Rachel

To Break Down and to Plant Previous Post Before we look at some of the roles of the prophet, let us remember that the prophetic ministry begins in the presence of the Lord. This aspect of the ministry is well described in Jeremiah’s challenge to the false prophets. Which of them has stood in the council of the Lord to see or to hear his word? If they had stood in his council they would have proclaimed his words to his people and they would have turned from their evil ways and from their evil deeds (Jeremiah 23:18,22). When the prophet knows the heart and mind of the Lord, he speaks the word of the Lord. He stands before the person as one who has stood before God. Because his words come from the heart of God they are powerful and effective. Let us visit Jeremiah 1 v 10: See, I have this day set thee over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. This was a very specific mandate on the life of Jeremiah, but if one studies the prophets and knows how the prophetic works, then one realises that the mandate of Jeremiah is very much the broader scope of functionality upon any prophet’s life. Consider for example the mandate to Ezekiel in chapter 2: And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day … 7 And thou shalt speak my words unto them, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear: for they are most rebellious. Both Jeremiah and Ezekiel were called to declare the Truth of the Lord, and ultimately to a stiff-necked people, thus those who were rebellious. Ultimately, both of them confronted the counterfeit and declared the will of God. You can therefore say among the manifested purposes of a prophet are the following: To pull down, to destroy, to throw down, to build, and to plant. Let us look at the roles of pulling down, destroying, and throwing down. To pull down is to bring whatever has set itself up against God down. A prophet pulls down what is not godly, thus the prophet will address anything that establishes itself against the order of God. The prophet can therefore speak out and address demonic principalities, or issues of pride, sin, corruption, or evil. To pull down also means to depress spirits. Depressing is lowering or reducing the activity of spirits. Elijah pulled down Baal prophets and their god before the children of Israel on Mount Carmel even mocking them. 1 Kings 18:26-27: And they took the bullock which was given them, and they dressed it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear us. But there was no voice, nor any that answered. And they leaped upon the altar which was made. And it came to pass at noon, that Elijah mocked them, and said, cry aloud: for he is a god; either he is talking, or he is pursuing, or he is in a journey, or peradventure he slept, and must be awakened. In the Old Testament, the false altars were often broken down, because they represented idolatry, rebellion, and defiance against God. Altars were places where the divine and human worlds interacted. Altars were places of exchange, communication, and influence. God responded actively to altar activity. The contest between Elijah and the prophets of Baal involving an altar demonstrated an interaction between Yahweh and Baal. Noah built an altar and offered a sacrifice to Yahweh. God smelled the aroma and found it pleasing. He responded to Noah’s action by declaring that he would never again destroy all living things through a flood. In the patriarchal period, altars were markers of place, commemorating an encounter with God (Genesis 12:7), or physical signs of habitation. Abraham built an altar where he pitched his tent between Bethel and Ai. Presumably at that altar he “called on the name of the Lord (Genesis 12:8). We see numerous times where the false altars were destroyed, meaning a meeting place or a place of activity that does not involve the one and true living God. In 1 Kings 13 we find how a prophet prophesy against a false altar, while Gideon was told to tear down the altar to Baal and then in its place erect a true altar to the glory of God. Thus, a prophet by nature will confront anything and everything that has exalted itself against God, or which is a place of false meeting or divine activity. A prophet after all is called to decree and declare God’s Word, to counter the counterfeit, and to tear down and destroy all that stands against God’s Truth and His Kingdom. To destroy means to demolish, make useless, spoil, or kill. After taking on the Baal prophets, pulling down their vain imaginations, we read in 1 Kings 18:40: And Elijah said unto them, Take the prophets of Baal; let not one of them escape. And they took them: and Elijah brought them down to the brook Kishon, and slew them there. To throw down is to cause something one is holding to drop. The children of Israel and Baal prophets were holding the opinion that Baal was a true god but Elijah threw down that opinion and proved that Baal is an idol and the true God is the God of Abraham. 1 Kings 18:39: And when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces: and they said, The LORD, he is the God; the LORD, he is the God. The Lord Himself made the following declaration in Jeremiah 31: 28 It will be that as I have watched over them to uproot and to break down, to overthrow, destroy, and afflict with disaster, so I will watch over them to build and to plant [with good],” says the Lord. The Lord through the declarations of the prophetic, uprooted and overthrew the idolatrous ways of the people, yet God’s intention was clear – to eventually build and to replant. This was achieved when Judah returned from captivity, and today Israel is again a flourishing nation. The prophet deals with the counterfeit and thus, a prophet is called to overthrow and destroy the counterfeit. A prophet is called to expose what is false, what is deceitful, and what is not from the Lord. We find for example the following account in 1 Kings 1: Adonijah the son of Haggith exalted himself, saying, I will be king: and he prepared him chariots and horsemen, and fifty men to run before him. 6 And his father had not displeased him at any time in saying, Why hast thou done so? and he also was a very goodly man; and his mother bare him after Absalom. 7 And he conferred with Joab the son of Zeruiah, and with Abiathar the priest: and they following Adonijah helped him. 8 But Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and Nathan the prophet, and Shimei, and Rei, and the mighty men which belonged to David, were not with Adonijah. 10 But Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah, and the mighty men, and Solomon his brother, he called not. This story of Adonijah’s rebellion is at the time of David’s imminent death. David’s intention was for Solomon to become king, but Adonijah rebelled against the king’s wishes, and therefore against the Lord. And so we note, he did not fellowship with the true priest at the time – Zadok – or with the prophet Nathan. Adonijah’s rebellion and this claim to the throne is very much an example of the counterfeit movement in the Body of Christ for a long time now. It speaks of those who are setting up their own rule, building their own kingdoms, and declaring their intentions from their own heart and mind (yes in the church), yet all of this is done not by the approval of the true King of kings – Jesus. The counterfeit movement has been with us since the ascension of our Lord Jesus, where man has introduced all kinds of false theology and systems in the church, promoting religion above the true way of the Kingdom and seeking to serve his own needs and wants. After all, it says in 1 Timothy 4: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times, some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils … We read the following account in Exodus 7: Aaron’s Rod Becomes a Serpent 8 Now the Lord said to Moses and Aaron, 9 “When Pharaoh says to you, ‘Work a miracle [to prove your authority],’ then you say to Aaron, ‘Take your staff and throw it down before Pharaoh, so that it may become a serpent.’” 10 So Moses and Aaron came to Pharaoh, and did just as the Lord had commanded; Aaron threw down his staff before Pharaoh and his servants, and it became a serpent. 11 Then Pharaoh called for the wise men [skilled in magic and omens] and the sorcerers [skilled in witchcraft], and they also, these magicians (soothsayer-priests) of Egypt, did the same with their secret arts and enchantments. 12 For every man threw down his staff and they turned into serpents; but Aaron’s staff swallowed up their staffs. The serpent reminds us of the devil himself, the one that deceived Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. What we find here is a prophetic action, thus a declaration of God’s power over the counterfeit when the staff of Aaron swallowed the staff of the magicians. Take note, it is never God’s intention for the rod of the serpent – the occult, the counterfeit, the wicked – to swallow the rod of the Lord – the prophetic and the truth. God’s authority is final, and nothing stands above the authority of God. In Mark 16 it speaks of signs that will accompany those who have believed, which includes picking up serpents. Again, this alludes to the authority that every believer, thus disciples thus also the prophet, has over the counterfeit. The prophet is specifically tasked to deal with counterfeits, thus the actions of the snake and the actions of the devil. Speaking of the snake, it is well known that today that the counterfeit movement comes in the form of the Kundalini spirit. This spirit replicates the Holy Spirit. A yoga scholar will tell you that in order to practice yoga to the fullest, one must experience what is called the ‘kundalini’ effect within meditation. It is said kundalini energy rests like a coiled serpent at the base of the spine. When this dormant energy flows freely upward through the seven chakras (energy centers) and leads to an expanded state of consciousness, it’s known as a kundalini awakening. Therefore, some will say yoga’s real goal is to awaken Kundalini power. An Esoteric description describes Kundalini as a serpent goddess who lies asleep at the base of the human spine, coiled around the first Chakra, 3½ times. Therefore, the purpose of such an awakening is demonic, just as the devil is seen as a snake. It has been a well-discussed topic how the Kundalini spirit (thus demonic presence) acts as a counterfeit to the move of the Holy Spirit. It is reckoned that occultists are in touch with, or try to be in touch with this demonic awakening. When we, therefore, get to the occult, the demon’s name is Kundalini Shakti, and ‘she’ represents the unfolding of the divine Shakti energy or Serpent Fire. Kundalini is supposedly the energizing potential of life itself, a living goddess who enlivens all things. It is said that Kundalini, not YHVH, created the universe and is known as Creator. After being awakened, Kundalini will be able to remove the knots of the major chakras, cleanse, open, and develop the chakras until they are in fully blooming lotus forms – this is to attain Yoga. Notice how this demon is also connected with fire, but this is not the fire or the move of the Holy Spirit, for it is profane, unholy, and impure. Therefore, great discernment is needed within churches, to determine when God is moving and when it is an unholy presence. This demonic entity will mimic the Lord, and the work of the Holy Spirit, and will come with a different fire, also coming with signs, wonders, and miracles to deceive and to fool. The arousing of kundalini is said by some to be the one and only way of attaining Divine Wisdom, yet true wisdom comes only from serving and submitting to the one and true Lord of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. This search for wisdom, knowledge, and self-realization is the foundation of Gnosticism, which proved to be a counterfeit movement that diligently opposed the growth of Christianity, and it is still prevalent today. The devil is after all the mastermind behind all the deception and trickery, leading people away from the Lord down a murky and dark path of seeking power, knowledge, and self-exaltation. Yet such a path is one of the occult and the demonic. The prophet of the Lord thus needs to be able to discern and know what is real and what is false. He should be able to expose for example the manifestation of the Kundalini spirit, and then at the same time expose when the manifested work of the Holy Spirit is wrongly labeled or branded as Kundalini. And yes, this does happen where the work of the Holy Spirit is deemed demonic out of ignorance, thus we quench the fire of the Lord, and so we grieve the Holy Spirit. A prophet must know what is right and wrong. What is holy and unholy? Common and uncommon. Of the priests in Leviticus 10 it is said in verse 10 that you may distinguish between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean. Still today, a prophet must know what truth is and false, what is holy fire and profane fire, what is true wisdom and false wisdom, and what is clean and unclean. All of this deals with the counterfeit opposing the Kingdom of God, and such counterfeit ways need to be addressed, exposed, pulled down, and destroyed. All the prophets in the Old Testament dealt with the counterfeit and the apostasy in the land. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel for example spoke volumes of the people’s idolatry, their backslidden ways, and how far they had fallen in their depravity. Jeremiah wrote in chapter 2: 4 Hear the word of the Lord, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel. 5 Thus says the Lord, “What injustice or unrighteousness did your fathers find in Me, That they have wandered far from Me And [habitually] walked after emptiness and futility and became empty? Isaiah wrote for example in Chapter 1: Why should you be stricken and punished again [since no change results from it]? You [only] continue to rebel. The whole head is sick And the whole heart is faint and sick. From the sole of the foot even to the head There is nothing healthy in the nation’s body, Only bruises, welts, and raw wounds, Not pressed out or bandaged, Nor softened with oil [as a remedy]. 7 Your land lies desolate [because of your disobedience], Your cities are burned with fire, Your fields—strangers are devouring them in your very presence; It is desolate, as overthrown by strangers. Indeed, as in the days of Isaiah, today the church is also besieged by winds of apostasy as warned about by Paul in 2 Thessalonians 2: That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand. 3 Let no man deceive you by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; 4 Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God. Isaiah warned of Israel being sick, just as a body would be ill. Today, the Church, which is the Body of Christ, is also sick. I fear the church itself is suffering great affliction, as the whole head is sick and the whole heart is faint and sick. Yes, from the sole of the foot even to the head there is nothing healthy. The Body of Christ is racked with the pain and fever of apostasy, of idolatry, backslidden ways, and sin. The church has also wandered off course, seeking its own way, its own path, and will. Jeremiah continues in chapter 2 by saying in verse 13: “For My people have committed two evils: They have abandoned (rejected) Me, The fountain of living water, And they have carved out their own cisterns, broken cisterns That cannot hold water.” Thus the people have resorted to their own plans, to their own ways of survival yet their way holds no water. Haggai the prophet also spoke on the fallen ways of Israel: 1 In the second year of [a]Darius the king [of Persia], on the first day of the sixth month (Aug 29, 520 b.c.), the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet to Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, governor of Judah, and to Joshua the son of Jehozadak, the high priest, saying, 2 “Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘These people say, “The time has not come that the Lord’s house (temple) should be [b]rebuilt.”’” 3 Then the word of the Lord came by Haggai the prophet, saying, 4 “Is it time for you yourselves to live in your [expensive] paneled houses while this house [of the Lord] lies in ruins?” 5 Now therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct! 6 You have planted much, but you harvest little; you eat, but you do not have enough; you drink, but you do not have enough to be intoxicated; you clothe yourselves, but no one is warm enough; and he who earns wages earns them just to put them in a bag with holes in it [because God has withheld His blessing].” 7 Thus says the Lord of hosts, “Consider your ways and thoughtfully reflect on your conduct! 8 Go up to the hill country, bring lumber and rebuild My house (temple), that I may be pleased with it and be glorified,” says the Lord [accepting it as done for My glory]. 9 You look for much [harvest], but it comes to little; and even when you bring that home, I blow it away. Why?” says the Lord of hosts. “Because of My house, which lies in ruins while each of you runs to his own house [eager to enjoy it]. 10 Therefore, because of you [that is, your sin and disobedience] the heavens withhold the dew and the earth withholds its produce. 11 I called for a drought on the land and the hill country, on the grain, on the new wine, on the oil, on what the ground produces, on men, on cattle, and on all the labor of your hands.” Haggai called the people back to repentance, back to the ways of God so that they be blessed and may be fruitful. This was the crux of the message of all the prophets, speaking judgment (pulling down) but also giving a word of restoration and blessing if they obeyed the Lord. Amos spoke many such words of warning, but also said in chapter 5 verse 4: “Seek Me [search diligently for Me and regard Me as more essential than food] so that you may live.” This was also the message of Ezekiel in chapter 18: 32 For I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” says the Lord God. “Therefore, repent and live!” In Isaiah 5, the prophet speaks woes over Israel from verse 18: Woe (judgment is coming) to those who drag along wickedness with cords of falsehood, And sin as if with cart ropes [towing their own punishment]; 19 Who say, “Let Him move speedily, let Him expedite His work [His promised vengeance], so that we may see it; And let the purpose of the Holy One of Israel approach And come to pass, so that we may know it!” 20 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; Who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! 21 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are wise in their own eyes And clever and shrewd in their own sight! 22 Woe (judgment is coming) to those who are heroes at drinking wine And men of strength in mixing intoxicating drinks, 23 Who justify the wicked and acquit the guilty for a bribe, And take away the rights of those who are in the right! 24 Therefore, as the tongue of fire consumes the stubble [from straw] And the dry grass collapses into the flame, So their root will become like rot and their blossom blow away like fine dust; Because they have rejected the law of the Lord of hosts And despised and discarded the word of the Holy One of Israel. 25 Therefore the anger of the Lord has burned against His people, And He has stretched out His hand against them and has struck them down. The woes of judgment remind one of the woes of judgment that Jesus spoke in Matthew 23 against the religious leaders. Indeed, as in the days of Isaiah, the Pharisees, and Sadducees had continued to walk in their fallen ways, resisting God and His Kingdom. The prophet of God, therefore, needs to be able to identify the counterfeit, the fallen ways, the backslidden ways, the idolatry, and apostasy and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit expose, address and uproot. Again, this must all be done in love, with a pure heart, and in the right spirit. It is important to understand Psalm 91 which says the following: Surely He shall deliver you from the snare of the fowler. The image of the fowler and also of the snare is also mentioned in Psalm 124:7, Proverbs 6:5, Jeremiah 5:26, Hosea 9:8, Ezekiel 17:20, and Ecclesiastes 9:12. We read how the Lord shall deliver us NOT from the fowler, but the snare of the fowler. According to the Standard Bible Encyclopaedia, a fowler is a professional birdcatcher. In the days previous to firearms, birds were captured with nets spread on the ground, in traps and snares. There was a method of taking young birds from a nest, raising them by hand, and when they had become very tame, they were confined in hidden cages so that their voices would call others of their kind to the spot and they could be killed by arrows of concealed bowmen or the use of the throw-stick. The devil will be with us like a roaring lion, seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8) until God finally seals his fate according to the Book of Revelations. What we, therefore, need to discern and take note of is the “snare” of the fowler, meaning we need to discern the work of the enemy, and how such work operates, functions, and manifest in order to steal, kill, and to destroy (John 10:10). After all, the WAGES (thus the work – thus the snare) of the sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin, like the fowler, will always be with us, but we need to realize and discern the work of sin, which creates death and separation from God. We cannot eradicate the existence of sin, but we can counter the wages of sin by not stepping into its entrapments. A fowler would for example use a net or a trap to catch the bird, and will even use other birds to draw the prey to the trap. This is how the enemy operates – he is sly, devious, and cunning. He constantly lures us into traps, snares, and nets, trying to entrap, enslave, and cage us. We are therefore reminded that while the fowler remains the enemy, our concern should be the “work” of the fowler, thus the snare and how he tries to entrap us. We need to identify it, discern it, and then by the leading of the Holy Spirit address it and overcome it. The enemy wants us to make the wrong decisions and choices, and he wants to entrap us in fear, pride, false covenants (such as wrong relationships that even lead to unyoked marriages), financial crises, and general life situations that become a trap and a cage. After all, how many people are not entrapped by substance abuse and addictions of all kinds? Think about it … addiction to celebrities, gambling, pornography, drugs, alcohol, money and so much more. Yes, the devil wants to cage our minds, our hearts, and our will for he wants to break down our faith, hope, joy, truth, and certainty in the Lord. It has become easy for the devil – the fowler – to distract us from the “snare”. So often we are led to a point that we are fighting the fowler instead of trying to avoid the snare, or when snared, how to overcome and to be set free. Psalm 91 speaks about how the Lord shall “deliver” us from the snare, meaning once we have stepped into it, by the Lord’s wisdom, guidance, and discernment we shall be able to be set free from it. Our problem is so often we will scream and shout at the “fowler”, instead of turning our eyes upon the Lord to seek His guidance on how to be liberated, but also how to continue stepping into the snare. When a person steps into a dark room, he doesn’t shout at the darkness, but puts on the light or lights a candle. Jesus is the light of the world and in Him, there is no darkness. So we need the Lord’s discernment firstly on how to avoid the traps, snares, and cages of the enemy, but also His wisdom and counsel when we have been entrapped. The Good News is that the Lord still sets the captives free, yet this will require humility, submission to Him, and seeking His face in order to be liberated and to be set free. Let us be honest, many of us step into the snare or the net or the trap eyes wide open, and the devil does not need a lot of cunning or trickery. Many of us give the “fowler” way too much legal ground to enslave and to entrap, and so we end up in a cage, be it spiritual, emotional, or even physical. In others, the devil uses great cunning, and he uses thousands of years of manipulation, deception, and trickery to get us to step into the snare. Yet God still delivers and He still sets free according to Isaiah 61. So often we need to first repent for our enslavement, and then we need to seek the Lord’s help to be set free. Again, take note, the “fowler” will always be around until God says otherwise, until then, the “fowler” will keep laying traps and nets and snares. Paul said in Galatians 5: Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. This reminds me of Ephesians 6: 13 Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Yes, we must stand our ground, listen to the Lord, and beware of the pitfalls posed by the enemy. We need to discern the work and purpose of the snares, meaning we must become more mindful, aware, and alert to the dangers posed by sin, iniquity, rebellion, idolatry, and so on. We must counter and identify and address the “snares” instead of trying to destroy the “fowler”, be it the devil himself, or the world or servants of the “fowler”. So often we are our worse enemy, allowing ourselves to be so easily entrapped and fooled, yet God is still the God of deliverance and hope. We need to pray to God to open our eyes, to grant us discernment, and to realize we are facing the constant dangers of being entrapped and enslaved. The enemy is on the prowl and he will devour those who slumber and who fall for his traps and snares. So be vigilant says the Lord. Pray. Be awake. Discern at all times. Test all things. Yes, test. Be led by the Spirit. Be prepared. 2 Thessalonians 3: But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you against the evil one. 5 Now may the Lord direct your hearts into the love of God and into the patience of Christ. May the Lord help us to guard our hearts, our minds, and our very nature, for our Lord will deliver us. A true prophet who walks in humility and by the Spirit should be able to discern these snares and entrapments, not only for his own life but for others in the Body of Christ. He should be keenly aware of the traps and snares that the “fowler” has set for the world, and the prophet should by the discernment of the Spirit declare the function and operation, and purpose of the snares and entrapments. And yes, the prophet should be able to tear down and destroy such traps, thus the work of the enemy, if he has stepped into it himself or when others have stepped into the trap. This is because a prophet can see, discern and know the ways of the devil. A prophet must therefore be able to tear down and uproot such snares, by first exposing it and then declaring the Lord’s will on how to be liberated and to be set free. This requires great discernment on behalf of the prophet, in order to walk in God’s understanding and strength. Indeed, the counterfeit, the deceptive, and the false, which is so evident in churches these days, will ultimately always oppose the ways of God and will remain like a snare or trap. Peter warns in 2 Peter 2: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. Therefore, such ways not be pulled down, and needs to be addressed and even destroyed. For Paul, this was not mere duty, but an act of war, as described in 2 Corinthians 10: 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. Take note of the world “casting down”, which speaks of pulling down every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, while Paul also made it clear that our spiritual warfare is about bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. And yes, this is what a prophetic does – a prophet can see, discern and know by the wisdom of God what is false, deceitful, and what has exalted itself up against the Kingdom of God. And the prophet will therefore act, and the prophet will therefore expose and speak out against it. In the story of Adonijah, we find that the pretender king had no wish to be in the company of the prophet Nathan. This is because the true prophet of God will expose and will reveal what is false and what is counterfeit. We then read in the same chapter of the actions of the prophet of God: 23 And they told the king, saying, Behold Nathan the prophet. And when he was come in before the king, he bowed himself before the king with his face to the ground. 24 And Nathan said, My lord, O king, hast thou said, Adonijah shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne? 25 For he is gone down this day, and hath slain oxen and fat cattle and sheep in abundance, and hath called all the king’s sons, and the captains of the host, and Abiathar the priest; and, behold, they eat and drink before him, and say, God save king Adonijah. 26 But me, even me thy servant, and Zadok the priest, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, and thy servant Solomon, hath he not called. 27 Is this thing done by my lord the king, and thou hast not shewed it unto thy servant, who should sit on the throne of my lord the king after him? 28 Then king David answered and said, Call me Bathsheba. And she came into the king’s presence, and stood before the king. 29 And the king sware, and said, As the Lord liveth, that hath redeemed my soul out of all distress, 30 Even as I sware unto thee by the Lord God of Israel, saying, Assuredly Solomon thy son shall reign after me, and he shall sit upon my throne in my stead; even so will I certainly do this day. 31 Then Bathsheba bowed with her face to the earth, and did reverence to the king, and said, Let my lord king David live for ever. 32 And king David said, Call me Zadok the priest, and Nathan the prophet, and Benaiah the son of Jehoiada. And they came before the king. 33 The king also said unto them, Take with you the servants of your lord, and cause Solomon my son to ride upon mine own mule, and bring him down to Gihon: 34 And let Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet anoint him there king over Israel: and blow ye with the trumpet, and say, God save king Solomon. 35 Then ye shall come up after him, that he may come and sit upon my throne; for he shall be king in my stead: and I have appointed him to be ruler over Israel and over Judah. The instructions of David were carried out by the prophet, for a prophet will always obey his true King. Under the New Covenant, the prophet’s true and only master is Jesus. And so Nathan anointed Solomon to be king, establishing the true order of God, and exposing what is the counterfeit and what is not the will of God. Similarly, the prophet Samuel anointed David as the true king of Israel, for by the prophetic anointing the fallen rule of King Saul was therefore declared null in void and was deemed to be a pretender to the throne. Let us read what it says in 2 Chronicles 16: Hanani’s Message to Asa: 7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah, and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your God, therefore the army of the king of Syria has escaped from your hand. 8 Were the Ethiopians and the Lubim not a huge army with very many chariots and horsemen? Yet, because you relied on the Lord, He delivered them into your hand. 9 For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him. In this you have done foolishly; therefore from now on you shall have wars.” 10 Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, for he was enraged at him because of this. And Asa oppressed some of the people at that time. Remember, Asa was at one time regarded as a king who did right in the eyes of God. Of this we read in 2 Chronicles 15: The Reforms of Asa: 15 Now the Spirit of God came upon Azariah the son of Oded. 2 And he went out to meet Asa, and said to him: “Hear me, Asa, and all Judah and Benjamin. The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. 