps, better than any other historical even, brings into sharp focus the culmination of man’s inhumanity to man. And yet, according to Scriptures, this is not the culmination, there is a time coming such as has not been seen before. Mat 24:22 And unless those days should be shortened, no flesh would be saved. But for the elect’s sake, those days shall be shortened.

One of the problems with thinking about what happened to the Jewish people in the WW 11 is that the reality is so horrendous, that we can barely even consider it. It staggers the mind. The enormity of it, the total lack of empathy, even for children, this spewing out of evil upon the land is almost quite literally beyond what our minds can process. For we know, that this did not happen amongst what we in the West would call “savages.” This happened in Western Europe. A cultured educated people. A people with a Christian heritage. A people schooled in the Arts. And lets not make the mistake of thinking then that the Germans must be a peculiarly evil or wicked people for this to arise in their midst. They were not. They were not that different from the British. We want to explain it away but we cannot explain evil. And right here I think is where one of the major problems lie for God’s remnant people who know that persecution is coming. The reality of the impending evil, this “great flood,’ that is about to be spewed out at us, is so beyond what our human minds can process that it is hard for the “watchmen on the wall,’ to adequately convey and keep in the front of the minds of the hearers, just what is coming. In fact, only a supernatural element will do. Only God’s Holy Spirit can rightly convey to the spirit what is coming to pass and even that will be in measure.

Having said all of that, the reason or this post is to bless God’s remnant people. To encourage them not to turn away from the reality of what is coming. Not to be fooled by the fact that the world seems to be turning just as it always has. Not to be lulled into thinking that tomorrow will be the same as today because today is the same as yesterday. Yet, despite all that is coming our way, the Lord rises up in the hearts of His people.

Isa 59:19 So they shall fear the name of Jehovah from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of Jehovah shall raise up a standard against him.”

Isa 51:3 For Jehovah shall comfort Zion; He will comfort all her waste places; and He will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert like the garden of Jehovah. Joy and gladness shall be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of melody.

sa 51:6 Lift up your eyes to the heavens, and look on the earth beneath; for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke, and the earth shall become old like a garment; and its inhabitants shall die in the same way. But My salvation shall be forever, and My righteousness shall not be broken.
Isa 51:7 Listen to me, you who know righteousness, the people in whose heart is My Law; do not fear the reproach of men, nor be afraid of their revilings.

Who is it that “knows righteousness?” Who is it that has the Lord’s commandments written upon his heart? It is the true seed, the remnant people, God’s people. He will comfort His people in the “waste places.” Even in the wilderness, this shall be like “Eden.” You see in the beginning God drove His children out of Eden into the wilderness. Now, at the end of times He will make that very wilderness like Eden. For we know that it is God’s presence that creates the “garden of Jehovah,’ even although it is in the desert. Heaven is where the Lord is and joy and gladness shall be found in the desert by His people. This spirit of Martyrdom, this Spirit of Rev 12 where they “overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb, and because of the word of their testimony. And they did not love their soul until death,” can be found down through the ages. Listen to what a saint wrote from the dungeon back in 1557, a young Christian, a novice who had spent three years in a dungeon and was shortly to be burned at the stake.

“In a dark hole I have found pleasure; in a place of bitterness and death, rest and hope of salvation; in the abyss or depths of hell, joy; where others weep, I have laughed; where others fear, I have found strength; who will believe this? In a state of misery I have had very great delight; in a lonely corner I have had most glorious company, and in the severest bond, great rest. All these things, my fellow brethren in Jesus Christ, the gracious hand of God has given me. Behold, He that at first was far from me, is now with me, and Him whom I knew but a little, I now see clearly; to whom I once looked from afar, Him I now behold as present; He for whom I longed, now offers me His hand; He comforts me; He fills me with joy; He drives from me bitterness, and renews within me strength and sweetness; He makes me well; He sustains me; He helps me up; He strengthens me. Oh, how good is the Lord, who does not suffer His servants to be tempted above that they are able I Oh, how easy, pleasant and sweet is His yoke I Is there any like God the Most High, who sustains and refreshes those that are tempted? He heals them that are bruised and wounded, and restores them altogether. Isa. 41; 43:20. None is like Him. Learn, most beloved brethren, how sweet the Lord is, how faithful and merciful; who visits His servants in trial (Isa. 43:2); who humbles Himself and condescends to be with us in our huts and humble abodes. He gives us a cheerful mind and peaceful ul heart.”This same Spirit will carry us through the tribulation and to whatever faces us. Rejoice and be glad brothers and sister for the promise of God is true “He will never leave us nor forsake us.”

Faith is of two kinds: nominal and real. The nominal faith is the faith that accepts what it is told and can quote text after text to prove it. It’s amazing how nominal faith and nominal belief can weave these texts into garments, cloaks and curtains for the Church.

Tozer writes…

Faith is of two kinds:nominal and real. The nominal faith is the faith that accepts what it is told and can quote text after text to prove it. It’s amazing how nominal faith and nominal belief can weave these texts into garments, cloaks and curtains for the Church.

But there is another kind of faith; it is faith that depends upon the character of God. You will remember that the Scriptures does not say “Abraham believed the text and it was counted unto him for righteousness.” It says “Abraham believed God.” (Romans 4:3) It was not what Abraham believed, it was who Abraham believed, that counted. Abraham believed God, and the man of true faith believes God and his faith rests on the character of God. The man who has real faith rather than nominal faith has found a right answer to the question, “what is God like?” There is no question more important. The man of true faith has found an answer to that question by revelation and illumination.

The difficulty with the Church now-even the Bible believing Church-is that we stop with revelation. But revelation is not enough. Revelation is God’s given Word. Its an objective thing, not subjective; it’s external, not internal. It is God’s revelation of truth. A man may believe that and believe that soundly and hold to it to be truth. And yet he will have only an objective revelation of truth that has been objectively revealed. Tozer,A.W The Attributes of God,p 18

Tozer is correct of course. Its why the current state of the church, under its present leadership in all it’s many forms, is getting ready to be swept away. Objective faith is no faith at all. Its not the externals that make and change a man, it’s the internals. The true man of God is a new creature in Christ, this is not an objective truth, its an internal reality that grows from the inside out. The man who has only objective truth has no illumination and applies his own wisdom to the revelation of God’s word and then applies it to his life, trying to change his life from the outside in. It always fails, it cannot work. It ends in total failure or it ends in self-righteousness which is total failure cleaned up and made presentable, even beautiful.