3 For a long time Israel has been without the true God, without a teaching priest, and without law; 4 but when in their trouble they turned to the Lord God of Israel, and sought Him, He was found by them. 5 And in those times there was no peace to the one who went out, nor to the one who came in, but great turmoil was on all the inhabitants of the lands. 6 So nation was destroyed by nation, and city by city, for God troubled them with every adversity. 7 But you, be strong and do not let your hands be weak, for your work shall be rewarded!” 8 And when Asa heard these words and the prophecy of Oded the prophet, he took courage, and removed the abominable idols from all the land of Judah and Benjamin and from the cities which he had taken in the mountains of Ephraim; and he restored the altar of the Lord that was before the vestibule of the Lord. 9 Then he gathered all Judah and Benjamin, and those who dwelt with them from Ephraim, Manasseh, and Simeon, for they came over to him in great numbers from Israel when they saw that the Lord his God was with him. 10 So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. 11 And they offered to the Lord [d]at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought. 12 Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; 13 and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. 14 Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. 15 And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. 16 Also he removed Maachah, the mother of Asa the king, from being queen mother, because she had made an obscene image of Asherah; and Asa cut down her obscene image, then crushed and burned it by the Brook Kidron. 17 But the high places were not removed from Israel. Nevertheless, the heart of Asa was loyal all his days. 18 He also brought into the house of God the things that his father had dedicated and that he himself had dedicated: silver and gold and utensils. 7 And at that time Hanani the seer came to Asa king of Judah and said to him: “Because you have relied on the king of Syria, and have not relied on the Lord your Asa was therefore a king who sought the ways of God, but alas, he placed his hope and trust in another kind. And so a “seer”, thus a prophet (for the prophet can see and discern), was sent to correct and expose the fallen ways of Asa. Sadly, the king did not wish to be rebuked or corrected, thereby throwing the prophet in the prison. Still today, many spiritual leaders are like Asa, refusing to be corrected and to be rebuked. To correct and rebuke is against addressing what has been established as a stronghold of defiance and rebellion. Take note, the prophet only confirm and declare what God had spoken to the person already. Many times, God speaks to us, but because of our pride, arrogance, spiritual confusion, or the deception clouding our own judgment, we do not listen and we cannot see the truth or acknowledge such a truth. And so God will send His prophets to declare. Remember, a rebuke or a correction is done to bless. After all, if we are not in the will of the Lord, we are not walking in life. God wants to bring us back into His will, and sometimes this requires correction in the form of reproofing or being rebuked. In 2 Kings 22, at the time of the great reformation introduced by King Josiah, we read about how the Book of Law was found. The king realized how far the people had drifted away from the Truth of the Lord. 11 Now it happened, when the king heard the words of the Book of the Law, that he tore his clothes. 12 Then the king commanded Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam the son of Shaphan, Achbor the son of Michaiah, Shaphan the scribe, and Asaiah a servant of the king saying, 13 “Go, inquire of the Lord for me, for the people and for all Judah, concerning the words of this book that has been found; for great is the wrath of the Lord that is aroused against us, because our fathers have not obeyed the words of this book, to do according to all that is written concerning us.” 14 So Hilkiah the priest, Ahikam, Achbor, Shaphan, and Asaiah went to Huldah the prophetess, the wife of Shallum the son of Tikvah, the son of Harhas, keeper of the wardrobe. (She dwelt in Jerusalem in the Second Quarter.) And they spoke with her. 15 Then she said to them, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel, ‘Tell the man who sent you to Me, 16 “Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants—all the words of the book which the king of Judah has read— 17 because they have forsaken Me and burned incense to other gods, that they might provoke Me to anger with all the works of their hands. Therefore My wrath shall be aroused against this place and shall not be quenched.’ ” ’ 18 But as for the king of Judah, who sent you to inquire of the Lord, in this manner you shall speak to him, ‘Thus says the Lord God of Israel: “Concerning the words which you have heard— 19 because your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse, and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard you,” says the Lord. 20 “Surely, therefore, I will gather you to your fathers, and you shall [d]be gathered to your grave in peace; and your eyes shall not see all the calamity which I will bring on this place.” ’ ” So they brought back word to the king. Based on the words of the prophetess we then read the following: 2 Kings 23: Now the king sent them to gather all the elders of Judah and Jerusalem to him. 2 The king went up to the house of the Lord with all the men of Judah, and with him all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—the priests and the prophets and all the people, both small and great. And he read in their hearing all the words of the Book of the Covenant which had been found in the house of the Lord. 3 Then the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant before the Lord, to follow the Lord and to keep His commandments and His testimonies and His statutes, with all his heart and all his soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book. And all the people took a stand for the covenant. 4 And the king commanded Hilkiah the high priest, the priests of the second order, and the doorkeepers, to bring out of the temple of the Lord all the articles that were made for Baal, for Asherah, and for all the host of heaven; and he burned them outside Jerusalem in the fields of Kidron, and carried their ashes to Bethel. 5 Then he removed the idolatrous priests whom the kings of Judah had ordained to burn incense on the high places in the cities of Judah and in the places all around Jerusalem, and those who burned incense to Baal, to the sun, to the moon, to the constellations, and to all the host of heaven. 6 And he brought out the wooden[d] image from the house of the Lord, to the Brook Kidron outside Jerusalem, burned it at the Brook Kidron and ground it to ashes, and threw its ashes on the graves of the common people. 7 Then he tore down the ritual booths of the perverted persons that were in the house of the Lord, where the women wove hangings for the wooden image. 8 And he brought all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places where the priests had burned incense, from Geba to Beersheba; also he broke down the high places at the gates which were at the entrance of the Gate of Joshua the governor of the city, which were to the left of the city gate. The prophet was called to give a word to the king to pull and tear down and to destroy everything that had exalted itself against the Lord. 2 Kings 23 continues to explain in detail how the king ordered all the high places to be destroyed. We read from verse 24: Moreover Josiah put away those who consulted mediums and spiritists, the household gods and idols, all the abominations that were seen in the land of Judah and in Jerusalem, that he might perform the words of the law which were written in the book that Hilkiah the priest found in the house of the Lord. In 2 Kings 18, the king of Assyria sent the Tartan, the Rabsaris, and the Rabshakeh from Lachish, with a great army against Jerusalem, to King Hezekiah. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. Facing great calamity and defeat, the king called for Isaiah the prophet for a word. And so we read in 2 Kings 19 … 6 And Isaiah said to them, “Thus you shall say to your master, ‘Thus says the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. 7 Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.” ’ When then read from verse 35: And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel of the Lord went out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and eighty-five thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the corpses—all dead. 36 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went away, returned home, and remained at Nineveh. 37 Now it came to pass, as he was worshiping in the temple of Nisroch his god, that his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer struck him down with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Ararat. Here we, therefore, find the King of Assyria rising up against God, taunting and mocking the Lord (his mockery can be read in 2 Kings 18). Subsequently, his entire army was pulled down and destroyed, all by the word of Isaiah. Even the King of Assyria died. Daniel was also a prophet, and the Lord used him mightily to interpret dreams and visions. And so in Daniel 4, the king had a dream of his own fall into humility. Daniel interpreted the dream, and what he spoke came to pass. 28 All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 At the end of the twelve months he was walking about the royal palace of Babylon. 30 The king spoke, saying, “Is not this great Babylon, that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honor of my majesty?” 31 While the word was still in the king’s mouth, a voice fell from heaven: “King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken: the kingdom has departed from you! 32 And they shall drive you from men, and your dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field. They shall make you eat grass like oxen; and seven pass over you, until you know that the Most High rules times shall in the kingdom of men, and gives it to whomever He chooses.” 33 That very hour the word was fulfilled concerning Nebuchadnezzar; he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen; his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws. This so-called mighty king’s arrogance and pride were pulled down and he was humbled. Such is the action of the prophet, for the prophet deals with God’s glory, and the prophet contends strictly with God’s honor. Throughout the Old Testament, we thus see this constant struggle between the Kingdom of Light and the kingdom of darkness playing out, as God’s servants erected altars in honor of the true King while the worshippers of the ‘false gods’ also erected their altars and idols. There are also at times instances when altars are broken down as a declaration of war. Prophets were often called to speak out against such false altars, thus opposing the counterfeit that stood against the Kingdom of God. The story of King Ahab and Jezebel, which is a name synonymous with evil, who confronted Elijah is an illustration of how the true prophetic move of God shall always confront and oppose what is counterfeit, wicked, and not real. In spite of God’s laws forbidding idolatry and the worship of any god but the Lord, Ahab married this princess who brought to Israel with her hundreds of priests of Baal worship. One of her first acts was to order the extermination of the prophets of the Lord (1 Kings 18:4,13) and set up altars to Baal. So pervasive was her idolatrous influence in Israel that Jesus later used her name to refer to a woman who led the church at Thyatira into immorality and the worship of false gods (Revelation 2:20). Jezebel’s strongest enemy was the great prophet Elijah, who defied her and opposed her evil rule. First, he pronounced the punishment of God upon Israel in the form of a drought that lasted three years (James 5:17). This culminated in a contest on Mount Carmel between the powers of Israel’s true God and the Baals. In the end, Jezebel shouted her defiance to Jehu, the next king of Israel who came to take his throne (2 Kings 9:30-37). Jehu commanded her to be thrown out the window to her death, where she was trampled by the horses’ hooves and almost entirely consumed by dogs. Her thirty years of tyranny over Israel had ended. The terror visited upon Jezebel was a testimony to the Israelites, and to us, that God shall not be mocked. The confrontation on Mount Carmel as to be found in 1 Kings 18 will serve as a reminder of the struggle between light and dark in this world. Yet God is with those who serve Him, and who had laid themselves on the ‘altar’ as living sacrifices unto the Lord. In the confrontation, Elijah challenged 850 false prophets. These prophets build a false altar, and even bled and danced and chanted, but God did not honor their offering. Only when Elijah erected a true altar to the Lord, even one soaked in water, did God answer by fire. Truly, God’s holy fire burns in the believers who seek to follow Him alone as the Kings of kings, yet for those who defy the Lord they burn with the profane fire of this world and of the devil. Throughout the ages, there has always been an open rebellion against God, just as the devil rebelled openly against God. And we see such rebellion manifest in many different ways, through the setting up of pseudo-religions and false centers of worship and altars. Today, false altars of knowledge and wisdom are also erected. This world is being led further away from the Lord and His Truth, down a path of open idolatry, heresy, apostasy, lawlessness, depravity, and rebellion. God’s laws and truths are being openly defied, denied, and opposed. There is no more shame, just wickedness and evil abound. In the midst of all this chaos and anarchy, God’s prophets will continue to see, discern, and speak out in the authority of God for the purpose to expose, tearing down, and destroying. After all, a prophet will only stand by the truth of God, and will not allow God’s Word, or His Name, or His Kingdom to be mocked. When therefore speaking on tearing down and destroying, consider that a prophet only walks in the Truth of God, and so his life is grounded in the Word and is led by the Spirit who comes to lead us in all truth. Consider Deuteronomy 18: 9 “When you enter the land which the Lord your God is giving you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable (repulsive) practices of those nations. 10 There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or daughter pass through the fire [as a sacrifice], one who uses divination and fortune-telling, one who practices witchcraft, or one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, 11 or one who casts a charm or spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or a necromancer [who seeks the dead]. 12 For everyone who does these things is utterly repulsive to the Lord; and because of these detestable practices the Lord your God is driving them out before you. 13 You shall be blameless (complete, perfect) before the Lord your God. 14 For these nations which you shall dispossess listen to those who practice witchcraft and to diviners and fortune-tellers, but as for you, the Lord your God has not allowed you to do so. A prophet will speak out and stand against all things immoral, which are an abomination as recorded in Deuteronomy 18 and which act as open rebellion against God. Consider also, speaking of false altars, how a place where a séance (forbidden according to Deuteronomy 18) or a reading is done is also a false altar because the table where the sorcery is done becomes the altar of spiritual activity. Remember that by definition an altar is also seen as a communion table (a place of divine encounter and interaction), and also a raised structure on which gifts or sacrifices to a god are made. And this is exactly what a table where the séance or the reading is – an altar. Except for the table of interaction, those who sacrifice to demons do so at an altar, or they will cast spells at an altar. Either way, these practices a prophet must address and counter by pulling down such abominations by exposing it and speaking the Truth of God. We, therefore, see that a prophet’s function is to correct and admonish. God often has to uproot and tear down, destroy, and overthrow, before he can begin to plant and build. Prophets cooperate with God in breaking down all that is not built on the true foundation. They do this by announcing his judgment. At the same time, they watch over all that God is building to see that it is built according to his Word. This is an awesome task but God cannot complete the restoration work until the prophetic ministry is restored. Consider the life of prophetess Deborah, who was the fourth of the judges who ruled over the Jewish people after the death of Joshua. She stood against all things immoral and by her leading as judge oppression was overthrown and victory planted. Before her were Othniel, Ehud, and Shamgar, the latter only for a short time. After Ehud’s death, the Jews forsook the ways of the Torah and adopted many of the idols of the people about them. As a consequence, God delivered them into the hands of the King of Canaan, Jabin, whose royal residence was the city of Hazor. His cruel general Sisera oppressed the Jews for twenty years. Sisera possessed a well-trained army of cavalry. It was then that God sent them Deborah. She was one of the seven women prophetesses whose prophecies are recorded in the Bible. In the midst of sin and idolatry, Deborah remained true to God. She was wise and God-fearing, and the people flocked to her for advice and help. Deborah held court beneath a palm-tree, in the open air. There, where everyone could hear her, she warned the Jewish people and urged them to leave their evil ways and return to God. It was fortunate that Deborah had such a tremendous influence. For even the strongest and noblest of the men of those days had given up hope of turning the tide against the Canaanites’ oppression and idolatry. When Deborah felt that she had helped the people to return to God, she sent for Barak, the son of Abinoam. Barak was the most influential man in Israel then, and Deborah asked him to raise an army of ten thousand troops from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulun and gather them at the foot of Mount Tabor, in the Plains of Esdrealon. With this army, he was to attack the Canaanite oppressors. Barak refused to undertake this task by himself, knowing well that only the help of God and the inspiration of the prophetess Deborah could succeed in the hopeless odds against the iron chariots and cavalry of Sisera. Deborah agreed to accompany him, but she warned him that although he would gain victory, the glory would not be his, but a woman’s. Sisera learned of Barak’s approach and led his huge army against the Jews. They were aided when God threw confusion into their ranks. Rains turned the battlefield into mud, and the chariots were stuck. Terrified by the sudden turn of events, the mighty warriors of Sisera fled in all directions. The overjoyed Jewish troops pursued them to the very hometown of Sisera, Charosheth, and not a single soldier of the Canaanites escaped. When Sisera realized his defeat, he quickly descended from his chariot and fled on foot. Seeking a place to hide, he chanced upon the tent of Heber the Kenite, who was a descendant of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Heber had been on good terms with Jabin, the king of Hazor, the ruler of the Canaanites, and Sisera was only too happy to accept the invitation of Jael, Heber’s wife, to bide him in the house until the Jewish army would have passed. Jael gave him food and drink and, exhausted from the battle, Sisera soon fell into a heavy slumber. Seeing this, the brave Jael decided to make Sisera pay for all the cruelties he had committed against the Jewish people. Cautiously approaching the sleeping warrior, she drove a long nail, a tent pin, through his temple, thus putting an end to the hated oppressor. Thus Deborah’s predictions came true: the highest glory of the victory belonged to a woman, not to Barak, and Deborah herself glorified the brave Jael in the immortal “Song of Deborah.” Paul described a prophetic ministry that cut to the hearts of the people. But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” (1 Corinthians 14:24,25). Amos was a prophet who understood the condition of his nation and knew the issues in Israel with which God took exception. It is not the worldly society, but God’s people with whom God is primarily concerned and with whom he will first enter into judgment. Like most prophets, Amos was not welcomed in his own society. When a genuine prophet arrives on the scene, he tends to make people uncomfortable. The people of Amos’ day were affluent and religiously devout- as well as being militarily secure and governmentally sound. Judgment begins in the house of God. We read of the warnings of 2 Peter 2 and in the Book of Jude about the false teachers, while Jesus Himself warned of false Messiahs in Matthew 24 The reality is that the church today is plagued with apostasy, erroneous doctrine, false teachings, false prophecy, and rotten leadership which has done terrible damage in the church. It has imparted sin (and perhaps evil spirits) to hundreds and thousands of ordinary people who trusted their leaders and were vulnerable because they submitted to them. The Lord calls the prophets to deal with all of the issues of apostasy, for apostasy is rife in the church. The church needs to be made aware of idolatry, iniquity, and all things that stand against God’s Truth and His Kingdom. Yet, these days in the churches, when true prophets speak, many times they are ignored. Even worse, some leaders are already so puffed up in pride and arrogance; they will ignore the words of judgment or correction. This again is very dangerous. Riaan Engelbrecht NRead more

Slavery That Deafens the Prophetic Spiritually Previous Post In Exodus 6 NKJV we read the following: 6 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh. For with a strong hand he will let them go, and with a strong hand he will drive them out of his land.” 2 And God spoke to Moses and said to him: “I am the Lord. 3 I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, as God Almighty, but by My name Lord[b] I was not known to them. 4 I have also established My covenant with them, to give them the land of Canaan, the land of their pilgrimage, in which they were strangers. 5 And I have also heard the groaning of the children of Israel whom the Egyptians keep in bondage, and I have remembered My covenant. 6 Therefore say to the children of Israel: ‘I am the Lord; I will bring you out from under the burdens of the Egyptians, I will rescue you from their bondage, and I will redeem you with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. We find here a word from God dealing with deliverance. God was about to redeem Israel with an outstretched arm and with great judgments. What is, however, to note is what it says in verse 9: Moses spoke thus to the children of Israel; but they did not heed Moses, because of the anguish of spirit and cruel bondage. Let us pause here for a moment. Moses, the spokesperson for God, came to the people with a word of deliverance. God had heard the groaning of the people! Praise the Lord! Yet, they did not heed the Word of God. There was no joy. No celebrations. Why? Because they were still stuck in bondage, thus slavery, and they were overwhelmed with anguish, therefore suffering. So great was the slavery and the suffering, they could not embrace the Word of God. And why do we need to embrace the Word of John? It says in John 8: 31 So Jesus was saying to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you abide in My word [continually obeying My teachings and living in accordance with them, then] you are truly My disciples. 32 And you will know the truth [regarding salvation], and the truth will set you free [from the penalty of sin].” Freedom, therefore, comes when we not only know the truth but walk in the truth by abiding in Jesus who is the Truth! So if we cannot heed the Word of God (and considering faith comes by hearing), therefore the truth regarding our spiritual/emotional condition, circumstance, situation, or state of being, then how can we be free? If we do not know the Truth, how then can the Truth then set us free? Moses as a prophet of God spoke Truth to the Israelites, yet they could not embrace it, thus they were at the time unable to embrace and accept their deliverance and freedom. Do we realize how many people in this world are slaves? We are not talking in a physical sense. People are slaves to addictions, slaves to fear, slaves to insecurities, slaves to wrong mindsets, beliefs, and habits, and people are slaves to fame, fortune, greed, and power. Across the world, people are slaves to all kinds of things, even pain, anarchy, violence, and destruction. Millions of women are slaves to abuse, children are slaves to the different torments, and so many are slaves to the unrelenting destruction of unforgiveness, anger, bitterness, offense and so it goes on. And many of those who are ‘slaves’ are even sitting in churches, for they themselves are enslaved, for so many believers are still struggling with ’inner demons’, emotional turmoil, and spiritual afflictions. And yes, so many within the church system are also enslaved to religion, traditions of man, and legalisms. For the non-believer, so many are held in bondage because of pseudo-religions, the twisted corruptions of truth as advocated by society that corrupts the mind and spirit. And then we are not even dealing with the many who are held slaves by the occult, esoteric teachings, cults, sects, and secret societies. Indeed, we live in a world of great depravity and chaos. A world of slavery! Slavery is rife throughout the world. And with slavery comes suffering and anguish. And with suffering and anguish comes the deafening silence to heed the Word of God, thus the prophetic, therefore the ability to comprehend, understand, perceive, and act upon the Truth of God – the same Truth that sets us free. For the prophetic only deals with the Truth of God, nothing else. If we are therefore caught in this trap of enslavement and suffering, we will continue to push away the Truth of God – thus the prophetic – which actually sets us free! This is because enslavement at its core remains spiritual in nature. The devil wants to keep people enslaved. This is why Jesus said that He has come to set the captives free. When Paul and Silas were imprisoned, they prayed and worshipped the Lord, and the prison doors opened (Acts 16:25-34). This was a prophetic action to show God’s desire for us to be free. It says in John 8:36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. God wants us to be free, from then we are free from slavery, and then we are free from bondages that breed suffering anguish, and yes fear. After all, according to John 10, the thief comes to steal, destroy, and kill. Yet the devil wants us to deny the reality, the truth, and the affliction of our slavery and suffering. So often slavery is accompanied by denial, for we would rather embrace the bondage than accept its reality and impact. The Israelites were delivered, but wanted to return to their state of bondage! In Exodus 8 we read of how God has afflicted Egypt with the plague of frogs. We read: “Then Pharaoh called for Moses and Aaron and said, “Plead with the Lord that He may take away the frogs from me and my people; and I will let the people go, so that they may sacrifice to the Lord.” 9 And Moses said to Pharaoh, “I am entirely at your service: when shall I plead [with the Lord] for you and your servants and your people, so that the frogs may leave you and your houses and remain only in the Nile?” 10 Then Pharaoh said, “Tomorrow.” Moses had even come to bring a prophetic word of deliverance to the Pharaoh. Yet, even the Pharaoh in his slavery and anguish could not yet embrace the complete truth of the Word of God. Instead of opting for immediate deliverance and freedom, he rather chose ‘tomorrow’ as a day to be set free. How many times have we not rejected the Lord’s hand right now for deliverance, or not obeyed a Word of instruction that will bring us our deliverance and freedom? But this is the nature of enslavement. It blinds and causes distortions in our thinking and embracing the Truth. Any form of slavery will eventually destroy (consider how pornography has destroyed marriages), steal or even kill (such as substance abuse) when not addressed and accepted as a reality by heeding the Word of God. Slavery is the work of the devil, therefore slavery is a spiritual stronghold, and with a stronghold comes a flood of other spiritual oppressions such as anguish, suffering, fear, depression, and anger. If it is a stronghold, then by definition it is designed to keep one in bondage, by clouding your judgment, skewing reality, and setting a counterfeit state of existence. The devil wants people to be stuck in these spiritual, emotional, and even physical cages of torment, for then you begin to walk in darkness and lose sight of the light and the truth. Thus the Israelites could not heed the Word of God. They were overwhelmed with suffering and anguish. Paul writes in Galatians 5 vs 1 (NKJV): Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. The Amplified Bible translates it as follows: It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed]. Paul makes it clear that we must not return to our state of slavery, yet many believers end up back in slavery and suffering because of decisions, choices and not heeding and obeying the Lord. So many times it is our will, our way, and our truth we follow, and so the Pharaoh comes knocking and we open the door. And once you return and the cage slams shut, what a terrible ordeal of spiritual suffering to return again to the Lord! To stand firm reminds us of Ephesians 6: 11 Put on the full armor of God [for His precepts are like the splendid armor of a heavily-armed soldier], so that you may be able to [successfully] stand up against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. 12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood [contending only with physical opponents], but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this [present] darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly (supernatural) places. 13 Therefore, put on the complete armor of God so that you will be able to [successfully] resist and stand your ground in the evil day [of danger], and having done everything [that the crisis demands], to stand firm [in your place, fully prepared, immovable, victorious]. Take note, we are called to STAND UP against all the schemes and the strategies and the deceits of the devil. And this includes the devil getting people into bondage, slavery, and therefore into a spiritual state of anguish and suffering. With any spiritual stronghold, you will then be subjected to greater confusion, deception, and continuing oppression. The result is that you will not always be able to heed the Word of God, because of the suffering and the slavery. This allows the devil to claw even deeper into one’s thoughts and emotions, as he sows his destruction. Spiritual/emotional/mental slavery is therefore of great concern. After all, Israel should have been overjoyed that they were about to be set free. But they were suffering because of the bondage, and so the devil had even stolen their joy. And yes, suffering and bondages afflict your mind, your state of being, and your spiritual strength and fortitude. And so Paul writes in 2 Timothy 1:7: For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a spirit] of power and of love and of sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind, and self-control]. As we abide in the Lord, and we abide in His freedom, we walk by a sound mind, thus free from afflictions, and walk not in the bondage of fear. Indeed, where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty (2 Corinthians 3:17). Philippians 4: 4 Rejoice in the Lord always [delight, take pleasure in Him]; again I will say, rejoice! 5 Let your gentle spirit [your graciousness, unselfishness, mercy, tolerance, and patience] be known to all people. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious or worried about anything, but in everything [every circumstance and situation] by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, continue to make your [specific] requests known to God. 7 And the peace of God [that peace which reassures the heart, that peace] which transcends all understanding, [that peace which] stands guard over your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus [is yours]. For those who truly walk with God, who are yielded and submitted to the Lord, indeed they are the ones who keep walking in liberty. They will find the means not to be anxious, but in prayer and thanksgiving worship the Lord. Yet this is not always possible when one is already enslaved, and this applies to so many believers as well. For this reason, Paul said that we must not be entangled again, lest we step back into a spiritual stronghold that seeks to corrupt, steal, and destroy. The Lord spoke years ago about how the Church even today is not heeding the prophetic Word of God, thus embracing the true prophetic move of God, because the Church is still suffering from enslavement, having allowed itself to become enslaved again to the world, religion, traditions, and idolatry. So the Church is suffering from spiritual malnourishment, held in bondage, and so the Church is not able to heed the Word of God – a word of deliverance – because of the slavery and the anguish! Even in South Africa, spiritual/emotional slavery is rife. People are still enslaved by racism, by hate, and by anger. Any wonder why so many cannot heed the Word of God. The image the Lord showed was a concentration camp – similar to the ones during the Holocaust – of people sick, malnourished, and without stamina or strength. So it is with the church, because of enslavement, and thus we are not heeding the true Word of God that will lead us beyond the wilderness into the Promised Land. So in the state of suffering and enslavement, God shook Egypt with His Power, just as He shook the gates that held Paul and Silas in prison. If we want to be free from slavery and suffering to heed again God’s Word, we need the conviction of the truth that comes from the power of the Holy Spirit. We need to be convicted of our bondages, slavery, and suffering! God in His power blinded Saul spiritually and opened the spiritual eyes of Paul. For those who are walking in liberty, we need to keep on preaching and speaking Truth so that those who are in bondage may hear the Truth for faith comes by hearing. We need to keep on praying and interceding so that people may be set free by the Truth, so that the power of God may shake wrong foundations, the cages of enslavement, and the foundations of suffering! May we pray against that stronghold of slavery that cripples and bring suffering. We must also remember that the prophetic by nature is designed and purposed to counter the counterfeit, thus the strongholds of the devil. God uses the prophetic to bring forth truth, a word of deliverance, a word of guidance, counsel, and wisdom in order for us to be free. For those in slavery and in bondage the devil does not want them to embrace the prophetic word for the word will set them free and will destroy the power of the stronghold. It says in Matthew 10:41 (AMP): 41 He who receives and welcomes a prophet, because he is a prophet, will receive a prophet’s reward; and he who receives a righteous (honorable) man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. When you, therefore, embrace the prophetic, you embrace the Word of God that brings healing, direction, upliftment, encouragement, and deliverance. Yet to embrace the prophetic means embracing both a blessing and a correction, for either is designed to uplift, liberate, edify, and loosen the chains and bonds that bind. It is therefore foolishness to reject the true prophet, thus the prophetic, for you are rejecting the Lord and the Word that can bring deliverance or edification. The prophets’ reward, after all, is the power that comes from the Word, for the Word when truly spoken by the prophet comes directly from the Lord and holds the authority to align, shift, correct, release, or shut in matters on a spiritual level. We find for example Saul who did not heed the prophetic in 1 Samuel 13: 5 Then the Philistines gathered together to fight with Israel, thirty thousand chariots and six thousand horsemen, and people as the sand which is on the seashore in multitude. And they came up and encamped in Michmash, to the east of Beth Aven. 6 When the men of Israel saw that they were in danger (for the people were distressed), then the people hid in caves, in thickets, in rocks, in holes, and in pits. 7 And some of the Hebrews crossed over the Jordan to the land of Gad and Gilead. As for Saul, he was still in Gilgal, and all the people followed him trembling. 8 Then he waited seven days, according to the time set by Samuel. But Samuel did not come to Gilgal; and the people were scattered from him. 9 So Saul said, “Bring a burnt offering and peace offerings here to me.” And he offered the burnt offering. 10 Now it happened, as soon as he had finished presenting the burnt offering, that Samuel came; and Saul went out to meet him, that he might greet him. 11 And Samuel said, “What have you done?” Saul said, “When I saw that the people were scattered from me, and that you did not come within the days appointed, and that the Philistines gathered together at Michmash, 12 then I said, ‘The Philistines will now come down on me at Gilgal, and I have not made supplication to the Lord.’ Therefore I felt compelled, and offered a burnt offering.” 13 And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you. For now the Lord would have established your kingdom over Israel forever. 14 But now your kingdom shall not continue. The Lord has sought for Himself a man after His own heart, and the Lord has commanded him to be commander over His people, because you have not kept what the Lord commanded you.” We read that Saul had not kept the commandment of the Lord your God, which He commanded you, which was spoken through the prophet. Thus we are reminded that the prophet only speaks as the Lord leads and thus speaks the Word of God, thus the commandments. If Saul had embraced the prophetic, his kingdom would have been established. He, however, rejected the prophetic and so his reign as the kingdom was about to come to an end. This was a similar case in 1 Samuel 15: 1 Samuel also said to Saul, “The Lord sent me to anoint you king over His people, over Israel. Now therefore, heed the voice of the words of the Lord. 2 Thus says the Lord of hosts: ‘I will punish Amalek for what he did to Israel, how he ambushed him on the way when he came up from Egypt. 3 Now go and attack Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, and do not spare them. But kill both man and woman, infant and nursing child, ox and sheep, camel and donkey.’ … 9 But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them. But everything despised and worthless, that they utterly destroyed. 10 Now the word of the Lord came to Samuel, saying, 11 “I greatly regret that I have set up Saul as king, for he has turned back from following Me, and has not performed My commandments.” And it grieved Samuel, and he cried out to the Lord all night. 12 So when Samuel rose early in the morning to meet Saul, it was told Samuel, saying, “Saul went to Carmel, and indeed, he set up a monument for himself; and he has gone on around, passed by, and gone down to Gilgal.” 13 Then Samuel went to Saul, and Saul said to him, “Blessed are you of the Lord! I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” 14 But Samuel said, “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear?” 15 And Saul said, “They have brought them from the Amalekites; for the people spared the best of the sheep and the oxen, to sacrifice to the Lord your God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.” 26 But Samuel said to Saul, “I will not return with you, for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you from being king over Israel.” 27 And as Samuel turned around to go away, Saul seized the edge of his robe, and it tore. 28 So Samuel said to him, “The Lord has torn the kingdom of Israel from you today, and has given it to a neighbor of yours, who is better than you. 29 And also the Strength of Israel will not lie nor relent. For He is not a man, that He should relent.” So twice Saul rejected the prophetic, thus the Word of God. In the end, Saul the first king would make way for David because of disobedience. Saul was enslaved to his pride and arrogance, and so in his folly, he became rebellious and disobedient to his demise. In Kings 18 we read of Obadiah who was the governor of Ahab’s house, yet he feared the Lord greatly and was willing to hide the prophets when Jezebel destroyed the prophets of the Lord. This was a man willing to embrace and protect the prophetic. In this time and age more than ever discernment is needed for children of God to embrace the true prophetic, thus the true prophets, but at the same time to shun and counter the counterfeit ‘prophetic’ move that brings not liberty but bondage. After all, just as the true prophetic move of God brings a reward, and it brings deliverance and healing, just so the false prophetic word will only enslave and bring destruction. It should be noted, just as the devil wants to keep children of God in bondage by deafening them to the prophetic or by causing them not to embrace the prophetic, just so the devil also wants to keep the prophets in bondage and in slavery. If a prophet cannot heed the Word of God because of slavery and anguish, how then shall a prophet be able to speak the Word of God? And so the Lord over the years continually will seduce the prophet with worldly desires and gratifications to leave the path of the Lord, or to forsake the mantle because of emotional distress, or to become spiritually blinded because of rebellion, disobedience, or walking in ignorance. The devil knows that the Lord uses the prophetic to establish His will and order in the heart of the people, and with the prophetic come wisdom, discernment, and guidance. So the devil will continually launch an attack upon attack against the prophet to steer him off course, to discourage him, to discredit, to break his will, to destroy his peace of man, and to also get the prophet to walk in deception instead of truth. For this reason, the prophet needs to remain very close to the Lord, always heeding, always listening, always submitting and yielding lest he steps out of the will of God and into a position of the flesh and the imagination. Remember the Scripture out of 1 Kings 18:4? It says “When Jezebel killed the prophets of the Lord, Obadiah took a hundred prophets and hid them in groups of fifty in a cave and fed them with bread and water.” The devil wants the prophet to hide in the cave. He wants the prophet to be in bondage be it spiritually, emotionally, or physically. He wants the prophet to be enslaved by the world, by its carnality, by its ‘charms’ and gratifications. The serpent wants the prophet to be caught up in the business of life, and distracted and led astray. A prophet who is held in bondage because of the flesh, of the mind, of religion, or even demonic oppression, will struggle to get out of the cave and to hear what God is saying to him. The devil will use any means possible to get the prophet to err and stray. This was the case in 1 Kings 13 when we read of a prophet who cried out against the false altar. This prophet also entreated to the Lord for King Jeroboam’s hand to be restored. The king then asked the prophet to come home with him and to refresh himself, and the king was willing to give him a reward. Yet the prophet said from verse 8: “If you were to give me half your house, I would not go in with you; nor would I eat bread nor drink water in this place. 9 For so it was commanded me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘You shall not eat bread, nor drink water, nor return by the same way you came.’ ” 10 So he went another way and did not return by the way he came to Bethel. The story of the prophet reminds us of the temptation of Jesus in the wilderness, who is the greatest prophet who ever lives as the Son of God. The devil tried to seduce him to stray from the path the Father set before the Lord, yet Jesus stayed the course. Ye the devil used temptations and seductions, just as the king tried to seduce the prophet to disobey the Lord. This is the manner of the devil – always seducing and always trying to lead the prophet astray. Take also note how Jesus did not stay in the wilderness, for if He had submitted to the temptations then the wilderness would have been his downfall, just as in the wilderness the Israelites so many times disobeyed the Lord. Yet Jesus overcame the devil and moved beyond the wilderness. Take note, the devil was not yet done with his scheming when it comes to the prophet who cried out against the altar. Yes, the prophet had withstood the first temptations, yet a second was to follow. We read from verse 11 how another older prophet who dwelt in Bethel, asked the prophet to come with him to eat. This was the same seduction of the king. Again the prophet resisted by saying: “I cannot return with you nor go in with you; neither can I eat bread nor drink water with you in this place. 17 For I have been told by the word of the Lord, ‘You shall not eat bread nor drink water there, nor return by going the way you came.’ ” Yet the older prophet replied: “18 He said to him, “I too am a prophet as you are, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the Lord, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, that he may eat bread and drink water.’ ” (He was lying to him.) And so the prophet fell into the trap of seduction and deception. Once seated at the table the older prophet said: 21 and he cried out to the man of God who came from Judah, saying, “Thus says the Lord: ‘Because you have disobeyed the word of the Lord, and have not kept the commandment which the Lord your God commanded you, 22 but you came back, ate bread, and drank water in the place of which the Lord said to you, “Eat no bread and drink no water,” your corpse shall not come to the tomb of your fathers.’ ” In the end, the prophet was devoured by a lion. And yes, this reminds us of how the devil roams like a roaring lion, and the prophet because of his disobedience had allowed the legal right for the enemy to attack and devour. Both Samson and David killed a lion, because they were faithful to God and did not at the time allow the enemy to devour them. Indeed, the devil wants the prophet to give a foothold for the work of the devil so that prophet is ensnared by the trap of the fowler. If a prophet remains discerning, he shall avoid such traps for according to Psalm 91 the Lord delivers us from such a snare, even the prophet. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah wanted to hide in the wilderness. This is just after he watched God move mightily on Mount Carmel. In Kings 18 we read of Elijah’s confrontation with Ahab: 17 When Ahab saw Elijah, Ahab said to him, “Are you the one who is bringing disaster on Israel?” 18 Elijah said, “I have not brought disaster on Israel, but you and your father’s household have, by abandoning (rejecting) the commandments of the Lord and by following the Baals. 19 Now then, send word and gather to me all Israel at Mount Carmel, together with the 450 prophets of Baal and the 400 prophets of [the goddess] Asherah, who eat at [Queen] Jezebel’s table.” Elijah was a prophet full of fire from the Lord, yet suddenly after the victory on the mountain we find a prophet who had succumbed to slavery because of despondency (the prophets were killed), and he was being pursued by Jezebel. It just shows us how quickly one can fall into the trap of spiritual slavery that paralyzes and causes a state of spiritual apathy. Yes, for some or other reason, Elijah was suddenly overcome with fear and disillusionment. So yes, a prophet may many times land in the wilderness, or in the cave, for this is natural as we are beings of emotions and life is not easy. Yet we must stay close to God, remain obedient, remain loyal and faithful, and then in God’s power and wisdom move again beyond such captivity and distractions and turmoil to continue our path of serving the Lord. Once Elijah had his moment in the wilderness, hiding and throwing a pity party, the Lord restored him with the following commission: 15 Then the Lord said to him: “Go, return on your way to the Wilderness of Damascus; and when you arrive, anoint Hazael as king over Syria. 16 Also you shall anoint Jehu the son of Nimshi as king over Israel. And Elisha the son of Shaphat of Abel Meholah you shall anoint as prophet in your place. 17 It shall be that whoever escapes the sword of Hazael, Jehu will kill; and whoever escapes the sword of Jehu, Elisha will kill. 18 Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him. Similarly, once the Lord withstood the test and the seductions of the devil, He continued as the Son of God and as the prophet to declare the Truth of the Kingdom and to eventually become the Lamb that was crucified for our sins. So a prophet must not remain in the wilderness, but keep on pressing ahead, no matter how tough or hard it is. John the Baptist grew up in the wilderness, but his calling was to eventually come out from such a place to be a prophet declaring the way of the Lord. In the case of Elijah, God Himself had to speak a word of deliverance and instruction to the prophet in order to get the prophet out of the cave and out of the wilderness to start being a prophet again. It is a dangerous thing when a prophet gets stuck in the spiritual ‘cave’, held in bondage, enslaved because of emotions, situations, or spiritual confusion. A prophet is called to walk in the glory of the Lord and speak the truth to those enslaved. True prophets of God do not hide from man or the devil. So the devil knows if he can enslave and keep the prophet hidden in the cave, the prophet might eventually become so distracted, so despondent, or so fallen away that the mandate and the task might be left behind. He wants the prophet to remain in the wilderness, cowering and despondent, yet the prophet must move forward and in the power of God shake the gates of hell. John did not remain in the wilderness, and neither did Jesus, so the prRead more

Beware Deceived Prophets of God-like Mentalities Previous Post As the Body of Christ, we need to be very careful of those who propose to be prophets who carry secret messages that no one else knows of or that have never been revealed or spoken. We are talking of the danger of those who say they have received revelations of God which is so secretive, so mysterious, and so profound that it has never been spoken. The reality is God will hardly speak of His plans in such a secretive manner that only one person knows about it. The Word says God reveals His plans to His prophets (Amos 3:7), and He still does, but hardly a message of importance in utter completion to one person. Even the revelations by John on Patmos were supported for example by the prophetic word of Daniel and many other prophets before the coming of Jesus. None of the prophets had such secretive knowledge. Ezekiel, Jeremiah, or even Isaiah never operated or spoke completely in isolation – their prophecies overlapped and supported each other. This is also the case with the “smaller” prophets. In all my years in the prophetic, all that God has spoken has been confirmed over and over by so many across the world. None of the messengers may be connected or know each other, but this is how God works – He knows the Truth and so speaks to His servants and disciples so that we may have the complete and perfect picture of His will and purpose. Even when one speaks a prophetic word over someone then that word shouldn’t be a complete secret or something mysterious – it should simply confirm, align, or correct in connection with what the receiver of the word already knows within their spirit or soul. In Matthew 13:11 we read: He answered, “Because it has been given to you to know the secrets of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it has not been given to them.” Jesus was speaking to His disciples – those who were willing to listen, surrender and yield to Him. Today, the Spirit has been poured out to lead us in all truth (John 16). If we truly want to know the things of the Kingdom, then the same principle applies to Matthew 13 – we must abide in God, follow, yield, and submit. True disciples know the will of God, the ways of the Kingdom, and the Truth of His Kingdom. It is not because they are some kind of special or elite prophet, simply because disciples know the Lord and they are led by the Spirit in all Truth. Yes, for those who do not know God will not know the Kingdom or the ways of God, simply because they are not following and yielding to Him. It says in 1 Corinthians 2: 11 For who knows the inner workings of a person except the person’s own spirit inside him? So too no one knows the inner workings of God except God’s Spirit. 12 Now we have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit of God, so that we might understand the things God has so freely given us. 13 These are the things we are talking about when we avoid the manner of speaking that human wisdom would dictate and instead use a manner of speaking taught by the Spirit, by which we explain things of the Spirit to people who have the Spirit. 14 Now the natural man does not receive the things from the Spirit of God — to him they are nonsense! Moreover, he is unable to grasp them, because they are evaluated through the Spirit. 15 But the person who has the Spirit can evaluate everything, while no one is in a position to evaluate him. 16 For who has known the mind of Adonai? Who will counsel him? But we have the mind of the Messiah! Disciples know the mind of Christ because of the indwelling Holy Spirit. So where does the prophet come in? Prophets are still called to lead the corporate church by speaking and declaring the will of God to the leaders (who are like the modern-day kings of old). Prophets still speak to believers. Still, today what the prophet utters may contain correction or judgment, or it may speak of encouragement, direction, or wisdom. Prophets still speak to nations, or even to a multitude of nations, declaring the will of God not just unto the Church but unto secular leaders as to warn, to guide, to direct, and to declare the heart and mind of God. Thus from the old to the new, nothing has changed in regard to the prophet. But there is nothing secretive or mysterious to such an extent that is only intended for a small group to know. Why are such secret things so dangerous? Because it can lead to the formation of esoteric teachings, such as Christian Mysticism, to cults or sects. Such movements only enslave and lead us further away from God. People love the idea of things that are secretive. Consider The Secret, which is a best-selling 2006 self-help book by Rhonda Byrne. It is based on the belief of the law of attraction, which claims that thoughts can change a person’s life directly. The book sold 30 million copies worldwide and has been translated into 50 languages. It is because of a supposed “secret” that drew people’s attention and led to great sales. So when prophets come with secret revelation or information, then people’s attention is quickly grabbed, and the devil exploits it for his own agenda. Be thus careful of such revelations! We read in 2 Peter 2:1 [Destructive Doctrines]: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And also … Ephesians 5: 1 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. 13 But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. The devil loves secrets and where people seek things that are apparently hidden. He loves to secretly manipulate, deceive and lead astray. And so he still deceives people to believe in secret and hidden messages. Numerology is an example of such a devious practice, where people truly believe there are great hidden secrets or meanings in numbers. Or how about astrology, where people even determine their future and their daily operations by the star signs? Some have even resorted to the Bible code, also known as the Torah code (a purported set of encoded words hidden within the Hebrew text of the Torah) to unearth secretive and hidden meanings in the Bible. If you want to know anything about the Bible, your life, or your future, then ask God, and not the stars, or try to find secret messages that do not even exist! It should be noted how many cult/sect/esoteric movement leaders often see themselves as prophets, thus special messengers. The devil has done this on purpose to discredit the true prophetic, and the devil also knows that people are intrigued and fascinated by the prophetic, especially by secretive or hidden things. And so as soon as some or other so-called spiritual guru claims himself to be a prophet, then immediately there is some or other kind of allure, and so man is tricked and is deceived by the devil. The devil uses the prophetic for a specific purpose, because of the allure and fascination it holds. And so many will stream towards these “prophets”, who claim to be special messengers or have extra knowledge of the spiritual or the divine. Take note of Deuteronomy 13 (NKJV): Punishment of Apostates: 1 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk[a] after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken in order to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. It is therefore clear in this case that if any prophet leads someone away from God, or the Truth of God, or the Kingdom of God, in any way, shape, or form, then they are false and it is regarded as evil. Peter warns in “2 Peter 2: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you”. Indeed, there are many deceptive, dangerous, and demonic movements in this world today that are led by so-called prophets of God, yet they proclaim, declare and teach knowledge that is contrary to who God is, His Word, and His Kingdom. Yet, because of their charismatic nature, their ability to brainwash and to masterfully entice through propaganda, they will lead so many people astray and cause them to stumble in their ways. Their words and teachings are like poison. These “prophets” drew people unto them and unto their own darkness because they apparently have access to a special message or some sort of revelation that is so exclusive that no one else knows anything of it. These prophets eventually become false messiahs. They develop God-like mentalities of their significance. Listen to what Jesus warned about: And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray (Matthew 24:11); For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, so as to lead astray, if possible, even the elect. (Matthew 24:14); For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many. (Matthew 24:5) Examples of such prophets who led cults because of their so-called special message included Jim Jones, David Koresh, and Inri Cristo, who is a Brazilian philosopher and educator who claims to be Jesus Christ reincarnated. He is well known for his many appearances in the media of Brazil and other countries as well. Then you get Sergey Anatolyevitch Torop, known by his followers as Vissarion who is a Russian mystic. He founded and heads a religious movement known as the Church of the Last Testament with its head church in Siberia. Vissarion claims to be a reincarnation of Jesus. There is also a man in Australia named Alan John Miller, who says he is THE Christ. Sadly, we have seen and still see the rise of many such false prophets who lead cult groups, sects, and secret societies. We also have seen many prophets operating within churches, drawing large crowds, because of their incredible, profound, and seemingly mind-blowing revelations. Be warned. And as I mentioned, many come in the form of the prophet. But the devil only comes to steal, kill, and destroy. Indeed, if God has not spoken, then the word either comes from the flesh or from the devil. And so it says in 1 Timothy 4:1: But the [Holy] Spirit explicitly and unmistakably declares that in later times some will turn away from the faith, paying attention instead to deceitful and seductive spirits and doctrines of demons. Jesus’ word in Matthew 24:4 sums it all up … “Watch out that no one deceives you.” In the Body of Christ more than ever we need a lot of discernment in these days of such great apostasy and deception. For there is a lot of deception out in the world. Every false and counterfeit movement, often manifesting among the prophetic, only enslaves and captives to the delight of the devil. Jesus knew so many will come, posing as prophets, to pretend to know the Truth. Paul writes in “Galatians 5: 1 It was for this freedom that Christ set us free [completely liberating us]; therefore keep standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery [which you once removed].” Indeed, Christ has set us free, but sadly not