The religious man worships the Word of God, the man of true faith worships Jesus. The religious man will be an angry man, but mostly he will be a fearful man. He will be fearful of the world. He will despise the world. He will think himself and others of like-mind, better than the world. His fears will spill over into many different aspects. He will fight feverishly in the political realm to preserve his way of life, but mostly he will be fighting out of fear of an ever encroaching world.  The man who worships Jesus will love the world. The man whose Father is God will love the world. He will abandon his rights in favor of sacrifice. He will forgive and have mercy on a dying world that is destined for hell. He will love the world for “God so loved the world.” He will know that God loved  the world when it was yet in its sin. He will cry out “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do,” even if they are being persecuted and killed all the day long by that very world. 

You see, a man can have many things, he can have knowledge, wisdom, he can be used to perform miracles, he can do all manner of charitable works and he can even give his life as a martyr for the cause of Christ, yet if he does not have love then he has nothing. How clever is the deceit of the religious man? It is so clever that the one deceived barely knows that he is deceived. This “nominal faith,” that Tozer speaks of is the predominant faith of the day. The nominalists run most of the church’s, they are the deacons and the elders and they are the Christian leaders of the day. The last few generations of Christianity have been dominated by these of “nominal faith.” Almost every leader that we would know today, that have the national and international spot-light, are of the “nominal faith.”

A nominal faith has no spiritual power to transform. The nominal faith works on the outside, it is external and can only be so. Those with a real faith have an internal witness. They “know.” They “know,” by illumination as well as revelation. Revelation is the word of God, illumination is the opening up of the Word by the Holy Spirit. The Remnant have this internal witness. They love the Word of God because it is the diary of someone they “know,” and love. They devour the Word of God not because they worship the written word, but because they worship the living God. Those of the nominal faith know in their hearts that they do not “have,” what these others do. It does not sit well with them. They instinctively do not like them. They are irritated by them. It is the Saul and David relationship. David was a constant reminder to Saul of what he did not have. You see, you can have the whole world, a kingdom of your own, and yet if you do not have God then you do not have anything.

Today we are witnessing an interesting phenomenon where many – God knows the
numbers – are leaving the relative structure and security of organized
churches, denominations and memberships, to follow hard after their God, to
a wilderness of sorts, a strange and unfamiliar place little understood by
establishment Christianity. Perhaps the Lord is calling His remnant to
Himself in simplicity and purity at the end of this age? Perhaps the
prophetic ministry from outside the walls has begun, or at the very least is
being perpetuated at this time? Perhaps a time of final testing for the
church and Israel is poised to begin? Whatever the ultimate reason, many are
coming out, and almost immediately they will need to adapt to this new and
strange environment where the Lord alone is all that they have.

The Lord’s Wilderness – W.E. Smith
July 24, 2009 by W.E. Smith
www.livingwalk.wordpress.com

“Beware that you do not forget the LORD your God by not keeping His
commandments, His judgments, and His statutes which I command you today,
lest-when you have eaten and are full, and have built beautiful houses and
dwell in them; and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver
and your gold are multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied; when your
heart is lifted up, and you forget the LORD your God who brought you out of
the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage; who led you through that great
and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions and
thirsty land where there was no water; who brought water for you out of the
flinty rock; who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers
did not know, that He might humble you and that He might test you, to do you
good in the end- then you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my
hand have gained me this wealth.’ (Deut 8:11-17)

For students of the Bible, the concept of the wilderness should be most
familiar. Abraham left his homeland and family to venture forth into an
unknown land of promise. Moses left the palatial comforts of Egypt to dwell
among the rocks and wild beasts. The tribes of Israel wandered 40 years in
the wilderness prior to occupying the land of Canaan. Job lost everything
that He might glimpse the Eternal One at the edge of the valley of death.
David fled from Saul and spent years eluding him in the pathless wilderness.
Most, if not all of the Lord’s holy and faithful prophets abandoned all they
knew and loved to live alone with the Lord in His company and care. John the
Baptist conducted his prophetic ministry as one “crying in the wilderness”.
Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit into the wilderness forty days and forty
nights, tempted of the devil and ministered to by angels. The Apostle Paul
spent much of His life and ministry imprisoned, isolated, imperiled and
alone. And the woman of Revelations 12 is sheltered and nourished in the
wilderness immediately prior to our Lord’s return to this earth.

My friends, this wilderness theme runs all through the Scriptures, and
through the varied lives and experience of God’s children. It has always
been an essential concept to be grasped, yet I believe this may be even more
true today. It is vital that we understand what it teaches us about how our
Heavenly Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit bring us to true faithfulness
and blessing.

Now the concept of the wilderness as it affects others is one thing – yet
the actual experience of the wilderness as it impacts our own life and faith
is quite another. It is a very intimate matter you see, challenging
everything we think we know about God and the Christian life, the church and
community, the actual and the superficial. It is wrought with difficult
questions and seemingly few answers. It is typically invested with profound
emotion, loneliness and even confusion. And it is more of a valley than a
mountain-top, with again, seemingly little evidence that heaven is still
there, and that Our Lord is still caring for His sheep.

To understand the wilderness we must go deeper and further into the very
heart and mind of our Heavenly Father, as He loves and nurtures His
children. We must look beyond our teachers and books, for they – by and
large – don’t really understand it. We must divest ourselves of any fluffy
religious notions that really don’t get to the heart of a man or what really
happened in that garden. We must also resist the theological urge to
generalize and systematize, as God’s wilderness is as varied as His people,
and as unlimited as His vast, creative mind.

We are addressing this topic generally, in order that we might understand it
better. We are also more specifically hoping to edify and encourage those,
who like ourselves, find themselves outside and apart from the traditional
church organization, having left it behind in order to more perfectly hear
and follow the Lord.

The Exodus from the Organized Church
Today we are witnessing an interesting phenomenon where many – God knows the
numbers – are leaving the relative structure and security of organized
churches, denominations and memberships, to follow hard after their God, to
a wilderness of sorts, a strange and unfamiliar place little understood by
establishment Christianity. Perhaps the Lord is calling His remnant to
Himself in simplicity and purity at the end of this age? Perhaps the
prophetic ministry from outside the walls has begun, or at the very least is
being perpetuated at this time? Perhaps a time of final testing for the
church and Israel is poised to begin? Whatever the ultimate reason, many are
coming out, and almost immediately they will need to adapt to this new and
strange environment where the Lord alone is all that they have.

It is quite common to hear the following sentiments today from God’s people
-

“The glory of God has left my church.”

“Jesus is no longer at the center of our fellowship!”