just those in this world but even believers allow themselves to be captured and enslaved by the counterfeit and by the deceptive movement disguised as the truly prophetic. For those who hold supposedly such secretive knowledge tend to fall into the category of esotericism (or esoterism), which signifies the holding of esoteric opinions or beliefs, which are understood by ONLY a small group of those specially initiated. You can say the term esoteric refers to knowledge or beliefs which are hidden, or which are understandable only by those initiated in their meaning In other words, only a small group of people have access to some really secretive information, and they become, yes, disciples of such a messenger. And this has always been the intention of the devil – to lead people away from God. The serpent will do anything so that people are not disciples of God but disciples of man or of his demons or demonic teachings. Remember, the devil operates in the dark, and by definition, anything secretive or hidden is not revealed and thus is in the dark. God is the Light, and we must stay in His light of truth. Synonyms for esoteric include the words arcane and mystic. On the other hand, the term occult signifies those beliefs and practices which involve evoking (i.e. conjuring) the power or assistance of the unknown (or the unknowable), thus which deals more with the supernatural. Examples of esoteric religious movements and philosophies include Alchemy, Astrology, Anthroposophy, early Christian Mysticism, Freemasonry, Gnosticism, Kabbalah, Neoplatonism, and Magic. Another example of esotericism is Christian Mysticism, which holds real danger for it focuses very much on the spiritual experience, or sensory stimulation and on the inward journey of finding peace, just like Buddhism and its Eightfold Path (also called the Middle Path or Middle Way, which is the system of following eight divisions of the path to achieve spiritual enlightenment and cease suffering). All of this should cause alarm bells to ring, for already it borders on Buddhism, and even flows into New Age concepts of spiritual evolution. And this is no small movement. For hundreds of years, there have been numerous Christian mystics that have shaped the Faith, politics, and Society. Ultimately, Christian mysticism leads us away from sound doctrine and a true and real relationship with the Lord. Christian Mysticism remains dangerous, for the very reason you can become completely detached from the Word of God, or even God Himself, as you seek a spiritual path that you still deem is of the Christian faith but has become a path of the esoteric, or the spiritist. Take note, the Bible does not have hidden meanings, nor do the elements of communion become Christ’s literal body and blood. Although it is true that Christians experience God, Christian mysticism tends to elevate experiential knowledge and revel in the mysterious, focusing on mysticism for spiritual growth. Christian Mysticism is very much alive and real, even in churches, and has seeped into the charismania movement. To be honest, for someone who is not spiritually mature, it can be difficult to discern the presence and the move of the Holy Spirit compared to a spiritual experience of self-desire driven by sensory, emotionalism, or simply sensory overload and hype. While we must always be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit, and be aware that our God works in mysterious ways, we must always be discerning for it is easy to step out of the presence of the Spirit. And this is happening a lot these days for example in the Charismatic movement, where more than ever there is a greater emphasis on the sensory experience, or the spiritual hype and the seeking after the ‘moments of spiritual ecstasy’. After a while, we are no longer in the Spirit of the Lord, but we are driven by the flesh, or the imagination, or some kind of emotionalism, or sensory gratification, or worse, we are even ‘channeling something demonic. Yes, the Holy Spirit does move in great and wondrous ways, but never in a manner to contradict the Word, or to remove the glory of the Lord and never to put in question the honor due to the Lord. The Pentecostal and Charismatic movement gained momentum based on a hunger to again move in the Holy Spirit, but such a journey becomes murky when one does not remain grounded in the Lord, in the Word, and in the Truth. This calls for great spiritual discernment, for not everything that happens in churches that seem so spiritual is from God. Sadly, many of the prophets who come to deceive and lead astray thrive because those they deceive are not grounded in the Word, and thus are unable to discern the real from the counterfeit. And so these prophets of destruction simply take people on a dangerous spiritual journey of the New Age and esoteric. A lot of supposed secretive prophetic words and teachings we are finding these days, therefore, fall into the categories of mysticism and therefore are dangerous, for while it pretends it stands upon the Word of God, it is not really grounded in the Word, as it tends to become spiritually goofy, and it can even flow into the world of the occult. For example, there is one such mystic who preaches out of the Bible and declares the divinity of Jesus, yet his course for example is labeled as “Guided Christological Ascension Meditation” and “Telepathic Universe & the Transmutation of the Human Soul”. While God desires us to become more like Him, we are certainly not called to transmute (change one substance into another). This is New Age, for it speaks of spiritual evolution by channeling/harnessing energy. We need to therefore remain very alert and discerning to the truth of the matter, for the lines are sometimes blurred. To give an example of how dangerous these Esoteric movements are (considering how they enslave so many), consider the New Church (or Swedenborgianism), which is the name for several historically related Christian denominations that developed as a new religious movement, informed by the writings of scientist and Swedish Lutheran theologian Emanuel Swedenborg. Swedenborg claimed to have received a new revelation from Jesus Christ through continuous heavenly visions which he experienced over a period of at least twenty-five years. In his writings, he predicted that God would replace the traditional Christian Church, establishing a “New Church”, which would worship God in one person: Jesus Christ. The movement was founded on the belief that God explained the spiritual meaning of the Scriptures to Swedenborg as a means of revealing the truth of the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. He denied the Trinity and deity of the Holy Spirit. He also said all religions lead to God, though all are not equally enlightened. One of its goals is to bring the world together under a new religious understanding. It teaches a need for Christianity to undergo a rebirth — according to Swedenborgian interpretations. He also maintained there is no personal devil. What we find here is nothing new – such erroneous doctrines have been around for a long time. Red flags should be raised when someone claims a personal divine message from Christ regarding the Gospel. But again, this is another example of indoctrination and brainwashing, leading people further away from our Lord Jesus. Take note, this dangerous mystical non-Christian religion promoted the Oneness of Jesus, which has taken the Church by storm of late. This theology denies the Trinity, with this movement picking up steam of late. The ramblings of Swedenborg remind us also of Mormonism, which is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter-Day Saint movement of Restorationist Christianity. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr in the 1820s. Joseph Smith claimed the Book of Mormon was translated from writing on golden plates in a reformed Egyptian language, translated with the assistance of the Urim and Thummim and seer stones. He said an angel first showed him the location of the plates in 1823, buried in a nearby hill, but he was not allowed to take the plates until 1827. Smith began dictating the text of The Book of Mormon “by the gift and power of God”. After the translation was completed, Smith said the plates were returned to the angel. As with Swedenborg, Joseph Smith had a supposed direct revelation from God, having been visited by an angel. Another man who supposedly had a direct revelation from God was the American cult leader of the Branch Davidians sect, believing himself to be its final prophet. Koresh prophesized about the Second Coming of Christ as well as the imminent end of the world. Authorities said he successfully converted more than 100 people and convinced them to live in his secluded compound near Waco after preaching his teachings throughout the US, Israel, Australia, and Great Britain. Koresh died in the Waco compound along with 74 other “followers” following a 51-day standoff with the FBI. And so we need to remind ourselves that the devil himself poses as the angel of light. He is the master of deception. The Branch Davidians sect is but one of many throughout the world that has led to disaster, self-destruction, and great deception. Consider another such “prophet”, by the name of L Ron Hubbard (Elron) who founded The Church of Scientology, which is a cult created in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system called Dianetics. Scientology and the organizations that promote it have remained highly controversial since its inception. Scientology teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature. As with Freemasonry, members of Scientology advance in degrees of knowledge, and with each level are exposed to greater “truths” and thus greater self-empowerment. Clearly, Scientology is a lie and a deception from the devil. It is designed to brainwash people and it is designed for self-enrichment. Jesus was the last mystery that was revealed when He came to earth as the Messiah to die on the cross. God’s Word is accessible to all. His Spirit is accessible to all. It is a matter of just listening, abiding, knowing the Word, and being led by God, for then we shall know the will of God. Again, be very careful of those who know supposed deep and hidden things revealed to only them or a few e who regard themselves thus special. This leads to inclusivism and even borders on a cult. There is only one who is special and who was sent as the mystery revealed to show us the true way to the kingdom – His Name is Jesus. But thus very careful of secret or mystical revelations, instead seek GodRead more

Purpose of Emotional Restoration Dreams The  reasons and purpose Dreams and visions are, among other ways of communication, a very important method that God uses to communicate with people. Job 33:14-20 14 For God speaketh once, yea twice, yet man perceiveth it not. 15 In a dream, in a vision of the night, when deep sleep falleth upon men, in slumbering upon the bed; 16 Then he openeth the ears of men, and sealeth their instruction, 17 That he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. 18 He keepeth back his soul from the pit, and his life from perishing by the sword. 19 He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain: 20 So that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. He does not only communicate with Christians but also with unbelievers through dreams and visions. Although dreams and visions differ from each other it is fundamentally the same. The same principles and the same meanings are applicable to both dreams and visions. The only difference is that with the one the receiver of the message is asleep and with the other he or she is awake. Very important though, we need to ask God to communicate with us. We need to seek his face for wisdom, knowledge, and truth. Proverbs 2:3-6 Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding; If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures; Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God. For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. God speaks to people through dreams and visions but as you could see in the Scripture above that it takes some effort from our side. We need to seek God for wisdom and knowledge and we need to pay attention to our dreams and visions. Dreams and visions are compared to treasures as it is the word of God. When we humbly submit ourselves to God and his leading, He will speak to us. He is alive and well and He loves to communicate with his children. The Biblical language of symbols is a universal language created by God. Some dreams are not messages from God but in fact the result of a restoration process that God has built into every human being. God created this mechanism to help people emotionally deal with circumstances and occurrences in their lives. God’s aim with these dreams is to restore us emotionally. This process keeps us normal and able to deal with life and its challenges. Such dreams are products from the soul (mind) as affirmed in Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool’s voice is known by multitude of words. Psychologists like to refer to a term called the “subconscious mind” as if it is just an intellectual system that has certain qualities and which functions in a certain way. To most of them, it is just trillions of cells working together to make up this mystical system which they do not really understand. They are also aware of our conscience which plays an important role in the decisions we make. To most people, this is just a natural process that is part of the makeup of every human being. It is actually a bit more than that. On the one hand, your conscience, which was formed and influenced by means of moral education, training, and environmental influences, is making your soul aware of certain areas of concern (identified as being wrong and not acceptable) that need to be dealt with in your life. On the other hand, your spirit, which is always in harmony with the Holy Spirit, makes your soul aware of issues in your life that it has identified to be unacceptable. How does your spirit do that? Your spirit compares the condition of your soul with what it has learned from the Holy Spirit and the word of God. Whatever is in your soul that is not from God your spirit will bring under the attention of your soul. The awareness mechanism functions by means of dreams. Many people call these dreams “emotional restoration dreams”. To put it as simply as possible: Your soul struggles with certain problematic issues to which it was exposed. These bad experiences and challenges put a lot of pressure and stress on the soul. We need to deal with these issues. Some of these issues are identified by our conscience and some by our spirit. While you are emotionally struggling with these issues, your spirit, which is always in perfect harmony with God, helps your soul to deal with these issues. It can do this because it knows how to deal with these issues. Your spirit is enlightened because of the continuous and constant fellowship with the Holy Spirit and with God. Remember, the Holy Spirit is in your spirit and not in your soul. Your spirit knows things that your soul is totally unaware of. Your spirit brings clarity because it has a very powerful God-given ability to assist your soul. We read about that in the Bible: Proverbs 20:27 The spirit of man is the candle of the LORD, searching all the inward parts of the belly. Why is it illuminating all the dark areas and corners of the inner man? Why is it a “lamp” in the innermost areas of the soul? What is it searching for? It looks for areas in our lives that are not in line with God, his word, and his will. It brings these areas of concern to the attention of the soul. It then assists the soul to deal with these issues. It is all about submission and alignment. It brings harmony. The spirit is led by the Holy Spirit in this regard. The spirit also helps and teaches the soul to be led by the Holy Spirit. This process improves our lives. This mechanism is a gift from God. We do not understand this mechanism or this process but we are aware of it by means of the dreams it produces. Emotional restoration dreams are definitely not activated only when we experience serious trauma or when we are bothered extensively. Just being concerned about something can activate an emotional restoration dream. When we go through the agony or discomfort of experiencing unwanted events in our dreams, our souls come to terms with the specific “threats” or unwanted events that caused the anxiety or emotional turmoil in the first place. This experience relieves the tension in our hearts and minds. We all know that almost always when we fear something that we know or perceive will happen can be very challenging. This causes a lot more stress and emotional turmoil in our lives. Sometimes these challenges are like very intimidating mountains in front of us. But, how many times have we found that after we have faced and dealt with such challenges, it was not as challenging or as devastating as we expected? We are almost always very relieved once such events or incidents were over. This is exactly what an emotional restoration dream does. In the dream or the nightmare, we go through the whole thing as if it was real. The emotional restoration mechanism puts us through the whole experience and in the dream, it takes us over the mountain to the other side of the very thing that causes us to fear and stress so much. Because we have experienced the very thing that causes emotional turmoil in our lives, even though it was only in our dreams, it brings that same state of mind into our subconscious minds as if we did experience the ordeal or event in real life. This is why it relieves the emotional pressure. It puts us in a place where we can look back to the event or incident as if we have experienced it already, and we can say, it was challenging but it was not that bad. It is very important to understand that although one dream is a message from God (divine communication/God talks to man) and the other a natural method to restore our emotional condition (restoration and communication/spirit or sub-conscience talks to soul), both can and must be interpreted. Interpretation of all dreams and visions will either reveal a message from God or it will tell us what we are struggling with in our personal lives. Both interpretations need to be followed up by actions. God does not communicate unimportant information to us and emotional restoration dreams are designed to help us cope with life. It accurately exposes emotional and problematic issues in our lives. We actually need to act upon these issues and that is why we need to give attention to both types of dreams. Emotional restoration dreams are not just a way of restoring us emotionally but also, on purpose, telling us that we need to take action to sort out or address certain issues in our lives. When we have the same emotional dream or a variation of the same dream, with the same symbols over and over again, then we know that this aspect that it reveals to us is a major problem. The fact that we have the dream or variations thereof over and over again is an indication that we are failing to deal with these issues in our souls. We need to interpret these types of dreams so that we can identify problem areas in our faith walk with God. After we have identified these problems we need to submit these individual problems to the word of God and to the will of God. We should never ignore any dreams or visions. It is of the utmost importance that we deal with these messages according to God’s word and God’s will. Identifying emotional restoration dreams By far, most dreams are emotional restoration dreams. Only about 5% of dreams, or even less, are messages from God. So treating all dreams as emotional restoration dreams is a good place to start for any and all dream interpreters. Emotional restoration dreams can also be identified because of the “chaos” that we observe in such dreams. This type of dream usually has two or more different scenes flowing into each other. All these scenes flowing into each other is a very good “flag” that we need to look out for. Another characteristic of emotional restoration dreams is the fact that people in the dream do wrong things and they experience the consequences of their actions. Another characteristic of such dreams is the presence of bad symbols. These indicators can be present in a dream that is a message from God so dream interpreters must be careful when they determine whether a dream is a message from God or an emotional restoration dream, however, all the chaos in all the different scenes and all the wrong actions present in an emotional dream makes it quite easy to identify such a dream. I usually start interpreting a dream by reading through it a few times. A few hours later I will read through it again a few times and usually at some point I start to realize that the dream is a message from God or that it is an emotional restoration dream. Sometimes it is obvious that the person who had the dream is experiencing emotions or a bit of dissatisfaction in the dream. So experiencing emotions in a dream is another indication that a dream is an emotional restoration dream. There are no (bad) emotions in dreams that are messages from God. So dreams where fear and anxiety, hate, bitterness, and dissatisfaction are present, you can be assured that such dreams are emotional restoration dreams. With such dreams, the dream interpreter needs to help the person who had the dream in the following way: The first step is to tell the person not to worry because it was merely an emotional restoration dream. “It was just a nightmare”, is a good thing to say. We need to do this because the symbols in a nightmare or in emotional restoration dreams appear to be far more serious and scary than it really is. It almost always appears to be demonic or a demonic attack when in fact it was not. Yes, of course, demonic influences almost always play a role but it is not as bad as it appears. It does not mean that the people are demonic-possed or under severe demonic attack. We all have demons on our shoulders at some stage every day trying to tempt us in some way. That is normal. No need to focus our attention on demons when we interpret such dreams. The second step is to bring to the attention of people that they had the dream because there are issues in their lives that need to be addressed. Tell them what the issues are and how they need to address them. How do you know what the issues are? The symbols in the dream revealed the issues. It is usually quite easy to identify such issues. I hope that this post will help you as a dream interpreter to deal with emotional restoration dreams in your own lifeRead more

Prophets, Speak With the Voice of God! Previous Post Prophetically, let us understand the Lord is busy with a mighty work in this time and season of reordering and putting the true Bride of the Lord, thus the Church, into alignment with God’s will. And the prophetic plays a key role in this alignment, for those who walk in the true prophetic are called to declare the Word and Truth of God. But there is a very significant connection between the prophetic and the Holy Spirit that we need to assess and realize, for it is by the power of the Holy Spirit that the alignment and reordering will take place. This word, as given very recently, follows another word that the Lord gave a while ago on how the prophets are called to speak with the thunderous voice of God. Clearly therefore God is calling His prophets – the true servants and not those wandering by the counterfeit – to reassess, to realign, and to make sure they are abiding and walking in God’s order, His will, and presence in order to speak by His voice. For us to understand this, let us read in Genesis 1 Amplified Bible (AMP): 1 In the beginning God (Elohim) created [by forming from nothing] the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and void or a waste and emptiness, and darkness was upon the face of the deep [primeval ocean that covered the unformed earth]. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters. 3 And God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. It is very significant that the Holy Spirit was evident right at the beginning. Genesis 1 is a clear indication that the Spirit of the Lord does not simply move or act or work on His own accord without being given the ‘green light’ by the Father. Yes, God is the Trinity of the Father, Son, and the Spirit, but all three work in unity. So here at the start of creation, the Spirit of the Lord HOVERED, meaning He was in a state of waiting, and creation only came to be in existence when the Lord (Father) spoke and upon that command, the Spirit moved to activate the power in manifested creation. Let us, therefore, understand, the Spirit of the Lord is the ACTIVATION OF POWER. What God speaks and wills, the Spirit of the Lord will activate in a manifestation of power. You see, the Spirit of the Lord was hovering. The Spirit of the Lord was WAITING for the command of the Father. Once God spoke, then the Spirit of the Lord moved and there was an activation of power, which resulted in the creation of Earth as we know it. The Holy Spirit was only poured out at the time when it was so ordained by the Kingdom of Heaven, not merely by own accord. God is a God of order, and the outpouring which sparked the birth of the Church was in accordance with God’s will and at the right time for a specific time and season. In the Trinity, there is perfect order to fulfill the perfect will of the Kingdom of Heaven. We need to thus note that the Spirit of the Lord was “hovering”, and clearly the Spirit of the Lord was not acting according to his own purpose. So the Spirit of the Lord will activate through power what God speaks and desires. And this is all for a certain purpose, and what He has spoken shall be. “Isaiah 55:11: So is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” You can thus call the Spirit’s work a process of regeneration. Another word for regeneration is “rebirth,” from which we get the concept of being “born again.” The classic proof text for this can be found in John’s gospel: “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again” (John 3:3). We also need to understand the Holy Spirit – who is God Himself as part of the Trinity – is the source of new life. So we see how right in the beginning, the world was dark and void of life. We read that the Holy Spirit hovered. Yes, He was first mentioned as part of the Trinity. Only when the Father spoke “Let there be light” did the Holy Spirit move and bring about life. Yes, the Father spoke, and so the Spirit was activated to bring about life and so the earth was rebirthed. If we are talking about the Holy Spirit being the conceiver of life, consider “Matthew 1:20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost.” Yes, the Lord Jesus was conceived and brought to life by the Spirit of the living Lord! Indeed, Jesus said He is the Life and He gives Life in abundance, but remember the Lord is ONE, and so Jesus while on earth was operating and functioning in the life-giving power of the Holy Spirit! After all, Jesus was baptized by the Holy Spirit. It also says in Job 33: 4 The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life. The Holy Spirit is the Ruach – the very breath of life. SO AS THE SPIRIT WAS PRESENT RIGHT AT THE BEGINNING TO BRING ORDER WHERE THERE WAS A DARK VOID, AND TO BRING SHAPE AND FORM TO WHAT WAS FORMLESS AND TO BRING SUBSTANCE TO WHAT WAS EMPTY, HOW MORE THAN EVER WE NEED THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD AGAIN TO BRING ALIGNMENT, ORDER, AND LIFE BACK TO THE BRIDE OF GOD. And as the Bride connects and walks in the glory and will of God once again, then the Bride will truly again be the light that shines in the darkness and be a carrier of His Spirit who brings meaning and hope to all. For we have been called to be worshippers in Spirit and truth. You see, the Spirit of the Lord activates the life-giving power so that we are reborn, rebirthed, and rec-connected with divinity! We can see the powerful work of the Holy Spirit as the activator of life also in Psalm 33:6 By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. John 6:63 says in the Amplified that “it is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh conveys no benefit [it is of no account]. The words I have spoken to you are spirit and life [providing eternal life].” The King James says it as follows: It is the spirit that quickeneth … We need the Spirit to quicken in the Bride of God more than ever, but there needs to be a connection between God and the prophetic. Why? The Spirit hovered and then moved right at the beginning, and the Spirit moved to bring about the conception of Jesus because it was the will of the Lord. Right at the beginning GOD SPOKE and there was an activation, and the Spirit moved and brought about the manifestation of God’s complete and Sovereign Will. And here we have to understand something very important. THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL NOT MOVE OR BE ACTIVATED OR BRING ABOUT ANY MANIFESTATION WHEN COMMANDED OR SPOKEN TO BY THE VOICE OF MAN, BUT ONLY BY THE VOICE OF THE LORD. And so we are finding more and more in churches where so many who are prophesying and uttering prophetic word are speaking empty words, and there is no movement or activation of the Spirit, for they speak not by the voice of God. The Spirit of the Lord will not move or bring about God’s will or alignment or order unless God has so spoken. And here is an important understanding – a prophet is supposed to speak by the voice of God and only by the voice of God, for then the Spirit will be active, and the authority will be active and faith will be activated. We find that in the Scriptures Jesus declares that His words are Spirit, and therefore life. Jesus, the Word made flesh, therefore speaks words which are Spirit and life, because on earth He was also baptized in the Spirit. Remember, the Holy Spirit dwelled within Jesus, for this happened on the day of the baptism. Yes, the Lord was conceived by the Spirit but the Spirit only dwelled within Jesus at the start of His ministry. This was very important because the Spirit of the Lord needed to move and activate the ministry of Jesus. This was done when the Spirit connected with the Son so that what the Son speaks as God Himself the Spirit can then move and activate what the Lord speaks. Jesus also said: “My teaching is not mine, but his who sent me” (John 7:16). This is the very essence of the prophetic – speaking only what God declares and speaks. So Jesus fulfills the very office of the prophet. Jesus also connected the prophetic with the Spirit, for it is absolutely vital and of critical importance to declare the truth of the Kingdom of Heaven. The problem we are finding in churches is that so many prophetic utterances hold no life or power for they are void of the Spirit of God for it is spoken out of the flesh, or the imagination of man. It is thus spoken not by the voice of the Father, and if so, cannot be spoken in the will, and according to the purpose of the Lord. So many are thus speaking according to the dictates of the flesh and not the Spirit (Romans 8). “Ezekiel 13 declares: 6 They have seen falsehood and lying divination, saying, ‘The Lord says,’ but the Lord has not sent them. Yet they hope and make men to hope for the confirmation of their word. 7 Did you not see (make up) a false vision and speak a lying divination when you said, ‘The Lord declares,’ but it is not I who have spoken?” Take note, God says regarding the false prophets and those seeing false visions it was not He who had spoken to them. Thus they had spoken out of their own will and by their own imagination. We also read in the same chapter: “8 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Because you have spoken empty and delusive words and have seen lies, therefore behold, I am against you,” says the Lord God. God wants to bring order and life back to the Bride of God, yet those servants called into the prophetic need to begin to speak with the voice of God, and not merely by their own delusions or ideas, or opinions. It is time for them to stand up, wear the mantle of the prophetic and begin to declare the Lord’s will and intent as He speaks through the Spirit. It is time to arise from the slumber, to come out of the caves, and to lay down the self to the glory of the Lord. For then the Spirit shall move and manifest and activate the will of the Lord to bring about the order and alignment for the Church. Proverbs 18:21 after all declares “Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.” Indeed, many are speaking foolishness and they are commanding and even ordering the Spirt yet they speak not in the voice of the Lord, thus by His authority. Jesus spoke as someone with authority, and not as a teacher of the law (Matthew 7:29). Why? Because He spoke as the Lord Him led by the Spirit, and He spoke only He heard and received to speak. Jesus was the Son of God and God Himself but He still only followed the purpose of the Father (which is clear in the Garden of Gethsemane). The reality is we can only know the heart and mind and ways of the Lord through the inner working of the Spirit within us, and thus know His will and know His voice. More than ever we need those in the prophetic to reconnect with the Spirit, for this will lead us back to the voice and the will of the Lord. We do not just need the Presence of the Spirit in our lives, we need the Spirit within us, and we need the Spirit operating and functioning so that the Spirit can change us from the inside out so that we are more closely connected to God and His Kingdom. If we do not know the voice of the Lord, then we will never be able to walk in God’s truth. To have a voice means to have an opinion and if you have an opinion you have an influence, so there has always been a struggle from the beginning of time regarding what VOICE the world listens to. Depending on what VOICE the world listens to will determine the influence exerted upon the actions and thoughts and behavior of the world. Satan wants to influence people, negatively, and the Lord wants to influence people positively so that they may shine His line in a dark world. Satan wants us to walk the wide road, and God wants us to follow the true and narrow path. We are after all influenced by the VOICE that we are listening to. Depending on the voice we are listening to, it will determine our influences in life. It is time again that we will listen to the voice of God. It is time again for us to receive a true revelation of God. It is time for those called into the prophetic to make sure they are listening only to God’s voice. It is time that we will listen to the voice of God and it is time that we thirst for a revelation of God. It is time that we return to God because truly then will we know the voice of God. The greatest revelation we can receive is not a revelation from God, but it is a revelation about God and who God is. We need to know Him! Then only will the VOICE of God change us, and then only will the voice of God begin to mold us and influence us so that we can become more like God. It is time that we return to God because we have been listening to the wrong voices for far too long. If we listen to the wrong voice we will become confused and we will be deceived because Satan has come to deceive and to lie and to steRead more

Prophets Speak With the Thunderous Voice of God Previous Post The Lord has again placed in my spirit the utmost importance of the function of a true prophet. There is a tremendous battle more than ever over the prophetic. Yet once the true prophetic is restored and recognized in the church then demonic strongholds will finally crumble, for the prophetic is nothing more than warfare. After all, the prophetic is the declaration of truth, and such truth dismantles and tears down the devil’s strongholds, lies, and confusions. More than ever the true prophetic needs to be bolstered and unchained to speak with the thunderous voice of Truth. There are too many such devious schemes where so-called prophets speak with a forked tongue. It is very clear and evident that the devil seeks to silence the true prophets. He seeks to destroy them, and bring them to a point where they would hide in the cave-like Elijah – hunted and tormented – instead of standing boldly on the watchtowers, in the cities and the fields to declare God’s glorious truth. He wants to silence these true prophets, so that they may not declare, and speak the Truth of God that shatters strongholds. Yes, the devil seeks to silence them and discourage and persecute them. When a true prophet speaks, he speaks with the voice of God. Therefore the complete and utter truthful manifestation and declaration of the Kingdom of Heaven. And this is very important to understand and something we tend to forget. A true prophet never speaks out of a place of emotion, of the flesh, or the imagination, or any other spirit, for then surely he cannot speak on behalf of God. For a true prophet is only the mouthpiece when God speaks, and so declares “Thus says the Lord.” Therefore, the true prophet must speak with the voice of God. Psalm 29 states what the voice of God is! It says “3 The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; The Lord is over many waters. 4 The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty. 5 The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars, yes, the Lord splinters the cedars of Lebanon. 6 He makes them also skip like a calf, Lebanon and Sirion like a young wild ox. 7 The voice of the Lord divides the flames of fire.” So when a prophet speaks with the voice of God in the Spirit of the Lord, what he speaks is a truth and a word that is full of majesty, power, and glory! For the voice of God thunders, and it divides even the flames of fire! This is why the devil seeks to silence the prophet. And if he cannot silence the prophet, he seeks to work in such a manner that the prophet speaks out of a place of the flesh, which includes anger, resentment, bitterness, hate, and criticism. For the true prophet of God, there is no room for the soul, for only the voice of God as manifested from the Throne Room must be heard. Yet so many of the so-called prophets these days are hardly speaking with such a voice. Their words are laced with self-intent, self-interest, and self-glorification. Their words are birthed from the imagination, formed in the flesh, and are riddled with emotional hype. A true prophet should be thundering the true word of God and nothing else. A prophet must not add or distract from God’s commands but must speak as the Lord leads and commands. This is why the Lord is against those who speak not as the Lord guides, for they pretend to speak by the voice of God. They are thus liars, and deceptive in nature. They mislead and dishonor the name of the Lord. Of such false prophets it is declared in Ezekiel 13: 8 Therefore thus says the Lord God: “Because you have spoken nonsense and envisioned lies, therefore I am indeed against you,” says the Lord God. 9 “My hand will be against the prophets who envision futility and who divine lies; they shall not be in the assembly of My people, nor be written in the record of the house of Israel, nor shall they enter into the land of Israel. Then you shall know that I am the Lord God. When a true speaks, his words are like thunder, not by how he speaks (for it has nothing to do with noise levels), but by being the mouthpiece of the living God. And it is thunderous in nature for what God says is the final authority, and the power to shift, shape, mold, create and even break down. This was after all the mandate of Jeremiah. We read in “Jeremiah 1:10: See, I have this day set you over the nations and over the kingdoms, to root out and to pull down, to destroy and to throw down, to build and to plant.” Such a mandate as seen with Jeremiah is the true expression of the prophetic, for it is the expression of the manifestation of God’s Word as spoken by God Himself. Thus all true prophetic word carries the complete authority of God for the glorification of the Kingdom and also the dismantling of the kingdom of darkness. The voice of God thunders and it declares, and it shakes the gates of hell! It is also declared in Jeremiah 23:29: “Is not My word like a fire?” says the Lord, “And like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces?” Glory to God. Again, it is not about how one declares the Word, but if one is completely submitted to God and speaks completely in the Spirit for then the prophet speaks with the voice of God! And such a voice is like fire, like thunder and a hammer. After all, when the Lord appeared to Elijah we read in “1 Kings 19: 12 and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire; and after the fire a still small voice”. It does not matter how God speaks but WHAT He says , for He says is the power of the Kingdom, and the power to unearth, to shake, to rattle, to birth, to give life, to move and to redeem! Yes the voice of God is thunderous in authority. It is full of majesty. Powerful. Such must be the servants of God. Not whispering and whimpering in doubt and fear, but declaring in boldness and truth until the cedars break and the flames are divided! And so the devil seeks to silence and discourage and distract the prophets. He seeks to discredit the prophetic with the counterfeit, the unholy, the hypocritical, the impure, and the uncommon. Sadly, the church is riddled with profane prophetic fire, in order to confuse, divide, and to even destroy. It is also strange how the world and the church think the prophets of God must remain silent in the wake of iniquity, threats, attacks, cruelty, deception, and apostasy. Why should God’s spokesmen as servants on the watchtower remain silent when even the Lord refuses to be silent and speaks at the right time? For it says Isaiah 42:14 “I have held My peace a long time, I have been still and restrained Myself. Now I will cry like a woman in labor, I will pant and gasp at once.” The world and the church are ablaze with hellish fire and deception because of ill-informed silence. God’s prophets shall not be silent. They shall not be bullied into silence. They shall speak as God commands to address tyranny and rebellion, and not when man dictates for selfish motives. We see the evidence of the true prophetic expression in 1 Kings 13 (NKJV): 1 And behold, a man of God went from Judah to Bethel by the word of the Lord, and Jeroboam stood by the altar to burn incense. 2 Then he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said, “O altar, altar! Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, a child, Josiah by name, shall be born to the house of David; and on you he shall sacrifice the priests of the high places who burn incense on you, and men’s bones shall be burned on you.’ ” 3 And he gave a sign the same day, saying, “This is the sign which the Lord has spoken: Surely the altar shall split apart, and the ashes on it shall be poured out.” 4 So it came to pass when King Jeroboam heard the saying of the man of God, who cried out against the altar in Bethel, that he stretched out his hand from the altar, saying, “Arrest him!” Then his hand, which he stretched out toward him, withered so that he could not pull it back to himself. 5 The altar also was split apart, and the ashes poured out from the altar, according to the sign which the man of God had given by the word of the Lord. When the prophet speaks, he declares the will of the Lord, and by such declaration, there is power and authority because it is God speaking! The voice of God is thus the complete and pure expression of God’s will and His intended purpose. For it shakes the gates of hell, splits the false altar, and it also sets the captive free. Yet the false prophet – be it intentional or unintentional in deliverance or in nature – speaks not by the voice of God. They speak out of a place of self-intent, and so their declarations, words, and prophecies hold only power when someone believes the lie. For false prophecy is nothing more than a lie and the devil is the father of lies. So false prophecies stem from the forked tongue of the serpent, who deceived Adam and Eve. And still through the counterfeit prophetic, the devil seeks to weave his manipulations through lies, all the while exploiting the human condition and spiritual fortitude of people for his own pleasure and desire. Yet, when the true prophet speaks by the thunderous voice of God then the altar splits, and God’s will is declared and done. You see, a true prophet can never say he “thinks” this is what the Lord says or he “feels” this is what the Lord declares. A true prophet knows his place in the Lord and speaks with the voice of God. And with the voice of God there is no doubt, no room for error or judgment, for with a prophet there is no room for the Self. The voice of God is powerful, as declared in “John 5:25: Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.” It is also written in John 10: 3 To him the doorkeeper opens, and the sheep hear his voice; and he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. 4 And when he brings out his own sheep, he goes before them; and the sheep follow him, for they know his voice. 5 Yet they will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” Thus, the prophet must speak with the voice of God, and in such a declaration, there is life and hope, and restoration. But according to John 10, only the true children/followers of the Lord will know a true prophet, for a true prophet speaks with the voice of God. After all, those who do not have a relationship with the Lord will not know His voice, and will not be able to recognize the prophet of God. Of them, the Lord says in Matthew 7:23 And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’ Evidence of God’s power in the prophetic is also found in 1 Kings 18: 36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “Lord God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O Lord, hear me, that this people may know that You are the Lord God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.” 38 Then the fire of the Lord fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. 39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God!” Elijah cried out, but because he was a true prophet of God, he was actually speaking with the very voice of God. So as he spoke, the Lord himself spoke through the prophet and as the voice of the Lord is thunderous and full of fire, then the fire fell. And the fire consumed the burnt sacrifice, for the scriptures declares that our Lord is a consuming fire (Hebrews 12:29). So the very word of God should consume, and should convict, correct, edify and uplift. Psalm 77 declares: The voice of Your thunder was in the whirlwind; The lightnings lit up the world; The earth trembled and shook. And also Job 40:6 it says Then the Lord answered Job out of the whirlwind. Yes, our God is powerful, all-mighty, and glorious! He speaks and there is life. He speaks and death is defeated. He speaks and the sick are healed. For such is the voice of God, and by such voice the prophet of God must declare and pronounce, for the prophet speaks the Truth and such Truth sets free (John 8:32). So the prophet will always be under attack, simply because He declares the mighty word of God, in the voice of God! For this is truly spiritual warfare – demolishing any and every argument that sets itself up against the Lord. Yes Lord, may your true prophets, not whimper, and may they not be silent. I see too many like Elijah who have not bowed the knee to Baal who are still hiding, who have been ridiculed, persecuted, and mocked. No more. May the storm of the prophetic be violent in its shaking. May the gates of hell groan. May the deceivers cower and know God speaks. May His Word thunder. May the prophets be the Watchmen and tear down the oppresRead more

Fine Line Between Imagination and Discernment Previous Post When we deal with deception and falseness within the prophetic, we need to understand there is a definite move of the counterfeit by the devil to challenge the true prophetic move of the Lord. Just as there is a fine line between divination and prophecy, with the one being spoken not in the Spirit of the Lord, just so there is a fine between imagination and discernment. A true prophet walks in discernment and not imagination. Imagination flows from the soul (the mind) and true discernment flows from the spirit as led by the Holy Spirit. After all, the prophet needs discernment to know what is real and what is false, what is counterfeit, and what the truth of the Lord is. We need to be so careful, yes, very careful that we do not confuse discernment with imagination. This is a warning by the Lord. For without true discernment, we will be led to confusion and deception. For a prophet, being led by the Spirit is critical, and must guard against being led by the flesh of the mind. The definition of discernment is the ability to judge well. In its simplest definition, discernment is nothing more than the ability to decide between truth and error, right and wrong. Discernment is the process of making careful distinctions in our thinking about truth. In other words, the ability to think with discernment is synonymous with an ability to think biblically. First Thessalonians 5:21-22 teaches that it is the responsibility of every Christian to be discerning: “But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil.” The apostle John issues a similar warning when he says, “Do not believe every spirit but test the spirits to see whether they are from God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world” (1 John 4:1). According to the New Testament, discernment is therefore not optional for the believer-it is required. Spiritual discernment ultimately has to do with wisdom and the ability to distinguish truth from error. For some, it is also being able to be aware of evil or good spiritual presences. Taking consideration therefore for our need to walk in wisdom and sound doctrine, and to be able to discern spiritual activity at times, this is why we can only walk in true discernment when we walk in the Spirit, so that the Spirit of the Lord reveals the true nature of things, be it natural or the supernatural, and so that the Lord in wisdom, knowledge, counsel and understanding can lead us to discern right and wrong and to make the right decisions. John 14: 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things. The definition of imagination is the act or power of forming a mental image of something not present to the senses or never before wholly perceived in reality. It can also be understood to be the thinking or active mind or the faculty or action of forming new ideas, images, or concepts of external objects not present to the senses. Let us consider 2 Corinthians 10: NKJV: The Spiritual War: 3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, 6 and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. Our focus in the above Scripture, which deals with SPIRITUAL WARFARE, is “every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.” Therefore this deals with thoughts that are not in alignment with the Holy Spirit. Let us understand that it is within the realm of the imagination where thoughts and ideas are born, but these are thoughts and idea that flows from our soul and not from the Spirit of the Lord. A prophet who deals with this realm can easily speak words that deceive, or mislead, for such words will be altered by his own mind and thoughts. Such words can easily set themselves up against the Lord. It is so easy, when not always led by the Spirit, to imagine things – and then we are not talking about positive creativity. Without the guidance solely of the Spirit, it becomes easy to imagine stuff that is not even the truth or reality, such as for example to imagine that someone has an agenda against you, that you are under spiritual attack, or that there is a conspiracy against you. We can come up with thoughts and ideas that are negative or destructive. We can so easily imagine truths in the Scripture that are not even true! We can come up with doctrines and teachings that are erroneous because they have been formed by our imagination and not taught by the Spirit (this then leads to doctrines that are merely myths, fables, and lies). These negative, deceptive, and destructive thoughts are what Paul refers to in 2 Corinthians 10 – thoughts that are ultimately unwise, and that is contrary to the truth and reality of our Lord. For a true prophet, it is very dangerous to operate from such a position. A true prophet can never allow himself to speak words that are influenced by his feelings, thoughts, or emotions. He must only be led by the Holy Spirit, and not his imagination. A prophet who deals with imagination will speak imaginative words that are void of truth or the Spirit of the living Lord. Our mind after all is very powerful. Our imagination has tremendous creative power but also the tremendous power to conjure up ideas and thoughts that are not always real or based on truth. And when we operate in the reality of these thoughts and ideas, imagining so-called truths and realities, we end up walking not in the Spirit of the Lord but in the flesh. Out of imagination flows suspicion, and out of suspicion come paranoia, fear, and anxiety. If a prophet allows his imagination to run wild, not curtailed by the leading of the Holy Spirit, he ends up dealing with assumptions, allegations, and accusations, which all flow from the premise of deception, manipulation, and trickery. It is these thoughts that need to be taken captive, which is done by walking solely in the truth of the Spirit. Scriptures admonish us to grow in discernment according to Philippians 1:9-10: And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in real knowledge and all discernment so that you may approve the things that are excellent, in order to be sincere and blameless until the day of Christ … And also Psalm 119:66: Teach me good discernment and knowledge, For I believe in Your commandments. As a prophet grows in discernment, which comes by the wisdom of God, the prophet develops the ability to know the authentic from the counterfeit, and when one deals with the imagination or with the Spirit of the Lord. By knowing and obeying the Word of God, the prophet will be “trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil.” The prophet will know God’s character and will. This is the heart of spiritual discernment – being able to distinguish the voice of our imagination from the voice of God, to have a sense that “this is right” or “this is wrong.” In Ezekiel 13:17 we read: “Now, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who prophesy out of their own imagination” … and also “Isaiah 65:2 All day long I have held out my hands to an obstinate people, who walk in ways not good, pursuing their own imaginations.” It even says in “Psalm 73:7: From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits.” Our imagination can become a huge problem when we are not led by the Spirit of the Lord. And this is especially true for the prophet. This is when the prophet starts moving in the realm of the soul and flesh, speaking things that come not by the Lord. After all, our imagination can be so powerful that we THINK the Lord is speaking to us or has given us a word but then it is not so. For this reason, we need the absolute guidance of the Holy Spirit to lead us in all things and at all times. It says in “Ephesians 1:17-18 – That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him …” The prophet needs to grow in the wisdom, discernment, and knowledge of the Lord so that the prophet walks in the Truth of the Lord and so avoids the pitfalls of suspicion, assumptions, allegations, deceptions, and paranoia. If the prophet lets his imagination run wild, the prophet can easily end up causing more harm when it comes to the supernatural than good. The prophet, therefore, needs the Holy Spirit above all to test all things, to make wise decisions, to discern the reality of all things, and to walk in God’s Truth. Then the prophet shall be battle-ready for the spiritual war, a soldier operating not accordinRead more

A Terrifying Thing I was so excitedRead more

False Prophets Making Merchandise of People Previous Post Among the most damming judgments against false teachers and false prophets is found in 2 Peter 2. And yes, the actions of these wolves in sheep’s clothing were condemned, for Apostle Peter judged the spirit behind their actions, and he spoke out loud and clear against the dangers of such hypocrites within the church. We can compare what Peter was writing to Matthew 23, in which Jesus spoke the seven woes against the Pharisees and Sadducees, who were at the time the embodiment of the religious spirit. Jesus called them a brood of vipers, and He labeled that same religious spirit as murderous. Now, in this chapter of Peter we read: But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. 2 And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. 3 And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not. The Spirit of the Lord speaks through His apostle and reveals some details about the operation of “false prophets” and “false teachers”. We discover firstly and therefore these beguilers are “among the people”. Therefore, we should be aware that Peter was not addressing the heathens or the pagans of the world, but those functioning within the folds of the church. He exposed the wolves in sheep’s clothing for their actions and intent just as the Lord exposed the false elders in Ezekiel 8 who were busy with idolatry and pagan practised within the Temple sanctuary. In 2 Timothy 3, the Apostle Paul also spoke about how it will be in the last days and how “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good …” Paul was also not referring to the heathens or pagans, for it says in verse 5: Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. A form of godliness speaks of a religious and pious outlook; therefore you look holy but yet not walking in the power of the Holy Spirit. It, therefore, speaks of those within the church. For only those reborn in the Spirit are true worshippers in Spirit and Truth. After all, it is easy to walk in such a religious manner that one can almost be fooled that you are indeed all holy and right standing with the truth of the Lord. Yet Paul reminds us of the dangers that exist in the last days … those having a “form of godliness” yet they are without the Spirit. It reminds me of those that Jesus showed away in Matthew 7: 22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? 23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity. Jesus also said in Matthew 7:15: Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ravening speaks of being extremely hungry or hunting for prey. So these false prophets and teachers as mentioned by the Lord and by Paul, Jude, and Peter speaks of a breed of people who will be extremely hungry to feed their own desires and needs as they lead others astray. If we think of ravening wolves, this reminds us of 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. For just as the devil prowls and hunts, so do the wolves in sheep’s clothing hunt the innocent. Therefore, they were likened to the devil who only comes to steal and destroy, and kill. Indeed, we need to be alert and aware that we are living in the times of the ravening wolves that are within the folds of the church, yet they deny the power. They walk by a religious spirit, by the flesh, by carnality, by their own need and want, and even worse, some come to intentionally pollute, corrupt, and twist the truth of God. Paul writes of them in 2 Timothy 3: 7 Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 8 Now as Jannes and Jambres withstood Moses, so do these also resist the truth: men of corrupt minds, reprobate concerning the faith. After all, we can have all the academic insight, knowledge, and fortitude but yet not walk in the Spirit of the Lord. Therefore without the Spirit, one will never come to the knowledge of the Truth, which is only attained in the Spirit of the Lord (1 Corinthians 2). We also read of these false prophets and teachers that they secretly and charismatically introduce/slip in deadly falsehood – “who privily (secretly) shall bring in DAMNABLE HERESIES”. Paul writes of such actions for example in 1 Timothy 4: Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils 2 Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; AND ALSO in 2 Timothy 4: 3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears 4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. Peter wrote in 2 Peter 1:16: For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of his majesty. Clearly, Peter emphasized the importance of sound doctrine, and one should turn away from fables and myths (erroneous doctrines that mislead). Paul wrote in 1 Timothy 1: 3 As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine, 4 Neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith: so do. Paul also writes the following in Galatians 1: 6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: 7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.9 As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preaches any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. These are harsh words of Paul, who time after time reminded the Church (Ecclesia) of the importance of preaching and standing for sound doctrine. Those who infiltrate the church – those who have been warned about in the seven letters to the churches – however speak not the truth of the Lord but they speak heresies that are damnable. They speak fables and they speak myths, enticing and luring people away from the Lord. To be damned speaks of being cursed, and so Paul said that those who speak any other Gospel except the truth of Jesus shall be accursed. So therefore those who act as wolves in sheep’s clothing shall be cursed, and all that they speak is cursed. Take also note of Micah 2 when the Lord speaks of the false prophets: If a man should walk in a false spirit and speak a lie, saying, ‘I will prophesy to you of wine and drink,’ even he would be the prattler of this people. To be a prattler is someone who speaks in a childish way, thus some who talks in a foolish or simple-minded manner. A prattler is a chatterer or a babbler, therefore his words hold little truth of substance. The Lord has in the history of Israel spoken countless times regarding false prophets and those who deceive and lead people astray. Here we read how in the NKJV they are referred to as prattlers. And this is the heart of those who say they prophesy and speak by God’s instruction yet who deceive – they are nothing more than fools and speaking foolish things of no worth or value. Such people will blabber and chatter, speaking all kinds of things, but they hold little importance or worth. And such blabbering and chattering are going on in every corner of the globe and so many churches, where fools are allowed to speak, pretending to prophesy yet they operate by a dales spirit and they speak a lie. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:11: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. Thus, those who continue to deceive and blabber like children, have hardly grown in spiritual maturity. For with maturity comes discernment, humility, and the fear of God to speak only His Truth and nothing else. The reality is that we live in a time where the truth of the Lord has been totally obscured, and where the gospel of the Lord has been twisted, distorted, and manipulated for self-gain. Yet in his epistle, Paul warns that anyone who preaches a different gospel will be “accursed”. After all, all that we do is either about life or death. By preaching the Gospel of Jesus, we speak life. By speaking any other Gospel, we speak death. It is that simple. Yes, there are many prattlers today, and they are leading so many astray, and causing so much confusion. Remember, those who listen to a prattler and take advice from them willingly, they, therefore, submit themselves to listening to a child and even accept “wisdom” which is nothing more than spiritual foolishness. Any wonder why the church is so confused regarding God’s Truth? It is because we are listening to spiritual children babbling foolishness. It is not merely about false doctrines and false teachers, but it all boils down to life and death. Do we speak life or do we speak death? And so many we advocate the Word of Faith Movement speak not the Gospel of the Lord, and therefore speak death, and we must be reminded that Paul says they shall then be accursed. It is written in 2 John 1: 7 For many deceivers have gone out into the world who do not confess Jesus Christ as coming in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist. 8 Look to yourselves, that we do not lose those things we worked for, but that we may receive a full reward. 9 Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. 10 If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; 11 for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds. Here John makes very clear the importance of abiding by the doctrine of Christ. He even warns that those who agree with such a doctrine “share in his evil deeds”. The Scripture is also translated as a partaker, and partaker speaks of fellowship. Therefore if we follow and embrace false doctrines we become partakers of such blasphemy and deception. Like Galatians 1, 2 John 1 sounds an urgent warning that we must be so aware to speak the Truth, therefore speak Life, lest we speak Death and become partakers of Death. Read also what it says in Romans 16: 17 Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. 18 For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple. Here we again read about those who speak a different Gospel DO NOT serve the Lord Jesus. These are indeed very serious words, but teachers and preachers speaking false word is still being accepted within the Church, and are allowed to stand on the pulpit to speak to hundreds if not thousands or if not more. Paul warns us that those who cause divisions and offenses, which come because of a different Gospel being taught, must be AVOIDED. After all, they act to serve their own belly, meaning they are only serving an agenda of their own need, want, and desire. Remember what it says in 2 John? Verse 9 “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God” … Therefore those who pervert the Gospel of our Lord Jesus according to Paul and John do not have God, and neither are they serving the Lord. Yet, throughout the world, those who preach clearly a false Gospel are being tolerated and welcomed and are allowed to become a major influence. I Timothy 6 we read: 20 O Timothy, guard and keep the deposit entrusted [to you]! Turn away from the irreverent babble and godless chatter, with the vain and empty and worldly phrases, and the subtleties and the contradictions in what is falsely called knowledge and spiritual illumination. Here Paul again warns Timothy to turn away from the babble and godless chatter that appears to be spiritual illumination and knowledge. The reality is that a lot of preaching and teachings in churches these days are not sound doctrine, but are merely babble and godless chatter that contradicts the true Gospel of our Lord Jesus. In Matthew 23, when Jesus addresses the Pharisees and Sadducees, He spoke the following: 3 “But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 14 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows’ houses, and for a pretense make long prayers. Therefore you will receive greater condemnation. According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, the word hypocrite was at first used for a theatrical mask from the 1st century BCE. ‘Hypocrite’ comes from the Greek word ‘hypokrites’, which means “an actor.” The word hypocrite ultimately came into English from the Greek word hypokrites, which means “an actor” or “a stage player.” The Greek word itself is a compound noun: it’s made up of two Greek words that literally translate as “an interpreter from underneath.” That bizarre compound makes more sense when you know that the actors in ancient Greek theatre wore large masks to mark which character they were playing, and so they interpreted the story from underneath their masks. The Greek word, therefore, took on an extended meaning to refer to any person who was wearing a figurative mask and pretending to be someone or something they were not. This sense was taken into medieval French and then into English, where it showed up with its earlier spelling, ypocrite, in 13th-century religious texts to refer to someone who pretends to be morally good or pious in order to deceive others. Today we understand it to be “a person who acts in contradiction to his or her stated beliefs or feelings.” With his understanding, let us, therefore, reason that when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees and Sadducees, He told them they were mere ‘actors’, playing and toying with religion, and they were still masked and therefore ‘blinded’. Jesus, therefore, exposed them as being pretenders, playing a mere role like an actor, instead of being true followers of the Kingdom. And the concept of masks is very important, for a mask tends to hide (thus deception) your identity, but a mask acts as a kind of veil. For it is written in Matthew 27 verse 51: Then, behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom; and the earth quaked, and the rocks were split. You see, by the death and resurrection of Jesus the veil of religion, the veil of our spiritual blindness, and the veil of legalism by the law and the veil of deception was torn in two so that we may behold and understand the truth of the glory of Jesus, He who is the Truth and He who is the Word and He who is the Redeemer and He who is worthy to open up the seals. Now it says in 2 Corinthians 3, 12 Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech— 13 unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. 14 But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament because the veil is taken away in Christ. 15 But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. 16 Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18 But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord. So Jesus was saying to the religious leaders they were still veiled, they were spiritually blind, and they were not yet free in the Spirit. They were not yet seeing the Kingdom of God, which comes by the rebirth of the Spirit according to John 3. The religious leaders were therefore blinded and were mere actors, not yet sons and daughters of the living God, not yet the authentic article, not yet worshippers of Spirit and Truth. This is therefore the same case for the false prophets and teachers of 2 Peter 2. They are still veiled and spiritually blind, playing at church. Remember Jesus said of the Pharisees in Matthew 23 they are like white washed tombs, meaning on the outside they looked religious but inside they were spiritually dead. Today in churches we can easily fool people by our outward appearances, and even deceive through our words, but the Lord knows who is His for He looks at the heart. Indeed, we shall be known by our fruits. According to Peter, these false prophets and teachers will even deny Christ by denying the truth, for it says “even denying the Lord that bought them”. And so we see for a long time how the church has been infiltrated with countless false doctrines and teachings, including attacking the validity of the Trinity (The Oneness Doctrine), dismantling the need for true repentance and for holy living (Hypergrace Doctrine, Once Saves Always Saved) and discrediting the power of salvation of the cross and the Blood (Universalism). There have been numerous other such false teachings, including the Word and Faith Movement (promoting the godlike image of all believers) and the doctrine of sacerdotalism (the belief that a special, segregated order of men, called the Levitical Priesthood, is the only ones who can commune directly with God). Today, hell is being denied, so is the devil, so is sin, and so is the power of the Blood being weakened through those who are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Religion has taken the place of true faith, moral relativism the place of God’s absolutes, and emotional hype for the Holy Spirit. By the way, more than ever the work of the Spirit is being quenched, denied, or even ignored. We live indeed in perilous times where the church has been infiltrated with teachings of humanism, New Age, and even paganism. Of these false teachers and prophets, we read they will reap destruction now and in eternity if they don’t repent before it’s too late, as they will bring upon themselves swift destruction. Scary enough, as we are seeing these days, these false workers will be very well-liked, accepted, and affluent leaders for Peter writes: “And MANY shall follow their pernicious ways”. Again, this was also the warning of Paul in 2 Timothy 4. Yes, these men will twist the Word of God for their own purposes. How do we not see all of this in action these days? Pastors and church leaders have become celebrities, and even gods in the eyes of their followers. They draw huge crowds because of their charismatic nature, yet so many are speaking what the ear wants to hear and soothing the soul with messages that are void of the power of the Lord. Time after time doctrines are being twisted and distorted for their own gains, such as the doctrine of tithing, which has fuelled the entire prosperity movement of self-gain, greed, and self-exaltation. Prosperity teachings appease the masses, yet lead people further away from true prosperity first in spirit and then the soul. Across the world, false preachers and teachers have led the masses to the altar of religion, bowing before profane fire, as they are led to commit idolatry (worshipping man and no longer God). And so we find believers that have become indoctrinated because of spiritual abuse to become followers of a religious system, instead of being disciples of the Living Lord. Talking about prosperity, we read the following in 2 Peter 2: And through covetousness shall they with feigned (fictitious) words make merchandise of you.” In vivid detail, the Holy Spirit warns us here of how “false prophets” and “false teachers among you,” would seek to “make merchandise of you.” The term “make merchandise of you” refers to the exploitation of people perpetrated by deceivers for their own self-gain. It means that they will make money off you or draw money out of you, through deceptive practices. This could also be called “fleecing the flock.” Such extortion is accomplished through deceptive persuasions, heretical teachings, testimonial claims, false signs and wonders, and even exaggerated stories. The phrase “feigned words” in this text is very important. This is the method of deceivers to garner money from people. The word “feigned” means “plastic, artificial, fictitious, or simulated.” Therefore, those who exploit are not walking in the true reality or true power of the Lord, or even in real spiritual life, for they are pretenders, living an artificial life of holiness and piety. Indeed, the word fictitious or simulated refers back to the idea of such false workers introducing fables and myths in the church. The idea that someone has to give something (like money) to get God to bless them is the message of greedy wolves who are denying Christ by saying His sacrifice was not enough to bless His people fully! They are making merchandise of the congregants who have been indoctrinated never to question the church leader. Peter exposes their greedy motive by saying – “an heart they have exercised with covetous practices”. Indoctrination is possible because Peter writes these false prophets prey upon the unlearned who are not grounded in God’s Word – “beguiling unstable souls”. Stable souls who are learning sound doctrine and have a sound heart and mind see these “false prophets” and “false teachers” in our midst for who they really are and refuse to fund their evil enterprises (2 John 10-11). The reality is simple … if we are not walking in a real relationship with the Lord, grounded in His Word, led by the Spirit, then we can be easily deceived and manipulated to believe such a truth. Is the point of Christianity to become rich or famous or to have a great ministry and for people to adore us or follow us? It seems as if people are struggling with this question. Should it not be to have an intimate relationship with the Lord? After all, there is something incredible happens when we have a true encounter with the Lord Almighty. It is an encounter that should change our lives, and it should change our character and our nature so that we become more like Jesus. The prosperity teachers would like to think that our Christian faith is really all about what we can grab now. From one week to the next we teach about prosperity because we have somehow convinced ourselves that the reason we became a follower of the Lord is that it is all about the riches and the wealth. 1 Timothy 6: 10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows … It seems 1 Timothy 6 is forgotten which speaks about how many because of the love of money have caused themselves to be pierced through with many sorrows. Many are jumping on the Gospel bandwagon because it is a way to get a job, or for some people, to make money. The Kingdom, however, is not about fame, popularity, or earthly riches. It is not a job, but judging by all the churches and “leaders” and easy methods to get “ordained”, it has become an easy alternative in terms of being employed. Many prophets are exploiting people to get money, which is a tragedy. Indeed, the church and the prophetic are in a sorrowful condition because of the love for money, for it has caused us to turn a place of worship into a den of robbers, where we exploit, manipulate and extort for self-gain. Indeed, the prosperity movement has shifted the focus away from the eternal to the temporary, away from the Kingdom to man’s kingdom, and away from discipleship to self-service. And so Peter makes no excuse for these men. He calls them – “cursed children”, which connects back to what Paul wrote in Galatians 1 about being cursed when not preaching the truth of the Lord. Peter also writes of these false workers: 14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children: 15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds that are carried with a tempest; to whom the mist of darkness is reserved for ever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of vanity, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through much wantonness, those that were clean escaped from them who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are the servants of corruption: for of whom a man is overcome, of the same is he brought in bondage. 20 For if after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. 2 Peter 2 eludes here to how these false workers are indeed not free themselves, for they are the servants of corruption. We read: “are again entangled therein, and overcome, the latter end is worse with them than the beginning.” This reminds me of Paul’s warning in Galatians 5 v 1: Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Paul encouraged believers to stand fast and firm in the liberty of Jesus. Why? Because as in his days, our days are also marked by those within the church fold who through false word, legalism, traditions, and religion lead people back into captivity (away from the Holy Spirit). Jesus addressed this issue in Matthew 23: 13 But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. And also we are reminded of Isaiah 61: The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me; because the Lord hath anointed me to preach good tidings unto the meek; he hath sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound … The Lord came to show us the way to true liberty and freedom in the Spirit, not for us to be yoked again and to become prisoners of a religious system. Yet this is exactly what has been happening in churches, where the false prophets and teachers – those ravenous wolves – are imprisoning people through false doctrines and teachings. After all, so many these days are stuck in a religious system of man-made traditions that they have no idea what it means to lead a life led by the liberty of the Spirit. Jude also addressed the reality of such prophets and teachers when he wrote: 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. He also writes 10 But these speak evil of those things which they know not: but what they know naturally, as brute beasts, in those things they corrupt themselves. 11 Woe unto them! for they have gone in the way of Cain, and ran greedily after the error of Balaam for reward, and perished in the gainsaying of Core. Peter of course also mentioned Balaam the son of Bosor, and we read of them in Revelation 2:14: But I have a few things against thee, because thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumblingblock before the children of Israel, to eat things sacrificed unto idols, and to commit fornication. Balaam speaks of sexual immorality and of idolatry. Watch how Revelations speak of a stumbling block “before the children of Israel”. You see, those who act as wolves in sheep’s clothing also act as a stumbling block to the children of God to really walk in Spirit and Truth. Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 1: 21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe. 22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom: 23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; 24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Paul spoke here of the power of the Truth of the Gospel, yet it remains foolishness to those who seek after the world’s wisdom, and it is a stumblingblock to those who hold onto traditions (in this case the Jews who did not depart from the Laws of Moses as their means of sole salvation). A stumbling block of traditions and false doctrines, based on human wisdom and knowledge, is still being set up in churches. Such traditions and religious mindsets are a stumbling block to a true and real life in Jesus. And man has set up these stumbling blocks, driven by his own desires, needs, and wants. Peter writes of these men that they “have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray”. You see, Jesus taught about the 2 ways … the broad way and the narrow way. There is no middle path. We either follow God or the word, His Kingdom, or our own kingdom, but we cannot entertain both. We either follow God or Mammon, for we cannot serve two masters. We cannot drink from two cups – the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. False teachers and prophets are trying to walk both paths, yet they have ultimately gone astray. For this reason, it says in Jeremiah 6:16 Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. More than ever we need to find the true path of the Lord again and be led by the Holy Spirit who came to lead us in all truth (John 16). Watch also what Jude writes: 4 For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the word crept, for this speaks of an action that is almost devious and it speaks of an act of hunting like one hunts a prey. And yes, they are labeled as ungodly, and even denying the divinity of Jesus (for this has happened in churches where Jesus is said to be only a man or a prophet). And also … 12 These are spots in your feasts of charity, when they feast with you, feeding themselves without fear: clouds they are without water carried about of winds; trees whose fruit withereth, without fruit, twice dead, plucked up by the roots; 13 Raging waves of the sea, foaming out their own shame; wandering stars, to whom is reserved the blackness of darkness for ever. 14 And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the Lord cometh with ten thousands of his saints, 15 To execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds which they have ungodly committed, and of all their hard speeches which ungodly sinners have spoken against him. 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. Take special notice of this verse … 16 These are murmurers, complainers, walking after their own lusts; and their mouth speaketh great swelling words, having men’s persons in admiration because of advantage. Here we learn how these false workers, including false prophets, within the Church will be able to flatter and be able to entice and seduce people with their words. Just look at the church today … there are so many who are treated with great admiration, adoration, and even praise because of the way they speak and what they speak – all within an ambiance suited for their sordid agenda. Remember what Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 2? 4 And my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man’s wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power: 5 That your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Paul understood the real power of the Kingdom was not in enticing words, but in the Lord Himself, for He is the Kingdom. The disciples had to wait in Jerusalem for 50 days for the power on high – the power being the Holy Spirit. True power rests in the Lord, and such power is activated by the Spirit to deliver, restore, heal, and save. There is no real power in words, other than to stir up the soul and to charge up the senses. Paul knew the only way for someone to be saved or to be healed or delivered was to give their life completely to the Lord and to yield and submit without compromise. It has all become about enticing words, so often uttered by the false or misguided prophets, and not about the Power of the Kingdom. For the Holy Spirit – the power on high – has been pushed out of the Church doors, and we would rather amuse and entertain the masses through our words, clever sermons, music, the ambiance, and our godly appearances. How we need to be so careful of the wolves in sheep’s clothing, who come with well-designed sermons and presentations, yet many times only serve to beguile, to amuse, to please, and to tickle the ears. As a last note, Peter writes of these men: 21 For it had been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than, after they have known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered unto them. This connects to the author of Hebrews who writes in Hebrews 6: 4 For it is impossible for those who were once enlightened, and have tasted of the heavenly gift, and were made partakers of the Holy Ghost, 5 And have tasted the good word of God, and the powers of the world to come, 6 If they shall fall away, to renew them again unto repentance; seeing they crucify to themselves the Son of God afresh, and put him to an open shame. How dangerous indeed are these wolves in sheep’s clothing, including the false and misguided prophets! They are accursed for deceiving and shutting the gates of the Kingdom against men, instead of setting the captives and the prisoners free. They walk among us in the churches, and yes they preach from the pulpit – power hungry – devouring like ravening wolves. Let us then be alert, let us be awake, and let us discern those who seek to exploit or make merchandise of the flock. Woe indeed unto them fRead more

The Counterfeit Prophetic Movement Previous Post The devil’s strategy has been to cause great confusion and deception through the prophetic office by sowing misunderstandings. He has used the prophetic as a vehicle to spread lies, deceptions, and confusion and he has used the prophetic to misdirect.  Today, it seems every second person in the Church is in the prophetic office, and it seems everybody now has the prophetic gift. And so we sit with so many so-called prophetic utterances, yet there is still no guidance or true direction in the church. Why? Because so many people who proclaim to be prophets aren’t really prophets (taking also into consideration there are prophets in training), and so many who speak a prophetic word are just speaking out of the imagination, or the flesh, or even worse, by a spirit of divination. The Church after all is in a state of apostasy because there has been no clear prophetic guidance even though it seems we are overwhelmed with “prophetic” guidance. Yet there is no clarity but greater confusion because the guidance is not really prophetic but driven by emotion, selfish needs, or even worse, a more sinister purpose. People are receiving prophetic words left, right, and center, and everybody is speaking over nations and spiritual leaders. And amid this “noise” of muddled utterances that carry little truth or prophetic weight, the true prophets speak. Yet, because of the lack of discernment, one finds in the church there is little discernment regarding what the true voice of the Lord is compared to those who speak by the flesh, imagination, or even a demonic spirit. Today the prophets are in high demand in churches, not because they speak the unconditional truth of God, declaring God’s truth, His standard of holiness, correction, or judgment, but because they hold the supposed key to address a crisis in someone’s life, to offer a breakthrough, to bring forth what the person wishes and will. The misguided or even false prophet will often try to profit or make a gain out of such a situation, speaking what people want to hear.  Because of this distorted view that believers have of the prophetic – reducing it to fortune cookie utterances – so many in the church become prophets. They declare themselves so, because the “prophet” in the eyes of the modern-day apostate church is popular, and people love to be around them. They are popular and hold a great influence because they are seen as the answer to the solution, the breakthrough, and that the prophet can by his utterance meet the need and wants of the person asking for a ‘word”. This is the muck in which the prophetic finds itself. The prophetic itself has been emerged in apostasy, and so many tag themselves with the prophetic label to be seen, to be heard, and to be famous. Many “prophets” are making huge sums of money, as they milk congregants for the “use” of the “prophetic gift or office”. Money is thrown at them for a word, for a revelation, an utterance, for surely they are hearing from God and surely they are speaking what God is revealing. Sadly, many times this is not the case. They speak not for God. They speak not as He leads. They speak out of the flesh, out of the imaginations of the mind, out of carnality, and even by a different spirit all for the sake of “sounding prophetic”. After all, there is plenty of money in the prophetic, and so many “prophets” become famous, “adorned”, loved, and yes, to the point of being idolized.  The reality is, so many of these so-called “prophets” may love the Lord, but they are not called to be in the office, and they are not called in the gift. Yet, they proclaim it so. Again, some may have the calling but are still on the journey to be commissioned. Those who are not at all led to be in the office, yet pretend to do so, will take the next fatal step – fake it. And yes, there are plenty of those who have mastered the art of faking the prophetic, mumbling revelations, or giving a “word” for someone that is murky and lacks any substance at best. Yet, the “prophet” uses many “tricks” to fool and beguile, such as the use of one’s voice, movements of the hands, along with the subtle use of background music, lights, and even smoke. All of this is done to hide the fact that they are not speaking as the Spirit leads, because truly, if they stand not in the office yet pretend to do so, then the Spirit of the Lord will not be present. These pretenders and so-called prophets get away with all the mumbling, foolish behavior, trickery, and at times occult practices, because of the lack of discernment among believers. They, therefore, thrive, for they have mastered the trick of saying what people want to hear, and so they soar in reputation because of ignorance, and spiritual impoverishment.  Take a look at what it says in Ezekiel 13: 17 “Now you, son of man, set your face against the daughters of your people who are prophesying out of [the wishful thinking of] their own mind (inspiration). Prophesy against them 18 and say, ‘Thus says the Lord God, “Woe to the women who fasten magic (protective) charms on all wrists and make veils for the heads of those of every stature to capture [human] lives! Will you capture the lives of My people but keep your own? 19 You have profaned Me among My people [in payment] for handfuls of barley and for pieces of bread, killing people who should not die and giving [a guarantee of] life to those who should not live, because of your lies to My people who pay attention to lies.”’” 20 Therefore, thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am against your magic bands [and veils] by which you hunt [human] lives as birds and I will tear them from your arms; and I will let the lives you hunt go free, even those lives whom you hunt as birds. 21 I will also tear off your [pagan] veils and rescue My people from your hands, and they will no longer be in your grip to be hunted and trapped. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord. 22 Because you disheartened the righteous with falsehood when I did not cause him grief, but have encouraged the wicked not to turn from his wicked way and preserve his life, 23 therefore, you women will no longer see false visions or practice divinations, and I will rescue My people from your hand. Then you will know [without any doubt] that I am the Lord.” Ezekiel 13 speaks of something very true and also frightening. It portrays those who are engaging in the counterfeit prophetic movement as being hunters, thus hunting lives. They hunt lives for personal gain and for self-profit, thus their agenda is not to glorify the Lord but to exalt the Self. This Scripture may apply partly to women, but in our modern context, it applies to all who speak not as the Holy Spirit leads. The Lord speaks in this Scripture of a people who hunts and captures human lives through deception and spiritual manipulation, thus witchcraft, therefore the reference to veils and magic bands (charms). It is also interesting the reference to these false prophets who hunt people as if they are hunting birds, which reminds me of Psalm 91 which speaks of the fowler’s snare.  It is important to understand Psalm 91 for we read how the Lord shall deliver us NOT from the fowler, but the snare of the fowler. We need to understand that the devil will be with us like a roaring lion, seeking to devour (1 Peter 5:8) until God finally seals his fate according to the Book of Revelations. What we, therefore, need to discern and take note of is the “snare” of the fowler, meaning we need to discern the work of the enemy, and how such work operates, functions, and manifest to steal, kill, and destroy (John 10:10). After all, the WAGES (thus the work – thus the snare) of the sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin, like the fowler, will always be with us, but we need to realize and discern the work of sin, which creates death and separation from God. We cannot eradicate the existence of sin, but we can counter the wages of sin by not stepping into its entrapments. A fowler would for example use a net or a trap to catch the bird, and will even use other birds to draw the prey to the trap. This is how the enemy operates, and thus the false prophet, for the work of the enemy is sly, devious, and cunning. The devil constantly lures us into traps, snares, and nets, trying to entrap, enslave, and cage us. And this is what false prophets and false prophecies, thus divination, achieve – it creates a snare to capture and enslave. We are therefore reminded that while the fowler remains the enemy, our concern should be the “work” of the fowler, thus the snare and how he tries to entrap us. We need to identify it, discern it, and then by the leading of the Holy Spirit address it and overcome it. Therefore, we need to not only be aware of the false prophet but be equally discerning regarding the work of false prophecies which is nothing more than divination. Isaiah 61 speaks of the ministry of Jesus, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to proclaim release [from confinement and condemnation] to the [physical and spiritual] captives and freedom to prisoners. Indeed, still, it remains the work of the Holy Spirit to lead us in all Truth, for such Truth destroys the work of the false prophecies and exposes the agenda of the false prophets. Only the Truth of God sets the captive free, and there are many captives in the church today who have been ensnared by false prophecies, thus words of divination. And where divinization is spoken, you will find the enemy is at work, and where the enemy is present, you will find the word is designed to destroy, to kill, and to steal. Deuteronomy 30 admonishes us to choose life or death, yet we choose death when we choose false words that enslave. We choose the path of death when we fall prey to the hunter, who seeks to capture human lives. God’s intention is for us to be delivered from the work of the false prophets and their devious words, yet if we fail to discern through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, we fall victim to such devious allure and spiritual darkness. There are many false prophets in the world today, and many of them are in the churches, some deceived themselves. There are those who have been called to the office of the calling of the prophet but are grounded not in the Word and so still speak more out of the flesh than the Holy Spirit. Either way, if they are intentionally or unintentionally deceiving, their words remain dangerous for they will ensnare and captivate.  Primarily, such a word captivates our mind, thus polluting our soul which negatively impacts our spiritual life. The enemy wants us to walk in a state of double-mindedness, being confused regarding God’s Truth, and so we are led astray to walk a different path than the path intended by God. False words and prophecies can cause lethal and devastating changes in behavior, mindsets, beliefs, convictions, and one’s spiritual fortitude. It is written in “Proverbs 6:5 Tear yourself away like a gazelle from the hand of the hunter and like a bird from the hand of the fowler.” This should also be our attitude. We must remain in the Lord, and walk by the Spirit so that we can walk in discernment and truth. Thus we shall be delivered from the hands of the hunter and from the entrapment of the fowler. Yet sadly, in churches, many remain deceived and fall prey, thus being hunted and entrapped. Paul writes in “2 Timothy 3 verse 13: But evil men and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived”. Indeed, such as the state of the false prophets, not just in the world but in the church, for they are going from bad to worse, constantly deceiving and being deceived. Thus Ezekiel 13 should be a wake-up call. Still, the false prophets with their pagan branded message dishearten the righteous, and lead so many astray and into captivity. Take note, magic bands are also translated as charms. A charm can be seen as a small ornament worn on a necklace or bracelet, designed to achieve a purpose through magic. Now, we also get the word charming, as in someone who is charming, which is the power or quality of delighting, attracting, or fascinating others. This is after all the design and purpose of charms in the context of magic – to achieve a devious purpose through attraction and fascination. We speak of someone being charming by the quality they attract and they fascinate. And this is the quality also of many false prophets – they are charming. The words they speak are charming. They speak words that delight, and fascinate, and this attracts a person to the word and to the speaker of the word. Yet the purpose remains clear – a false prophet appears charming because they ultimately cast a spell through deception, falseness, and yes at times demonically inspired messages.  Ezekiel 13 also speaks of “tearing off the veil” of such false prophets. It is time that God exposes the so-called prophets who appear so holy, so true and so sincere by removing the veil of hypocrisy and deception. The Amplified Bible speaks of the veil as being pagan in nature, for this is the reality of how false prophets operate. Remember, any message that comes not from God is opposed to the eternal Kingdom, and is thus pagan. Also take note that by design a false word and prophecy blind spiritually, for it causes confusion and deception. And to blind speaks of putting a veil over someone’s eyes. A key characteristic of the prophetic is thus to cause spiritual blindness, through the process of subtle manipulation that appears so charming.  There is thus a clear counterfeit movement happening in the churches when it comes to the prophetic. One of the characteristics of such a movement is that prophecy is used for self-promotion, instead of always glorifying Jesus and being Jesus-centered. Satan plays on the human ego and pride. God calls us to humble ourselves before Him and promises that He will then raise us. Demons, on the other hand, tell us how great, wonderful, and significant we are in ourselves. The ultimate goal of prophecy is to point people to Jesus. This was confirmed by the heavenly being who was at John’s side as they observed the vast heavenly host worshipping and praising God. Overwhelmed at the sight, John fell at the feet of his heavenly escort to worship him, who stopped him and said, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brothers who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy” (Revelations 19:10). John 16:14 said of the Holy Spirit that He will glorify only Jesus and the Spirit will take from Jesus and declare it to the disciples. Therefore the Holy Spirit is certainly not going to promote a prophet, teacher, angel, or any other creature. Jesus is the only Saviour, Healer, and Lord, and the Holy Spirit is here to point people to Him. When people use prophecy to put themselves and their own movement in the limelight, it is a warning sign they have strayed from the biblical pattern. The counterfeit movement also speaks about foolishness. We read in Hosea  chapter 9: The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. 8 The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways— Enmity in the house of his God.  The chapter in Hosea according to the Amplified is translated as follows: The prophet is [considered] a fool; The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented, Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt, And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great. Hosea (active 750-722 BC) was a prophet of the kingdom of Israel. He called on Israel to repent its sins of apostasy and warned of the judgment to come from God. Of course, as with so many other prophets, the people did not listen. It is shocking how the Lord says that the prophet in the days of Hosea was foolish and even worse, the spiritual man insane. Such foolishness of the prophets was echoed by Ezekiel in chapter 13:3 Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! It says in Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Thus, the so-called prophets in the days of Hosea ultimately despised the wisdom and instruction of the Lord. This is how foolishness sets in. Jesus said in Matthew 7:26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand” … It is foolishness when we heed not God, or follow His ways or His Truth.  This was the path followed by the prophets in the days of Hosea, and this is sadly the path that still many follow today in the churches. After all, it says in Job 28: 28 Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom; and to depart from evil is understanding. So the counterfeit is marked by foolishness, thus a lack of wisdom, which comes from not spending time in the presence of God. Apostasy is upon us, because there is little understanding, and we have departed from the truth of God. It says in Hosea 4:6: My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. “Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children. The prophet deals only with the truth of God, and thus if the prophet departs from such truth, he walks in deception, and therefore in the counterfeit. A prophet is supposed to walk in wisdom, and to hear the Lord, and to counter foolishness, not advocate or walk in such foolishness. Another sign of the counterfeit prophetic movement is when prophecy becomes the primary means for determining the will of God. We need to understand that a prophetic word must confirm. The “direction” part comes as we are led by the Spirit of the Lord (Romans 8:14). Some will say that the prophetic word they receive is something new, but in fact, it will still only be a confirmation. The problem is we are not always listening to the Lord, thus the Lord gives us a word to confirm what is already in our hearts, even though we may not even know it! In Acts 21:4 certain disciples, by the Spirit, told Paul, who was on his way to Jerusalem, not to go up to Jerusalem. What did Paul do? He ignored what they said and continued on to Jerusalem. Prophecy must confirm what we already know in our heart, and Paul had already purposed in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem (see Acts 19:21). When prophecy is sought as the primary means for determining the will of God, those involved have departed from the biblical pattern and fallen into cultic divining and even witchcraft. As mentioned already, no prophecy will ever replace the Scriptures but must uphold and be tested by the Scriptures. In Psalm 119:105 David said, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” When Jesus was tempted by Satan in the wilderness to doubt His identity, He responded to each temptation with, “It is written,” and then quoted the appropriate passage of Scripture. John Wesley, who saw many unusual spiritual manifestations as the leader of the 18th-century Methodist revival, said, “Try all things by the written word, and let all bow down before it.” When Scripture and common sense are neglected solely for dreams, visions, and personal prophecies, then something is amiss. The danger is that so many of these “prophets” will move beyond the fakeness and into the realm of trying to actually find some kind of real revelation. If they are not in the office or move by the gift, then the Spirit of the Lord is absent. So what is the next step? Yes, they connect with a “different spirit”, and so they begin to speak divination, for they move into the realm of witchcraft. Especially in Africa you find will many of these false “prophets” declare and decree things by channeling a different spirit. And so they merge Christianity with the occult because they wish to sound clever or prophetic. Yet, they are not just uttering total nonsense, but the danger comes in what they are actually speaking as a spirit leads, yet it is demonic. Thus, the words uttered act as a curse, and as they lay hands on a person, it becomes demonic impartation. These “prophets” who deal intentionally to deceive and to mislead, indeed hold great danger to seduce. We read of the following account in Acts 13: 6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus, 7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God. 8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith. 9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord? 11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” The setting of the story of Bar-Jesus is Paul’s first missionary journey. Through prayer, fasting, and the Holy Spirit’s leading, the church in Antioch had selected Barnabas and Saul, who was also called Paul, to be sent out as missionaries. With them also was John Mark. On their journey, they traveled to Cyprus, Barnabas’s home island. When they arrived in Paphos, the western port and capital of the island, they were invited to meet with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, who was the Roman governor of the region. The Bible tells us that Sergius Paulus was an intelligent man who wanted to hear the Word of God. Among the governor’s attendants was Bar-Jesus, a man who made his living practicing magic. He also claimed to be a prophet of God. In this story, we find the nature of the false prophet, thus the counterfeit prophetic movement, on display. In this case, Bar-Jesus sought to undermine the work of the Lord, withstanding Barnabas and Saul and trying to lead the proconsul away from the truth. This is the very nature of the counterfeit prophetic movement – it withstands the work of God, and it opposes Truth. It is the work of apostasy, just as the religious leaders withstood the work of Jesus. Yet the Lord rebuked the Pharisees and Sadducees, thus the religious spirit operating in them, just as the servants of God ultimately addressed the unclean spirit(s) operating in Bar Jesus. In Acts 13 the false prophet is also labeled as a sorcerer because there are indeed false prophets today who are not misguided but they intentionally deceive and lead astray. They are therefore led by a different spirit, and if one operates by any other spirit except the Holy Spirit they are moving in witchcraft.  The name Bar-Jesus means “son of Joshua” or “son of the Saviour.” In Acts 13:8, the magician is called Elymas, which, according to Luke, means “magician” or “sorcerer.” It was not uncommon for Jews to have more than one name, and Luke thought it was important to include both in the account. So not only do we find a false prophet withstanding the work of God, we find a person who even carries the name Jesus, and once again this points to how the devil will continually set up a false system of religion, false gods, and a perverted way to the truth. After all, Jesus warned that false Christs and false prophets will appear (Matthew 24:24). Such is the manner of the counterfeit movement – establishing an alternative to the truth of the Kingdom, opposing the divinity of God, and offering a different way to salvation. This is even the crux of the New Age movement.  This false prophet was even labeled as “deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness”. Yes, the man’s name might have meant ‘son of the Saviour’ but Paul called him “child of the devil.” Indeed, the counterfeit prophetic movement seeks to pervert the straight ways of the Lord. Of John the Baptist it is written in Matthew 3:3: For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; Make His paths straight.’ ” The work of John the Baptist who was also a prophet, declaring the will of the Lord, was to make straight the path of the Lord, thus meaning he was preparing the way so that the people may receive the Truth as taught by Jesus. Yet of the false prophet, we read he seeks to pervert such ways, meaning he comes to lead people astray and away from Jesus who is the Way.  We also find that as the counterfeit met the true prophetic that the counterfeit’s lack of authority was exposed. After all, the counterfeit is driven by the devil, and the devil is a mere fallen angel. The true prophetic is upheld by the Lord of all, and so the false prophet was struck blind for a while. Saul on the road to Damascus was also stuck blind because he like Bar Jesus was blind to the truth of the Lord. Those who oppose the Lord will always be blind to the truth of the Lord, to His Ways and His Power. They are blind to His Kingdom, His Life, and Glory. Such is the manner of the counterfeit prophetic movement – spiritually blind, wicked, and perverting the ways of God.  The reality is that sometimes when the Gospel is preached, Satan will plant stumbling blocks and detractors like Bar-Jesus in the path of those who are seeking to understand the truth (see Matthew 13:4,19). This is the manner and nature of the counterfeit movement. Sadly, Bar-Jesus showed no sign of repentance, but his blindness became a beacon of light for Sergius Paulus. When the governor saw what had happened to the sorcerer, he was astonished by the teaching he had just received from Barnabas and Paul, and he became a believer (Acts 13:12). Light will always triumph over darkness, and God’s true power will always triumph over the counterfeit. The story reminds us how we must continually seek the Lord, seek His Truth, proclaim the Truth, and proclaim His Gospel, for there is power in the Blood – the power to heal, restore, deliver, and save. The true prophetic movement does not have to fear or back down but must persist, persevere and endure by speaking the will of God in humility and love. It will always be countered by the counterfeit in the form of a Bar Jesus, or whatever other false prophet or sorcerer, but God is all-powerful, and those who abide in Him shall overcome.  When it comes to those who prophesy not as the Lord leads, whatever the motivation or intent, it reminds me of Ichabod in 1 Samuel 4:19-21. 19 Now his daughter-in-law, Phinehas’ wife, was with child, due to be delivered; and when she heard the news that the ark of God was captured and that her father-in-law and her husband were dead, she bowed herself and gave birth, for her labor pains came upon her. 20 And about the time of her death the women who stood by her said to her, “Do not fear, for you have borne a son.” But she did not answer, nor did she regard it. 21 Then she named the child Ichabod, saying, “The glory has departed from Israel!” because the ark of God had been captured and because of her father-in-law and her husband. The translation of Ichabod is somewhat debated but it suggests the glory is nowhere to be found. There is definitively a rise of such ‘prophets’ in the house of God, where the glory of God is not with them, or present. For such prophets do not stand in the Lord’s counsel. It says in Jeremiah 23: But if they had stood in My counsel, And had caused My people to hear My words, Then they would have turned them from their evil way And from the evil of their doings. Indeed, if we abide in the Lord and His counsel, we shall be convicted of our deceptions, of leading people astray, of speaking lies, and of confusing. Even worse, such prophets, because they do not hear the Lord, will then steal prophetic words from other people! Jeremiah 23: 30 “Therefore behold, I am against the prophets,” says the Lord, “who steal My words every one from his neighbor. This is happening often, especially in the time and age of mass communication. Those who fake it and pretend to be prophetic can easily consume all the words posted and floating around in cyberspace and claim it as their own. But again, such “word” will not carry any authority or truth, but would rather carry the danger of spiritual deception and corruption. Let us be reminded of Jeremiah 23: 32 Behold, I am against those who prophesy false dreams,” says the Lord, “and tell them, and cause My people to err by their lies and by their recklessness. Yet I did not send them or command them; therefore they shall not profit this people at all,” says the Lord. Yes, those who operate not in the presence of the Lord are actually in danger of stealing God’s glory. They after all seek not to glorify God, but to exalt themselves. Jeremiah 23: 35 Thus every one of you shall say to his neighbor, and every one to his brother, ‘What has the Lord answered?’ and, ‘What has the Lord spoken?’ 36 And the oracle of the Lord you shall mention no more. For every man’s word will be his oracle, for you have perverted the words of the living God, the Lord of hosts, our God.’ Thus, for such ‘prophets’ of an Ichabod nature the deception begins in their own minds and hearts. Jeremiah 14: 14 And the Lord said to me, “The prophets prophesy lies in My name. I have not sent them, commanded them, nor spoken to them; they prophesy to you a false vision, divination, a worthless thing, and the deceit of their heart. Indeed, it is a word of the flesh, and not of Godly wisdom. And so the warning of Jeremiah 5 applies to our age as well: “An astonishing and horrible thing Has been committed in the land: 31 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? They also prophesy without unction. Jeremiah 23:21 says, “I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran. I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied.” If God is not speaking, prophets should not be talking in His name.  Such fake it and pretend prophets do not carry a strong revelation of the Father’s heart. They are missing a deep revelation of the glory of God so they prophesy harsh words, and judgments with no room for repentance, curses on people and nations, and celebrate when their witchcraft comes to pass. They may even trumpet an intimacy message, but bitterness supersedes a glory revelation. And many times, they prophesy what the party line wants to hear. Their intent and motivation are many times to gain popularity. Jeremiah 6:13-14: “Because from the least of them even to the greatest of them, Everyone is given to covetousness; And from the prophet even to the priest, Everyone deals falsely. They have also healed the hurt of My people slightly, Saying, ‘Peace, peace!’ When there is no peace. Just as terrible is that these false prophets, be it misguided or intentional deception, will resist the true prophetic. In Luke 13:34 we read: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those sent to her!” The prophets were often killed because they spoke the Truth of God, and many times that truth offended. After all, a true prophet will reveal the true nature of things, and for this reason, they who move in the counterfeit will oppose the true prophet. It also says in Acts 7:52: “Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, whose betrayers and murderers you have now become; Regarding cults, it should be noted as a point of interest how many of these cult/sect/esoteric movement leaders often see themselves as prophets, thus special messengers. The devil has done this on purpose to discredit the true prophetic, and the devil knows that people are intrigued and fascinated by the prophetic. As soon as some or other so-called spiritual guru claims himself to be a prophet, then immediately there is some or other kind of allure, and so man is tricked and deceived by the devil. The devil uses the prophetic title for a specific purpose, because of the allure and fascination it holds. Many will stream towards such “prophets”, who claim to be special messengers or have extra knowledge of the spiritual or the divine. It is not by coincidence that many of the cults or esoteric movements are led by prophets just as many churches are led by similarly disillusioned prophets, who ultimately lead people away from the Truth of God. After all, there are plenty of churches that run like a cult, where the pastor/prophet holds the ultimate power over the people, constantly brainwashing, manipulating, and deceiving. Therefore, it is not surprising that most of the time cults and sects would be led by “prophets”, just as many churches are led by similar “prophets”, because of the power of influence that the office holds. And these prophets of the cult or of the church that resembles a cult will continue to beguile, mislead and draw people away from God because of ignorance, and spiritual deception. Granted, some of them may indeed be deceived themselves, but others are intentionally misleading for their own gain or profit. How else to explain this when a so-called prophet tells his congregation to eat grass or drink poison? Such spiritual leaders will only lead one down a path of self-destruction.  There is plenty of evidence of how these false/misguided “prophets” hold great sway over the congregation. It is allowed to happen because so many in the church do not really know the Lord or His Word or the Spirit. Footage has emerged where congregants physically walk after the prophet (pastor) on all four like sheep, while others will gladly eat grass to be healed, or drink poison to test God, or embrace a snake. This is not the way of the Kingdom. This is the way of darkness.  One should take note of how many of these misguided and false prophets indeed at the end of the day begin to move in the occult by what they say and do. This is only natural because if you do not move in the Spirit of God, you are an open channel for a demonic attachment. And the more you mock the Lord and rebel against His Kingdom, the greater the legal entry for such demonic entities. And so many times the manifestations within the church where this pastor/prophet operates are certainly not godly, but definitely demonic. And these prophets, like cult leaders, demand perfect loyalty from followers, for they overvalue themselves and devalued those around them. They will be intolerant of criticism (today a lot of spiritual leaders refuse true prophetic correction), and above all, they do not like being questioned or challenged. And yet, despite these less-than-charming traits, they had no trouble attracting those who were willing to overlook these features. Today, even in churches, you also find the reality of the messiah complex (also known as the Christ complex or savior complex), which is a state of mind in which an individual holds a belief that they are, or are destined to become, a savior. This complex will especially be prevalent among the false prophets, who act like a false christ. No spiritual leader is ever the savior of the people – only God. We are only called to lead others to the Lord, who is our and the only true Saviour of the world.  False messiahs are one of the signs Jesus warned about: •”And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray” (Matthew 24:11);  •”For false christs and false prophets will arise and perform great signs and wonders, to lead astray, if possible, even the elect.” (Matthew 24:14); •”For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.” (Matthew 24:5)  Take note of Deuteronomy 13 (NKJV): Punishment of Apostates: 13 “If there arises among you a prophet or a dreamer of dreams, and he gives you a sign or a wonder, 2 and the sign or the wonder comes to pass, of which he spoke to you, saying, ‘Let us go after other gods’—which you have not known—‘and let us serve them,’ 3 you shall not listen to the words of that prophet or that dreamer of dreams, for the Lord your God is testing you to know whether you love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. 4 You shall walk[a] after the Lord your God and fear Him, and keep His commandments and obey His voice; you shall serve Him and hold fast to Him. 5 But that prophet or that dreamer of dreams shall be put to death, because he has spoken to turn you away from the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt and redeemed you from the house of bondage, to entice you from the way in which the Lord your God commanded you to walk. So you shall put away the evil from your midst. It is therefore clear in this case that if any prophet leads someone away from God, or the Truth of God, or the Kingdom of God, in any way, shape, or form, then they are false and branded dangerous. Peter warns in 2 Peter 2: But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you … Indeed, many deceptive, dangerous, and demonic movements within the church are certainly not led by the prophet of God, for they proclaim, declare and teach knowledge that is contrary to who God is, His Word and His Kingdom. Yet, because of their charismatic nature, they will lead so many people astray and cause them to stumble in their ways. Years ago the Lord showed unto me a man carrying a satchel, and in the satchel was plenty of these ancient-looking scrolls (they were overflowing in number). The Lord said the scrolls represented all the word (Rhema) the man has received on his spiritual journey. Yet, because of the lack of discernment and knowing what is right from wrong, the man never let go of the false word (scrolls) but kept adding them to the others in the satchel. Among the scrolls were plenty of prophetic words for his life, and his calling. In the end, this man went through life embracing all the words (scrolls), never realizing most of the words he has received were false and were designed to mislead. Because of the lack of discernment between what is real and fake, the man was in a state of confusion. The only way therefore to truly counter the fake and counterfeit prophetic move in the church is to know God, to be led by His Spirit, and to know the Word. For the Truth shall set us free from all of the deceptions, trickery, and lies.  