“My church has aligned itself with the ways of man and the world.”

“My church functions more like a club, than an expression of the life of
Jesus Christ!”

“The Holy Spirit has gone out of the church.”

“The church is of the world and the world is in the church.”

Indeed, the world has infiltrated the church to such a degree, and
corruption has become so rampant and pervasive that it is practically
impossible to keep abreast of all of the apostasy and defilement within.

By much spiritual evidence and observation, the ‘church on the corner’ is
either dying or already dead. This is obvious and apparent to any with eyes
to see, to those with true spiritual insight. Only those with a vested and
carnal interest in perpetuating the corpse, and holding it up with strings
will deny this. True spiritual discernment speaks otherwise however. A.W.
Tozer and Leonard Ravenhill, for example, 20-40 years back can still be
heard on creaky recordings woefully proclaiming the life of God pouring out
of contemporary Christianity. Theirs were the prophetic forewarnings from
within, all decrying the forces marshaled against the historic church -
materialism, humanism, pragmatism, psychology, modern marketing, etc. Then,
such corruptive forces were pressing at the edges; today they are rooted
into the very fiber of institutional Christianity, across all lines,
divisions and denominations. Those who would weep the tears of our Lord are
indeed weeping, with great heaviness of spirit and heart.

“Come out of her my people!” is the message of the hour! Come out of her,
lest you share in her sins! But to where and to what – this is the question
of the hour? Quite often when the Lord draws us out of something and back to
Himself, we are led by way of the wilderness. It is this wilderness that
concerns us here, and by His grace we will endeavor to more completely
comprehend it.

What it is and Why
In this short piece we would like to touch on some key elements in this
wilderness experience, including what it is, and why our Lord, in His
infinite and loving wisdom might draw His children into such a condition.
Perhaps you reading this now are in what you might consider a wilderness,
alone with God, cut off in large measure from all you have ever trusted or
known. Nothing now seems to make sense, even your religion or relationship
with God. Everything appears dark and the way forward seems unfamiliar. Your
faith is challenged like never before. The ground beneath your feet is
shifting like loose sand. You turn to fellow saints for help and
encouragement, but they just don’t seem to understand. All they seem to have
is an argument or proof text trying to convince you that you are either in
sin or rebellion.

My brothers and sisters, we know that you are out there, and that you may be
at this moment feeling isolated and alone. It is our hope and prayer that
you will be encouraged and edified by the fact that you are not in any
manner abandoned by our Good Shepherd, and that you are still very much in
His capable and loving care. This wilderness you are in is not a denial of
Christ’s blessing on your life by any means, but living proof that He loves
you more than you can ever know. Indeed, the wilderness – however it is
applied to the servants of the Living God – is first and foremost God’s
idea. It is His wilderness. It is His way back to Himself. He needs to know
that there are no circumstances, nor people that will cause you to deny Him.
He needs to knows that He alone is your first love. He needs to know that,
stripped of all religion and corporate piety, and spiritual machination, you
will seek Him alone, for Himself and His glory. He needs to know that you
love Him for Him and not just His gifts, and all of the many things church
may have restored to you.

All of the biblical examples given above can provide us with valuable
insight into what the wilderness is, what it looks like (in general terms,
as we are also acutely aware that the wilderness experience is manifest
differently for each of us as God’s children) and what we can expect to find
there.

To begin, it is a new and strange place – a circumstance or condition that
is foreign to all we know. Consider Abraham and Moses leaving the
familiarity and security of their home and family and all they have ever
known to venture out into a new and strange land. For the most part they are
alone in the wilderness. They often don’t know exactly where they are being
led. There is little to no explanation. God Himself has called them out,
drawing them to Himself that they might follow Him in simple faith and
trust. He is their way, and they must look to Him in perfect confidence that
His guidance and provision will lead only to blessing

The Lord, in drawing us to Himself often brings us through the wilderness.
Here we learn not to trust in ourselves, but in Him alone. He draws us out
of wherever we are that we might learn to lean on Him for everything. He is
now our way, and our provision. It is a time of total and absolute
dependence on Him. He draws us away from all of the props and dependencies,
our friends and family, our everyday structures and support mechanisms, that
He might be the All that holds us up, and maintains our lives. We must learn
to trust God rather than circumstances or people. We must look for the bread
that comes from heaven and the water that comes from the rock. We must turn
our backs on all we know, even those we love, so that He might know that we
love him first and most, that He is enough if everything and everyone else
is stripped from us.

I have been considering something that A.W. Tozer once said in a sermon, and
it was this – “What if all we Christians had was God?”. Not His things, nor
blessings per say, but only Him. Not a hundred fired up preachers or
prophets telling us about Him, but only Him. Alone with Christ, and He
asking us “Do you love Me more than these?” as He did to Peter. “Am I enough
for you, or are there other things you desire?” My friends, this is
essentially what the wilderness is for – to provide our Lord with the answer
to this question.

[Have you ever pondered the idea that the modern church - with all of its
structure and activity and paraphernalia - is endeavoring to answer
questions that God has probably never even asked? Something to think about.]

All of my life I kept looking for Him in other things – people, groups,
movements, trends, systems, you name it. Yet in the end He has brought me to
Himself, quite part from anything else that may claim or represent Him. This
is the wonderful thing about the wilderness – it reduces everything down to
bare-boned, spirit-touching-flesh reality. It clears away all the haze and
noise that may be preventing you from seeing and hearing God.

If you have become a Christian, for example, to gain friends and community -
if this is what you seek primarily – then the wilderness will isolate you so
that He is your only friend and fellowship. Then our Lord will ask you
bluntly – Am I enough for you? Do you Love me more than these?

If Christianity and church membership is mostly about a healthy environment
for yourself and your kids, for activities and programs, then here again,
the wilderness will reveal this for the idol it is. The Lord must know, you
see. And we must know also, and many will admit that so much of what we do
as “church” today keeps us from coming into direct and personal contact with
essential things.

The wilderness is a wonderful instrument for stripping away all of our
dependencies on things and shadows isn’t it? It is about survival and
spiritual reality, life and death, hunger and thirst, breathing in and
breathing out. Is He your All, my brother? Does living for Him alone define
you my sister? We are religious by nature, but only His nature in us,
refined and perfected by His Holy Breath and Spirit will satisfy the burning
ache in your spirit. We must have Him, and know Him, and want Him, and trust
Him, before He will grant to us all of the many blessings pouring out of
Him.

Is the wilderness a pleasant place? Not really – not how the world measures
things anyway – for only here it seems do we come to recognize what we are
actually made of, that we are carnal and earthbound, that our faith is
largely theoretical, not tried and tested in the fiery furnace of
experience. Like earthbound Jacob, wrestling with the Lord, we come to the
end of ourselves that He might begin in us anew.

Yet we also come to see our God for what He is, in all of His Transcendent
Wisdom and Glory; in all of His Grace and Truth, and Love and Light. In
seeing Him as He truly is everything else is seen as it really is. Every
created thing, including ourselves, can be seen in its true light, the Light
of the Bright and Morning Star, the Daystar that scatters all darkness. As
there are so few distractions, everything in the wilderness is reduced to
the most basic of questions, like -

“Do you love Me more than those” and.

“Who is this who darkens counsel By words without knowledge?”

My brethren, I am sorry if this seems so different from what you have been
taught to expect. Yet it is the truth and it is the Lord’s way. It is not
the church’s way, and so for the most part those affiliated with it will
spurn it, and judge it as illegitimate. Those who seek to save us from all
that such a wilderness will present, will obviously fight against it with
all they have. It represents no small threat to all organization and
mediated leadership; to the self-exalted priest class that has come to rule
so much of the body of Christ in our day.

Read Job’s account and affirm what some of us have already discovered in our
wilderness walk – that even God’s peace and presence is seemingly withdrawn,
causing us to question how much we really trust Him. Even when He withholds
the manifest evidence of His presence, when He appears to have turned His
back to us and stopped His ears, will we continue to bless Him and to love
Him? Despite an often prolonged and overwhelming sense of bewilderment,
discouragement, isolation and even guilt, will He remain our only Hope, our
Heavenly Father and Loving Shepherd? Will we hold fast to Him or let Him go?
Trust is often forged in darkness and silence, when our experience and
expectation of what this new life means appears to be in contradiction. My
friends – this reveals yet another aspect of God’s wilderness.

All of the so-called experts tell us how human beings innately require a
community; yet what happens when the Lord is our only community, when all we
have is Him, when even the ones we love abandon and forsake us? When all of
their words make us feel only guilt and even more bewilderment, when they
cannot seem to comprehend the legitimacy of what is happening to us. So much
easier to pray down God and all His angels to extricate us from our
isolation and hardship. And it is inconceivable to so many believers, not
knowing the Lord or His wilderness, that this very thing could be sanctioned
and even enabled by God Himself, out of His love and mercy for His beloved
children.

“I will build my church”, proclaimed the Lord Jesus Christ. Yet this is
apparently not good enough for the many man-size church-builders among us,
who seek to separate us from God with all their various methods and
mediators. By directing all of their resources at maintaining and
perpetuating their precious institutions, they fail to recognize that the
God they serve doesn’t care one bit for their institutions. He cares for His
children and will spare no effort – even resorting to the wilderness if
necessary – in building them up to perfection in His Beloved Son!

Hear this please, all those who have ears to hear. I believe the Lord may be
trying to get the attention of His people.

The Wilderness Part of God’s Larger Plan
We like to be busy don’t we? We almost have an inborn, driving need to
advance, to move forward, to do great things for the Lord. Results and
numbers and growth are the gilded idols of our day, and they have penetrated
the church of Jesus Christ.

My friends, if the Lord Himself was so concerned about tangible results and
numerical growth, then why did He choose to sideline the greatest evangelist
who ever lived? Why indeed did the Apostle Paul spend so much of his
ministry shipwrecked, on remote islands, and in prison when the entire world
awaited? Have you ever wondered about this? I have. Perhaps the Lord was
ministering unto Paul during this wilderness time? Perhaps He didn’t want
Paul to get too heady about all of the wonderful things (the results) God
was doing through Him? Perhaps our Lord was communicating intimately with
Paul some of the awesome concepts and revelations found today in His
epistles to the churches? Perhaps there were people and connections that
could only be cultivated there in the wilderness, off the beaten path, there
in the shadows?

My brethren – there really is so much the Lord does not allow us to see, in
terms of His larger plan, isn’t there? To our carnal nature, and to all that
we are as men and even Americans, this wilderness makes absolutely no sense
at all. We want to get into the game desperately, and yet the Lord wants us
on the sidelines, or maybe even outside the arena and cut off entirely from
all the action. He wants us to Himself. He wants to know if He is enough all
by Himself, independent of His gifts and blessings, and all of the noise and
trappings of religion and community.

But for how long, you say? Certainly not for years and years? My dear
brethren – it is up to Him entirely as our wise and loving Father. Consider
that David, running for his life from King Saul in the wilderness, could
have ended his isolation on more than one occasion. Yet he trusted in the
Lord, that at His appointed time, he would be restored to the fellowship of
Israel and his family. Keep this in mind when you are tempted to forsake the
wilderness on your own terms.

Consider Job’s friends who sought to persuade him to curse God and die.
Heaven is silent while the church is having a party down the block. What
will you do? You look for sense when nothing, not God, nor the situation
itself, makes any sense at all. Explanations are few, if at all. You can
either come to hate the wilderness and seek a way out, or you can trust He
who loves you enough to allow such things. His plan is so much larger and
wider and deeper than our loneliness and disillusionment. As God, He is
under no obligation to reveal all or even any aspect of it to us.

Is the devil in the wilderness? Likely He is. Yet the Lord and His angels
are there too, ministering to us, teaching us, tearing us down and binding
us up, comforting and communing with us, revealing His glory to us in quiet
revelation and intimate miracles. It is the place where a still small voice
can always be heard, where the grandest and god-sized things are reduced
down that we might grasp them and go with them. It is the barren and rugged
terrain of the prophet not the priest; where created things are laid naked
before the great “I Am”- that Awesome, Uncreated One who broods over all the
earth, seeking merely one who will prove faithful.

The Wilderness and His Remnant
My friends – I don’t pretend to see it all clearly yet, but I believe that
in these Last Days the remnant of the Lord (the few out of the many) will
commune with Him in the wilderness in preparation for His coming. Always
between the gardens is a wilderness, it seems, where saints have long
hungered and thirsted after God. Perhaps it is in the wilderness where the
Church and Israel are ultimately reconciled in the heart of God? The Book of
Revelation hints at this. Perhaps in these last tumultuous days, there is
spiritual and even physical protection to be found here for the Lord’s own?
Perhaps the true church of Jesus Christ has always been a wilderness people,
largely unreported, off the radar, disenfranchised, de-legitimized by
establishment and institutional Christianity? Quietly and faithfully and
simply, they go on serving the Lord in the back alleys of life, away from
the rush and clamor of church bells and choirs?

Is your faith rugged enough, my brother? Has it been tested by wind and
storm, my sister? Can you still follow Him without a scripted program, a
schedule, a holy day, a church bulletin? Can you worship Him without a music
director, without a big band and choir, without the predictable lyric of the
song sheet?

He is coming! And He will first come to His own. If this be true, and it is
- then where will they be found in these final hours of Adam’s reign? What
will be sustaining them as they wait patiently for Him – will it be the
bread from heaven and the water from the rock? Or will it be the delicacies
of Egypt – meat and wine that turns foul in their bellies? When all
mediators between them and God are removed, and He stands before them, will
they be able to recognize Him, and love Him, and hear Him? Will His sheep
follow Him at this time when their very lives will depend on it?

Now, can we see this today? What is the real danger to genuine Christians? Does the enemy of our souls not still seek to enslave us? From him who is the most chained entity, does he not seek, at his most basic level, to enslave the free? For those who are already enslaved require little attention from the enemy, he has them where he wants them. No, its the free men that he is after. And how does the father of all lies, the chief deceiver, go about his business? He does it with a mastery that has no equal. Now, would the father of lies, attempt to rob the freemen by convincing them that they could live any old way that they want? Would that be an effective strategy against the genuine man of God? The old heresy of antinomianism, a flagrant dis-regard for God’s commands, can that really be effective for those who genuinely know Him? Can I suggest that this scheme is only effective for keeping false professors, false professors. Those who genuinely know Jesus could never live such a life, never. This would be enmity to the Spirit of God that burns in their hearts. Ironically they will be accused, by the accuser of the brothers, by the enslaver, that they are teaching that they have a license to sin. And Paul’s response to that charge from the enemy is good enough to repeat “God forbid.” All who genuinely know Jesus have a heart to do what is right and ever want to please their heavenly Father. “Ah ha ,” says the enemy, this is how I will enslave them. I will convince them that they have to establish their own righteousness, their own Justification, their own sanctification. I will keep their eyes on their sins, as it was under the Old Covenant, and this will keep their eyes off Jesus, the one who alone delivers men from their sins.

Given that truth, it is possible that two men can preach almost the exact same message on Righteousness, one will enslave, the other will liberate. And not liberate to walk in a flagrant dis-regard of God’s commands, which is the straw man argument of the enslaver, but liberate to walk in the beauty and the holiness of God.

So one man preaches the message of righteousness from a prison cell, the other preaches the message of righteousness from freedom. One preaches from “Oh wretched man that I am,” the other preaches from “There is therefore now no condemnation.” One will enslave the other will liberate. One is focused on sin and condemnation, the other is focused on Jesus. One accuses others of having a license to sin, the other speaks of Jesus. One tells others how bad they are, the other speaks of Jesus. One tells others how Holy he is , the other tells people how Holy Jesus is. One tells people how much he has suffered, the other tells people how much his Jesus suffered. One tells people about the outward appearance, the other tells people that Jesus looks at the inner man. One preaches the sermon of righteousness with the human power of guilt, the other speaks of Christ’s righteousness and the Spirit of conviction works. One judges all according to his own standard, the other says “look to Jesus.” One tells people to cast their eyes upon their sin, the other tells people to cast their eyes upon Jesus. One proclaims himself a prophet, the other says he is simply a voice crying in the wilderness. One stands and proclaims “God, I thank you that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers or even like this tax collector, I fast twice on the Sabbath and I tithe all that I possess, the other thanks God for His mercy and bows his head low and considers others more highly than he considers himself. One thought himself righteous because of his actions, because of his works, the other knew that he stood justified before God because of Jesus. One cries “who will deliver me from this body of death?” the other cries “Worthy is the Lamb that was slain.”

“Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to
Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an
enterprise.” -Sam Pascoe.

“CHRISTIAN PIMPS” – a HARD WORD
-by Coach Dave Daubenmire.

QUOTE- “Christianity started in Palestine as a fellowship; it moved to
Greece and became a philosophy; it moved to Italy and became an institution;
it moved to Europe and became a culture; it came to America and became an
enterprise.” -Sam Pascoe.

“An enterprise. That’s a business.” …. “A business? But isn’t it supposed
to be a body?” I could not envision where this line of questioning was
going, and the only response I could think of was, “Yes.” She continued,
“But when a body becomes a business, isn’t that a prostitute?” – As told by
David Ryser.

I’ve been fighting for a long time the prompting of my inner man to take on
this subject. Although I have chewed around the edges like I used to do as a
child when I would break off the crust from a hot, home-made apple pie in
attempt to appease my hunger without my mother finding out, I never really
stuck my thumb into the middle of the pie.

I have been a sellout. A pimp, if you will. Not on purpose. It is easy to
justify our lack of courage when confronted with difficult issues. I try to
faithfully deliver the mail as the Lord hands it to me, but I have been
negligent by eating the crust out of fear of spoiling the pie.

You see, I have pulled my punches. I have softened the blow. I have spanked
with a newspaper when they deserved a belt. I have sold out on the Truth. I
have not called a spade a spade. I have nibbled at the crust when I should
have been hammering the pie. I have taken the be-nice approach and have
listened to the “touch not God’s anointed”
mentality. I have prostituted the Truth. For that I am sorry.

Oh, my intentions were good. I had hoped that as I exposed the “unfruitful
works of darkness” that the churches would eventually awaken and begin to
push back against the enemy. After ten years of trying to awaken “The
Church” to the problem I have finally mustered the courage to say what I
have known all along. “The Church” IS the problem. It has become a pimp,
selling the works of “the body” for personal satisfaction. Most of the
pulpits are filled by “hirelings” (more on that in a future commentary), men
and women who stand in the pulpit without a calling, without an anointing,
and without courage. They are man pleasers, living off of “the Body” as they
sell it out for their own whims and pleasures. Greedy Dogs, Isaiah called
them. Blind watchmen.loving to sleep.leading the flock astray.

Not all of the churches. If you are a pastor and have read this far then I
am probably not talking about you. I have met many courageous men who boldly
live out the command to “lead them out.” You know who you are. You are the
ones who have been criticized, belittled, and called names by the “pimp in
the pulpit” at the big church downtown.

You see, to him, the church is a business.an enterprise.a social club
totally dependant on butts and bucks. It is a place to make business
contacts, network with others in the community, and soothe one’s conscience
through weekly attendance and philanthropy.
It is no different from a whore house where a woman’s body is sold for the
pleasure of another. Love-less intercourse is prostitution.
Most church goers love the service that Jesus provides (membership has its
privileges) but don’t really know the Jesus who provides it.

I’ll be honest. I’ve been afraid to say some of these things for fear of
alienating even more pastors. I was afraid that my harshness might alienate
those “frozen chosen” pastors and eliminate opportunities to “minister” to
their congregations. That’s where I have pimped-out my call. The pastors are
not the answer, they are the problem.

Instead of cleaning out Congress perhaps we should start by cleaning out the
pulpit. Judgment begins first in the house of God.
America is a reflection of the churches and the churches are a reflection of
the pulpits. It is time to “throw the bums out”.even if they do hide behind
the “touch not my anointed.” When a football team is under-performing who
gets the boot? Yep, the coach.

Allow me to be frank as I cut to the chase. Pick up your family and get out
of the mausoleum you are attending and find a place that serves the Lord. I
couldn’t care less how many generations your family has been a member, how
many pews your family has donated, and how many of your friends attend.
Sitting on your butt every Sunday is not serving the Lord, it is the Lord
serving you. The feel-good Gospel is a fraud. Jesus taught self-sacrifice
not self-fulfillment. “Greater love has no man than thisthan he would lay
down his life for his friends..” Love demands sacrifice.
What have you sacrificed for your faith? You are engaging in Spiritual
welfare.living off of the efforts of others.

Start fighting back by no longer giving them your money. Don’t allow them to
hit you over the head with the “bring all of the tithes into the storehouse”
hammer without asking yourself some very important questions. What is a
storehouse and what is its purpose?
What does the Scripture mean by “meat in my house” and who is the meat for?
Are there families in your “church” who are losing their homes? Is that not
who the “meat in the house” was stored up for or were the storehouse funds
used for a new parking lot?

Is the purpose of the tithe (by the way, my wife and I believe in
tithing) to pay senior pastors, associate pastors, youth ministers, worship
leaders, and secretaries to do “ministry?” Can’t you “tithe”
different places? Did the New Testament church teach the concept of
“professional” Christians or were the elders of the church also tent-makers?
Does “meat in my house” mean bigger buildings, paved parking lots, and
padded pews? Is your “church” experiencing a budget crunch right now because
they have eaten the meat that should have been placed in the storehouse? I
know, “let them eat blacktop.”

Is storehouse money supposed to be spent on the already converted or on
seeking and saving that which is lost? What percent of your church’s budget
go to “missions”.as if that is a separate job.in comparison to utilities,
paper, salaries, and operating expenses?

Don’t stop giving, just change where you give. Find a ministry that is using
the money to reach out to the community and send your tithe there. Remember,
it is the “Lord’s house” into which your finances are to be offered..not
some social club to which your tithe is nothing more than monthly dues. It
is time you asked yourself if the Spirit still dwells in your church.

My wife and I have spent the last few weeks reading the book of Acts in our
morning devotionals. You should do the same. They spread the Gospel around
the world at great personal peril and sacrifice. The self-serving
American-Church is a pathetic step-child to Christianity’s founding fathers.

Most churches love money, chase money, compromise over money.
A pastor in New York was just fired from his $600,000 salary! The national
average for pastors is $84,426! No wonder they won’t speak against sin! Why
not include those wealthy homosexuals in the congregation!

People have asked me to start a church. I tell them that they are nuts.
Truth empties churches, it doesn’t fill them. My friend Flip Benham says
guys like me would be the Dr. Kervorkian of church growth. What man of God
would want to wipe noses when he could fight evil? No thanks. At least on
the  streets I can recognize the enemy.

“And as they departed, Jesus began to say unto the multitudes concerning
John, What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the
wind? But what went ye out for to see? A man clothed in soft raiment?
Behold, they that wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses.” Yep, the pimps
are the ones wearing the nice clothes. Funny isn’t it? The pimps in the
pulpits accuse street preachers of being undignified.

What did Jesus say about the ultimate street preacher John the Baptist?
“Verily I say unto you, among them that are born of women there hath not
risen a greater than John the Baptist.”

Take the time to read what Jesus had to say to the religious pimps of His
day!

We’re heading next week to do ministry work on the streets of Las
Vegas…That’s right, we are Christian street-walkers…

You probably won’t find me speaking in any churches anytime soon..

C 2009 Dave Daubenmire – All Rights Reserved.

Our God is a consuming fire. He seeks to set men ablaze with His love. He seeks to burn the chaff off men’s lives. He seeks to purify and refine and He does this through fire. This can only be achieved in men who have had their walls broken down. All of their own ambitions and hopes and dreams demolished by an all consuming God who shares His glory with no one.

SURROUNDED BY A WALL OF FIRE

Zec 2:4 And he said to him, Run, speak to this young man, saying, Jerusalem shall be inhabited, as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle in her midst.
Zec 2:5 And I, says Jehovah, will be to her a wall of fire all around, and will be the glory in her midst.

At the particular time that this was written, Jerusalem was a city without a wall. She was naked and vulnerable, and open to attack. In those days, a city without a wall would be like an army without guns. Now , with broken down walls, God Himself would be a wall of fire to them. In these last days, the remnant people of God will be a people without walls. The conventional wisdom of the past will no longer apply. So, how does one attain a wall of fire around them? Not unlike the City of Jerusalem of that day, God’s remnant people will be a broken people, a vulnerable people, and a people without the traditional protection of the Church. They will seem lonely and isolated. Yet, when God brings this group of people together, He will be their wall. It will not be a wall that is built by human hands. Consider why Jerusalem was in such a position when the above Scripture was written. Their wall, built by human hands, had been breached, undermined, overcome, tore down and ultimately destroyed.

If we are God’s remnant people, we will be a people that has been breached, undermined, our brokenness will be apparent, we will seek God will all of our heart. In our brokenness, in our hunger and because of our driving thirst for the things of God and for His presence, we will seek Him with all of our hearts and we will become fully dependent upon Him. When we seek Him in this way, He will be found by us. He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.

So, we will be a people without walls around our hearts. Walls are designed to contain, to keep out, to mark boundaries, to hide behind. We will not be a people who will be able to contain the things of God. As He pours out His latter rain upon us and it enlarges our capacity to receive, then we will freely give what has been given to us. We will love more and we will forgive more and we will do good to those who miss-treat us. And as we do all that, the world will hate us more and more. It’s ironic that the more love that will be poured out onto a dying and ever darkening world, the more that world will not receive us and in fact will hate us.

Luk 6:22 Blessed are you when men shall hate you, and when they shall cut you off, and when they shall reproach you and shall cast out your name as evil, for the sake of the Son of Man.

We will also be a people that will be approachable. And the reason that we will be approachable is because we will be filled with the love of God. So, those who would be saved will be drawn to us and we would keep no one out of the Kingdom, we would that all men be saved. Despite what is happening to them, God’s remnant people will love the world because this is the heart of the Father and the Love of God burns in the hearts of His people. God’s remnant people will be a people without boundaries. There will be no “big names,” amongst the remnant people, only those who seek to glorify and lift up one name, the name of Jesus. So no one will be marking out their territory, they will be marking out His territory; they will be building His Kingdom for His purposes and His glory. And God’s people will not be hiding. They will be unashamed of the name of Jesus. In a world that is becoming more and more hostile to that name, they will lift it up all the higher.

When a man builds a Kingdom for himself he marks out his territory. When a man of God works for the Kingdom of God, he works without walls for he belongs to a kingdom yet to come. His kingdom is the kingdom of Jesus that exists within his heart and there must be no barriers between the Jesus that dwells in his heart and the people that he seeks to reach. Now, in ancient times, to be a city without a wall was to be a city that would easily be taken or destroyed. It would be almost impossible to defend such a city from attacks. Like these ancient cities, so like our hearts. People have walls around their hearts in order to protect themselves. Yet, the Christian must walk open-hearted and transparent to the world if the world is to see Jesus in them. Will that leave you vulnerable? Yes. Will you get hurt? Yes. Is there any other way? No.
Yet, you will not be destroyed for you have the promises of God that He would go before us, that Justice belongs to Him.

In Zechariah 2…..The Lord says “I the Lord will be a wall of fire all around her and I will be the glory in her midst.” You see, when we allow the Lord to be our defender then it is He who gets the Glory. He is glorified in our situations when we are dependent upon Him, when we seek not to defend ourselves but let Justice be His. He is a just God and He is able to defend His children.

The remnant Church will be called to be a church without walls, only then can we be salt and light to the nations. The established church has become an institution that lives almost entirely behind walls. While there may be much activity and noise going on, they are a people that is hidden and contained. Their walls denote their boundaries and of course they ever seek to enlarge their boundaries, increasing the length and height of their walls. The irony is that as these men’s kingdoms increase in size, they have an ever decreasing Spiritual impact on a dying world. There is no dual citizenship in the Kingdom of Heaven. You are either seeking to increase His Kingdom, or you are seeking to increase yours, either corporately or personally, but you cannot do both. You cannot have your own walls and the wall of fire. The wall of fire is promised to those without walls.

Our God is a consuming fire. He seeks to set men ablaze with His love. He seeks to burn the chaff off men’s lives. He seeks to purify and refine and He does this through fire. This can only be achieved in men who have had their walls broken down. All of their own ambitions and hopes and dreams demolished by an all consuming God who shares His glory with no one. While men still rely on their own walls to promote or protect or to establish, they cannot have God’s fire in their life. To go to the world and truly represent God, one must walk through the fire that surrounds them, to come into that place of refuge, again we pass through the fires. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit to go to the world, the fire of the brazen alter to come back into His presence. What surrounds your heart, your church? Is it walls built by men or is it the fire of God?

This is not a good sign for the world or for what passes as the church. The remnant begin to dream dreams and see visions. In these dreams and visions they see that the Day of the Lord is at hand. They begin to prophecy against the world and the established church. They call them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment. And even at this stage the remnant are being called by the remnant. Even now it is the valley of decision; it is still not too late for the heart to rend itself to God.

THE LATTER RAIN

THE REMNANT JOURNEY TO THE VALLEY OF ACACIAS

This word will give directions to the remnant that are travelling to the valley of Shittim or Acacias. It may be that you do not understand this word, but the remnant of God’s people will know in their hearts that the Lord is at the door and that they are being compelled, moved in ways they have not known before.

How many of us “know ,” that the day of the Lord is coming and it is coming soon? This has nothing to do with proofs or opinions, you just know in your spirit, there is a witness in your spirit that speaks to you and you “know.” I could talk about signs and prophecies being fulfilled but I do not wish to do that in this word, you already “know,” that the Bridegroom is coming for this is a word to the remnant. Who are the remnant? Well, they are the Church, not to be mistaken for the established church. God is calling His people, His remnant, from all over the world which includes the established church to come out.

There are still many brothers and sisters within the established church but they will eventually leave. This is not a calling from man; it is a calling from God for God has all but withdrew His Presence from the established church. Eze 10:18 And the glory of Jehovah went from the threshold of the house, and stood over the cherubs. The continuing purpose of the remnant within the church is to be a witness to those who would also come out and establish judgment on that which calls itself the church.

The remnant are further identified in Eze 9:4 And Jehovah said to him, Go through in the midst of the city, in the midst of Jerusalem, and set a mark on the foreheads of the men who are groaning and are mourning because of all the abominations that are done in her midst.
They have been identified with a mark on their foreheads. They mourn and are deeply saddened at the condition of the established church. Those within the established church will not be able to identify their state for they allowed themselves to be blinded by their love for the world. They so identify with the world that they look just like it. They will be friendlier to those of the world than to those who mourn for the state of the church. The remnant will be and are increasingly marginalized within the four walls of the church and they lose their voice. Fellowship is ever more difficult to find as most in the established church simply have no idea where they are coming from. This process is happening across the spectrum of the established church, whether it is in the “Pentecostal,” circles or the more conservative Evangelical movement.

This isolation that the remnant feel eventually compels them to reach out and find other like-minded people. This reaching out reaches across denominational lines and “strange bedfellows,” are popping up everywhere. The remnant are not to be confused with “church-hoppers,” in fact the opposite is true. The remnant try everything to make a difference in their churches. They go above and beyond but there is simply no breaking through to the worldliness that they find. This is a hungry and thirsty people and they will eventually be compelled to move on in the hope of finding some water in a dry and thirsty land, they are desperate for the “former rains.”

God has begun to pour out His former and latter rains. The former rains have softened and are softening the soil to receive the remnant. The process is in flux all over the world. The winter planting of the wheat has begun for the last time. The Bridegroom is coming and the Bride is being made ready. Not righteous mind you, it has already been made righteous by the Blood of the Lamb; it is being prepared for the coming of the Bridegroom. The mansion has been prepared, the bridal chamber is ready and now the wheat, the Bride awaits the latter rains, they await the sounds of the trumpet.

God’s remnant have been and are being prepared and it is they who call down the latter rain. Before they call down the latter rain they call for repentance.

Joe 2:12 Yet even now, says Jehovah, turn to Me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning.
Joe 2:13 Yes, tear your heart and not your robes, and turn to Jehovah your God: for He is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and of great kindness, and He pities because of the evil.
Joe 2:14 Who knows if He will turn and have pity and leave a blessing behind Him, a food offering and a drink offering to Jehovah your God?
Joe 2:15 Blow a trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn gathering.
Joe 2:16 Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, gather the elders, gather the children and those who suck the breasts. Let the bridegroom go forth out of his chamber, and the bride out of her room.
Joe 2:17 Let the priests, the ministers of Jehovah, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Have pity on Your people, O Jehovah, and give not Your inheritance to shame, for a proverb among those of the nations. Why should they say among the people, Where is their God?

They rend their hearts, they fast, they weep and they mourn. They assemble themselves, gather themselves together. They weep between the porch and the brazen alter which has all but been abandoned. It is they that have been marked by God, the remnant that do these things. It is upon these people that the latter rains fall. The latter rains enlarges their capacity, they grow stronger in their spirits as the Lord pours out His Spirit upon them.

This is not a good sign for the world or for what passes as the church. The remnant begin to dream dreams and see visions. In these dreams and visions they see that the Day of the Lord is at hand. They begin to prophecy against the world and the established church. They call them down to the Valley of Jehoshaphat, the valley of judgment. And even at this stage the remnant are being called by the remnant. Even now it is the valley of decision; it is still not too late for the heart to rend itself to God.

For the remnant, the called out ones, the chosen of the Lord, they now stand in a continual downpour of His rain. Those who formerly thirsted, thirst no more. And directly proportionate to the outpouring of Gods Spirit comes persecution. Yet, this only drives the remnant=2 0deeper into the arms of their God which still infuriates the enemy of our soul even more. The remnant now experience a fountain of living water that flows continuously “from the house of the Lord.” (Joel 3:18) And the valley that the remnant have been called to is flooded with living water from the throne-room itself (Rev14:7, Rev 19:6) The name of this valley is Acacias. This was the last location of the children of Israel before they entered Canaan. (Num 25:1, Josh 3:1) This will be the last location of the Bride before the Bridegroom comes and they enter in and the door is closed behind them.

Many are but mere bones lying useless in the valley. Many more jump up and down all the day long calling fire down from heaven. No fire will come and the rain will not fall. Your land is dry and thirsty and shall remain that way for the Lord has shut up the heavens.

A MALACHI WORD

Today the priesthood is the messenger of God. John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah and called for repentance. Today the Lord speaks through His people for the very same purpose, He is coming, repent for He is coming.

The glory of the Lord, His manifest presence has departed from the Temple because the people have become ungrateful in their hearts. They have mixed the worship of other gods and they have defiled His temple. They worship their own wisdom, they worship wealth and they worship their own health. They worship fortress gods and their trust is not in the living God. Many are but mere bones lying useless in the valley. Many more jump up and down all the day long calling fire down from heaven. No fire will come and the rain will not fall. Your land is dry and thirsty and shall remain that way for the Lord has shut up the heavens.

They shall remain shut until the people stop questioning God. Who is the clay that would question the Potter? What has the created to say to the Creator?

Job 38:4 Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth? Tell if you have understanding!

Job 38:12 Have you commanded the morning from your days, and caused the dawn to know its place,

Job 38:17 Have the gates of death been opened to you? Or have you seen the gates of the shadow of death?

Job 38:19 Where is the way where light dwells? And where is the place of darkness,

Job 38:28 Has the rain a father? Or who has brought forth the drops of dew?

Job 38:33 Do you know the ordinances of the heavens? Can you set up their rulership on the earth?
Job 38:34 Can you lift up your voice to the clouds, so that floods of waters may cover you?

Job 38:36 Who has put wisdom in the inward parts? Or who has given understanding to the mind?

God says choose ye this day whom ye will serve. Step forward with offerings that are acceptable before the brazen alter of the Lord. Step forward with your very life. He will have all of it or He will have none of it. Step forward into the refiners fire. Do not be afraid. The offerings that God seeks is your very life.

“Yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But my righteous one shall live by faith; and if he shrinks back, My soul has no pleasure in him. But we are not of those who shrink back…but of those who have faith to the preservation of the soul.” Heb 10

The only thing that will be burned in the fire is that which hinders your walk with Him. He does not need your tithes, you rob God by holding back a portion of your life for yourself. Its defiled and corrupted and it needs to be burned at the brazen alter. Jesus is the brazen alter. Jesus is coming and soon the trumpet will sound. How will the virgins that have been called to light the way for the bridegroom be able to do that if they have no oil?

“And if you seek Him, He will be found by you. But if you forsake Him, He will forsake you.”

Mal 4:1 For behold, the day is coming, burning like a fire pot; and all the proud, and every doer of wickedness, shall be chaff. And the coming day will set them ablaze, says Jehovah of Hosts, which will not leave root or branches to them.
Mal 4:2 But to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness shall arise, and healing will be on His wings

It is time for those who call themselves by the name of Jesus to arise from their slumbers, to turn away from their iniquities. To those who lie in the valley of dry bones ….

Eze 37:4 Again He said to me, Prophesy to these bones, and say to them, O dry bones, hear the Word of Jehovah.
So says the Lord Jehovah to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews on you, and will bring up flesh on you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live. And you shall know that I am Jehovah.

So I prophesied as I was commanded. And as I prophesied, there was a noise. And behold, a shaking! And the bones came near, a bone to its bone.
And I watched. And behold! The sinews and the flesh came up on them, and the skin covered them above. But there was no breath in them.
And He said to me, Prophesy to the Spirit, prophesy, son of man, and say to the Spirit, So says the Lord Jehovah: Come from the four winds, O Spirit, and breathe on these dead ones so that they may live.

So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the Spirit came into them, and they lived and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army.
And He said to me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, Our bones are dried and our hope is lost; we are cut off by ourselves. Therefore prophesy and say to them, So says the Lord Jehovah: Behold, O My people, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, and will bring you into the land of Israel.
And you shall know that I am Jehovah when I have opened your graves, O My people, and have brought you up out of your graves.
And I shall put My Spirit in you, and you shall live

Deu 30:19 I call Heaven and earth to record today against you. I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life, so that both you and your seed may live, so that you may love Jehovah your God, and that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him. For He is your life and the length of your days, so that you may dwell in the land which Jehovah swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give it to them.