Consider what the prophet Hosea said in chapter 9: The days of punishment have come; The days of recompense have come. Israel knows! The prophet is a fool, The spiritual man is insane, Because of the greatness of your iniquity and great enmity. 8 The watchman of Ephraim is with my God; But the prophet is a fowler’s snare in all his ways— Enmity in the house of his God. 9 They are deeply corrupted, As in the days of Gibeah. He will remember their iniquity; He will punish their sins. Hosea (active 750-722 BC) was a prophet of the kingdom of Israel. He called on Israel to repent its sins of apostasy and warned of the judgment to come from God. Of course, as with so many other prophets, the people did not listen. It is shocking how the Lord says that the prophet in the days of Hosea was merely foolish and even worse, the spiritual man insane. Such foolishness of the prophets was echoed by Ezekiel in chapter 13:3 Thus says the Lord God: “Woe to the foolish prophets, who follow their own spirit and have seen nothing! It says in Proverbs 1:7 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction. Thus, the so-called prophets in the days of Hosea ultimately despised the wisdom and instruction of the Lord. This is how foolishness sets in. Jesus said in Matthew 7:26 “But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand … Indeed, it is foolishness when we heed not God or follow His ways or His Truth. This was the path followed by the prophets in the days of Hosea, and this is sadly the path that still many follow today in the churches.  The chapter in Hosea according to the Amplified is translated as follows: The prophet is [considered] a fool; The man [of God] who is inspired is [treated as if] demented, Because of the abundance of your wickedness and guilt, And because your deep antagonism [toward God and the prophets] is so great. The church is truly in a state of apostasy because of foolishness, because our antagonism [toward God and the true prophets] is so great, and because so many in churches still love the world and its wickedness. This is by foolish behavior. Of foolish behavior we read in Psalm 53:1 [folly of the godless]: The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.” They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity; There is none who does good. Let us also take note of Proverbs 12:15 The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But he who heeds counsel is wise. This of course reminds me of Psalm 1: Blessed [fortunate, prosperous, and favored by God] is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked [following their advice and example], Nor stand in the path of sinners, Nor sit [down to rest] in the seat of scoffers (ridiculers).  Apostasy is upon us because believers are in danger of often walking in the counsel of the wicked, or standing in the path of sinners. More than ever we need to walk in wisdom, and we need to trust God to lead us in such wisdom so that we are not foolish. We need to be led by the true prophetic voice, and not by foolishness and ignorance. At the end of the day, foolishness, arrogance, pride, and ignorance breed not a sound mind, thus the reference to insanity as mentioned by Hosea.  We can only cultivate a sound mind as we are led by the Spirit of the Lord (1 Timothy 4:7), thus walk in the ways and the counsel of God, otherwise we shall fall in the trap of Romans 1 which says the following: 21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools, 23 And changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. 24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves: 25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen. 26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: 27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet. 28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient … God’s wrath against rebellion is clearly spelled out in Romans 1. And this is because they were vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Thus, they were foolish, and they fell prey to a reprobate mind. The word ‘reprobate’ is the Greek word adokimos, which signifies “not standing the test, rejected”. It speaks of a mind of which God cannot approve, and which must be rejected or cast away by Him, the effect of refusing “to have God in their knowledge. It, therefore, refers to something depraved, unprincipled, or wicked, even worse, thus a person rejected by God and beyond hope of salvation. It, therefore, speaks of a people who had become darkened in their knowledge of God, thus walking in foolishness. Such behavior was evident in the days of Noah, of which we read in Genesis 6: 5 And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. Prophets who truly do not yield to God and who do not submit, also show signs of such a mind. It is a mind that God cannot approve, for it is a mind that is opposed to the ways of God. And such a mind will only breed apostasy, madness, and rebellion. Right throughout history, up to now, mankind has constantly struggled with rebellion against God. Such rebellion infiltrated the minds of the Israelites, even the prophets and leaders. Thus they were foolish. And today still, there is great foolishness in churches, for many so-called prophets are mere fools and many spiritual leaders are acting like mad men as in the days of Hosea.  Mad implies the false theology that is being preached, the absurd behavior advocating the twisting of the truth, the distortion of God’s ways, and the continuous self-glorification and self-exaltation.  Mad implying self-glorying prophetic actions and words, void of the Spirit. Indeed, these are days of madness, or insanity, for how else to explain a people of God who resist His Truth, His Ways, and His Kingdom for self-gain and profit, as in the days of Hosea and so many other prophets? No wonder there is so much apostasy in the church. It is because there is so much foolishness, thus a lack of true counsel, which breeds insanity, which sets up an environment for spiritual abuse, confusion, and decepRead more

Prophetic Expressions PreviousRead more

Multiple Micro Communities I am so glad Roger Thomas wrote something about this aspect in terms of community life. “Multiple Micro Communities” describes the everyday community life of the ekklesia beautifully. This is true authentic Biblical church life explained in modern language: Someone noted that “thinking outside of the box keeps you from suffocating inside of one.” We must continue to allow God to shape us and our expressions of his church (ekklesia). He is an innately creative God. It is in this vein that I offer the following thoughts. This is not a definitive way to think of church community or gatherings. It is simply an alternative to a one-size-fits-all type of thinking that may free some of us to be more creative in our experience of church life and community. I find that my own experience of ‘church gatherings’ involves, realistically, three or more micro communities. I have a couple of house church fellowships that I regularly connect to you. These provide a sense of God-connection, worship, prayer, Bible focus, and spiritual friendship. In addition, I have a specific support group and small network of friends that I frequent providing me with a place for deep community-life where transparent sharing and transformation is facilitated. Finally, I have a number of groups that I spend time with who share my mission focus and keep me accountable and motivated to use my gifts to make a difference in the world. Having considered this, I am reflecting on three elements of church community that one does well to be intentional about, though there may be a variety of ways to incorporate these elements into our lives. Sometimes I, and others, refer to these three aspects as Up, In, and Out. They are also clearly outlined in Acts 2:42, 47. Up. This refers to fellowshipping with others in ways that encourage and build our vertical relationship with God: prayer, worship, Bibles discovery, etc. (Apostle’s teaching, prayer). In. This refers to sharing real life with one another. Transparency, ‘confessing of sin,’ and sharing our burdens and real-life concerns with one another. (Breaking of bread, fellowship). Out. This refers to our mission in the world to see others impacted by the power and love of God. (Favor with all the people). There may or may not be one, specific group of people that provides us with all three elements perfectly, and multiple ‘micro communities’ may best suit us at certain times. I love the house church gatherings that I connect to. But those who gather are involved in very different missions out in the world. Therefore, I find it very powerful to also connect with those who are more specifically focused on the type of mission work that I am involved in. Thus my own need for a different micro community. Furthermore, I also find that the kind of deeper sharing that continues to bring healing to my heart and soul is best facilitated in specific types of groups or with a friend or two whom I can be fully honest with. Again, I am not trying to prescribe everyone to my current ‘gathering’ scenario. But I have discovered that being intentional about all three elements of church (ekklesia) has given me a foundation for, perhaps, the strongest spiritual life I have had in my life. I believe the principle is that, yes, we need each other and that these three prongs provide us with strong community support for our walk with Jesus. The ‘how to’ of walking that out… well, that’s where there remains much room for creativity and exploration. Roger Thomas Please remember to read our post about “The Last Reformation”. Watch the video on that post! It is absolutelRead more

What Causes Sicknesses and Diseases? What Makes People Sick? Audio Version Of This Web Page MP3 Player behaving funny? Try a differentRead more

Audio and Written Versions: Spiritual Warfare Session 2 Biblical Spiritual Warfare Session 2 Audio Version Of This Web Page MP3 Player behaving funny? Try a different browser or a different device Session 1 My name is Basie Martins. I trust that you are all well and I want to thank you again for listening to this series. For you who do not know, this series is about spiritual warfare. In the previous session, we discussed how and why people are being deceived daily and why they believe the doctrines of devils. I think all Christians have been deceived in this manner at least once or twice at some time in their lives. None of us is immune to deceit. It probably happened with almost all of us. That is a fact and I am not just making this statement lightly. We also discussed why the doctrine of generational curses is false. We discussed how God got involved in the debate that occurred in the days of Ezekiel about this subject. We discussed the Scriptures and the statements that God made directly in this regard to debunking the false beliefs about this doctrine. In today’s discussion, we will be looking at the Scriptures that were taken out of context through the years as an attempt to prove or to support the doctrine of generational curses. Here are some of these Scriptures that were taken out of context: Deuteronomy 5:7-10 7 Thou shalt have none other gods before me.  8 Thou shalt not make thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the waters beneath the earth:  9 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me,  10 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments. Now this portion of Scripture has nothing to do with the church and nothing to do with believers. It has nothing to do with Christians. It has nothing to do with Christians. It has everything to do with the Jews and it has everything to do with people that HATE God. Verse 10 can be related to us though because we are people who LOVE God. It is however quite interesting to note that verse 10 says the same thing as Galatians 3:20. It also says that we are blessed and not cursed. This was God’s way of telling Israel, whom He is about to make a covenant with, how He feels about heathen nations who hate Him and people in the nation of Israel who hate him. This portion of Scripture does NOT support generational curses in a Christians life because it was at that time only applicable to heathen nations and people who HATED God. This Scripture is taken out of context because people who use this Scripture to apply it in the lives of Christians ignore all other Scriptures in the rest of the Bible which clearly changed this Scripture. Firstly God promised in the days of Jeremiah that this law will be repealed. Secondly, God confirmed that this law was repealed already in the days of Ezekiel. Just as people cannot refer to the Old Testament Scripture about a “tooth for a tooth” as being the will of God, so they cannot refer to this Scripture as the will of God or still valid. This law was repealed by God just as Jesus repealed the law about “a tooth for a tooth”. Jesus said we must forgive and not retaliate. God also declared that Jesus Christ became a curse for us so that we cannot be cursed. To be cursed means to be punished for sins. God gave the nation of Israel a choice. Life or death, the blessing or the curse. The blessing meant prosperity and the curse meant punishment for sins. However, Jesus became a curse so that we can inherit the blessings of Abraham. So this is a double redemption. God repealed the original law for everybody but He also made Christ Jesus a curse so that even on judgment day we cannot be punished, but that is not all, He made sure that we are forever living and walking blamelessly in the sight of the Lord, from the moment we accept Jesus Christ as our savior. Another Scripture that was taken out of context: Lamentations 5:7 Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. So this Scripture appears to suggest that we pay for the sins of our fathers. However, there are two problems with such an assumption: Firstly this book was written before the law of generational curses was repealed. Secondly, this Scripture has nothing to do with generational curses. It has everything to do with the bad actions and bad decisions of the nation of Israel. Just as we today as an “Afrikaner” nation have to carry the results or burdens of “apartheid” because of the decisions our nation’s forefathers made. “Apartheid” was a sin. The Israelites had to carry the burdens of the mistakes and sins of their forefathers. Many nations all across the world were burdened and are still burdened because of the sins of their forefathers. Germany and Japan are classic examples of this. Adolf Hitler and the German nation, as well as the Japanese nation, committed serious atrocities during world war two. Both these nations were severely punished for this in terms of war-penalties and discrimination through the years. The culprits were long dead while their descendants were still paying for their iniquities. This is what this Scripture in Lamentations is all about. It has nothing to do with visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. It has nothing to do with family or generational curses. It has everything to do with nations and the wrong decisions, which can also be called the sins of nations and the wrong paths that nations decided to embark upon. Let me explain this through an illustration: A young farmer struggles to make ends meet on his farm. He started with a lot of problems and challenges when he inherited the farm when his father died a few months ago. His father left him with a lot of depts that need to be paid off. It is going to take him years to deal with this alone. On top of that, his father was very reckless and undisciplined when it comes to farming. He often left the tractors and farm equipment just there on the maize fields where it was taking a hammering from the elements. He rarely serviced the tractors and equipment and he took a lot of shortcuts in this regard. Nothing was properly maintained because his father was addicted to gambling which swallowed up most of the money that was supposed to be used to maintain the farming business. So this young man was struggling because of the sins of his father. It has nothing to do with generational curses though. God is not punishing this young man for the sins of the father. This man is struggling because of the bad decisions and bad actions of his father.  Nehemiah 1:1-6 is another Scripture that is very similar to the Scripture that we just dealt with. It says the following: 1 The words of Nehemiah the son of Hachaliah. And it came to pass in the month Chisleu, in the twentieth year, as I was in Shushan the palace,  2 That Hanani, one of my brethren, came, he and certain men of Judah; and I asked them concerning the Jews that had escaped, which were left of the captivity, and concerning Jerusalem.  3 And they said unto me, The remnant that are left of the captivity there in the province are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.  4 And it came to pass, when I heard these words, that I sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted, and prayed before the God of heaven,  5 And said, I beseech thee, O LORD God of heaven, the great and terrible God, that keepeth covenant and mercy for them that love him and observe his commandments:  6 Let thine ear now be attentive, and thine eyes open, that thou mayest hear the prayer of thy servant, which I pray before thee now, day and night, for the children of Israel thy servants, and confess the sins of the children of Israel, which we have sinned against thee: both I and my father’s house have sinned. Again this portion of Scripture is all about the nation of Israel. Nehemiah fasted and prayed for the nation of Israel that was taken into captivity. He mourned over the walls of Jerusalem that were broken and the gates that were burnt. Firstly, this Scripture was also a part of the history of Israel before the law of generational curses was repealed. Secondly, this Scripture has nothing to do with generational curses. It is also about the nation of Israel. Nehemiah mentioned that he and His father’s house also sinned against God. So what he is saying is that he and his wife and his sons and his nephews and his nieces and uncles and grandchildren all sinned against God. He said I and my whole family, which is part of the nation of Israel have all sinned against God. So he is not innocent. He pays for his own sins in this regard although the law of generational curses was still valid at that time. It was not repealed yet. He is however not referring to his ancestors or fathers in this regard. So this is not about family or bloodline curses but all about the judgment of God that came upon the nation of Israel. So there we have it, generational curses was a reality. That is true but this law was repealed by God. He explicitly confirmed that it was repealed and not valid anymore. He explicitly declared that He keeps every person accountable for his or her own sin. It was never applicable to Christians because Jesus Christ became a curse for us so that we can only inherit the blessings of Abraham. So Israel suffered under this law but they were rescued from the consequences of this law when God repealed this law. However, gentile Christians were never under this law because it was repealed long before Christianity. Although the law of generational curses or bloodline curses was repealed, the Israelites were still suffering under the curse of the law for their own sins. They sinned under the law and therefore the curse of the law was still upon them. When Christ came he took the curse of the law away for good. The first Christian, Mary Magdalene, the moment she accepted Jesus Christ, was redeemed from the curse of the law that instant. Unbelievers in the Jewish nation are however still suffering under this law. They live under the law by choice. They rejected Jesus Christ and they chose the law so they are still under the law and the curse of the law. I used generational curses as an example to show you how people are being deceived. Although Scripture is clear on the truth people are being conned into believing a lot of things that are not Biblical. This is also true for the false variation of spiritual warfare. It is true for the false doctrines about the end times. It is true for a whole lot of false doctrines in the body of Christ today.  The problem is, people do not know the Scriptures. Hosea 4:6: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge… We believe all sorts of statements and doctrines because we do not know the word of God. I sincerely hope that you are satisfied with the results of your “Deception test” that we took in the previous session. My earnest hope is that people would not ignore this truth about God’s word. It is a very important key that will prevent people from being deceived. It will set people free. The moment that people realize that God’s word is written according to this principle they have a very good chance to be set free and not to be deceived again. I want to repeat this principle once again: “All statements in the Scriptures are simply the truth exactly as it is written”. When the Bible says God heals then He heals. Period. Is there a scripture that says that God does not heal anymore? No. Then He still heals. Period. Are there a lot of statements with all sorts of reasons why He does not heal anymore. Yes but if it is not in the Bible. It is statements made by men and because of that, it is not the truth. Period. The false doctrine called spiritual warfare came into existence exactly as I mentioned above. In fact, the false doctrine of generational curses gave birth to the false doctrine of spiritual warfare. It was almost an automatic result of the doctrine of the generational curse. It started with the breaking of curses. You will be amazed at how many statements, sayings, and war-cries, people who believe in these doctrines make and use daily that cannot be found in the Bible. Yet they believe these statements and these doctrines as if it is in the Bible. Paul used the term “spiritual warfare” as a metaphor but unfortunately, people took it literally. Paul did bring the facts about this subject into perspective in other portions of his letters but people missed that. Take note that spiritual warfare is a reality but the principles of spiritual warfare are based on the “metaphor” of physical warfare. It basically means that we are involved in a struggle against evil. We do not physically kill each other. Satan and evil do not have to be defeated. Evil was already defeated by Christ Jesus on the cross two thousand years ago. So it is not a matter of beating or defeating the enemy. It is a struggle of faith. Evil forces lie to people and they deceive people. So this is what the struggle is all about for them. For us, it is a matter of staying faithful to Christ by not getting involved in sin and not believing the lies of the enemy. It is all about words and the battle takes place between our ears where our thoughts are. It is a matter of replacing toxic words for the word of God.  I sincerely hope that this discussion thoroughly introduced you to that all-important key that will protect you from being deceived in the future. I started this series with the deception test, and then I moved over to the deception regarding the doctrine of generational curses. As I said, I did this on purpose because these two factors are usually the basis on which the false variation of spiritual warfare is built. As soon as people realize that they have been deceived in this regard, they stand a better chance of being delivered from the bondage that these false doctrines cause in their lives. False doctrines always cause bondage. That is the purpose of false doctrines. The doctrines of devils cannot exist in a person’s life without causing damage and bondage and hurt or spiritual deterioration. This series is not about generational curses but spiritual warfare. Apart from the false basis that Christians are building their doctrines, we also need to know how the devil and the demons oppress Christians and other people. How does the devil oppress Christians? When Jesus Christ still walked this earth this very thing kept Him quite busy. He went through Judea and healed the sick right through His earthly ministry. He delivered people who were oppressed by satan. Yes, I admit that those people were not Christians; they were Jews. But yet, even after the redemption work of Christ on the cross, this is still a problem for most Christians today. In the Bible we see that people were oppressed by satan daily although we clearly see that Christ did redeem us from that oppression: Luke 4:18 (NKJV) The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; Matthew 4:24 (ESV) So his fame spread throughout all Syria, and they brought him all the sick, those afflicted with various diseases and pains, those oppressed by demons, epileptics, and paralytics, and he healed them. Now how does the devil go about oppressing people even after Christ paid the price for them and after He delivered them from sin and diseases? No, the devil does not have the power to go out and oppress people all over the world by inflicting them with all sorts of diseases. It does appear that way but it is just not the truth. He, however, does oppress people and this is why I am writing this post today. Christians need to know how he does that to understand how to resist being oppressed by him. Hell, diseases and the punishment of God To understand spiritual warfare, generational curses and the punishment of God, we need to understand the following:God created hell to punish satan, demons and unrighteous people if they die without Christ. Those who reject Christ cannot escape hell. God created sickness and diseases to punish people who sin. We, however, know that God the Father does not punish anyone anymore because of the redemption work of Christ. This includes the saved and the unsaved. Even the unsaved live in a time of grace. Anyone who dies without Jesus Christ, however, brings the curse of the law upon himself the moment he dies without Christ. At that moment he descends into hell where he must now carry his own punishment. Because he rejected the blood of Christ God the Father now punishes him for that. The point I want to make here, however, is that God the father created sickness just as He created hell. Both came into existence because of a decision made by the Father. Both belong to Him.  Only a God can punish. Only a ruler of a kingdom can make laws and force his subjects to live according to those laws. For such a ruler to make laws, to enforce those laws and to punish his subjects if they do not conform to those laws, he needs to be a lawful ruler. His ruler-ship needs to be legitimate. These are some of the reasons why satan cannot punish people. He is not a lawful ruler or a God who can make laws, who can enforce laws and who can punish people who do not conform to those laws. Satan cannot throw you in hell and he cannot put sicknesses and diseases upon you even if he wanted to. Firstly he is not God the Father and secondly, a child of God has been delivered from the curse which is the judgment of God on the disobedient. Right through the Bible, it is clearly stated that God punishes people with sickness. He also throws people in hell and He uses His angels to throw those people in hell. Does that make Him a bad God? Does that make Him an unjust God? No, that makes Him a fair God. This world is filled with bad, unholy people who murder and oppress women, children, and good people! God always protects the weak. These people need to be punished. They need to pay for their atrocities! That is only fair and that must be done! God cannot allow people to do what they want and just get away with it! All righteous people do understand this principle of the kingdom of God. The thing is that the grace of God runs out on people and that is when the curse hits them. A few statements that I make in this session may appear contradictory but you will grasp it at the end of this session or sometime during the series. There are different groups of people on this earth and God treats them differently. For instance, does God punish people? Yes, in some cases He does and in some cases, He does not. Are people still under the law or the curse? Some are, the Jews, some not, the Christians, some not, the gentiles, but God will regard them to be under the law because there own conscious witnessed unto them that what they were doing was wrong and they will eventually be regarded to be under the law because their conscience became a law in their hearts. It convicted them of sin and so they will be judged and the curse will hit them when they die without Christ. So yes, God punishes some people and some not. Don’t you believe that this wonderful and loving God of us can carry out such violent and harsh acts? This does not make Him cruel you know. It makes Him just. Read the Scriptures below and see how God used to punish people and how He did it: Isaiah 45:6-7 6 That they may know from the rising of the sun, and from the west, that there is none beside me. I am the LORD, and there is none else.  7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I the LORD do all these things The evil that God refers to in verse 7 is the “punishment” of God. That includes hell and it includes diseases, famine and all sorts of other ways of punishment to bring people to justice. Just read the following Scriptures as proof for this statement: Deuteronomy 28:21-25 21 The LORD shall make the pestilence cleave unto thee, until he have consumed thee from off the land, whither thou goest to possess it. 22 The LORD shall smite thee with a consumption, and with a fever, and with an inflammation, and with an extreme burning, and with the sword, and with blasting, and with mildew; and they shall pursue thee until thou perish.  23 And thy heaven that is over thy head shall be brass, and the earth that is under thee shall be iron.  24 The LORD shall make the rain of thy land powder and dust: from heaven shall it come down upon thee, until thou be destroyed.  25 The LORD shall cause thee to be smitten before thine enemies: thou shalt go out one way against them, and flee seven ways before them: and shalt be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth. These verses are just a few among a lot of Scripture saying the same thing. It was a warning from God to Israel. He warned them but they did not listen. God then kept His word and HE brought all the evil described in this Scripture over the nation of Israel. He did not use the devil to do it for Him. No, He did it Himself. He is God and He does this when necessary. God uses angels to throw the devil, demons and even people in hell. Do you know what type of torment and afflictions people will have to go through in hell? God is certainly capable of punishing people and He uses the good guys to punish the bad guys. When a man committed a crime the police arrest him and they, along with prison wardens, throw him in jail. It is the good guys who are enforcing the law. It is the good guys who bring people to justice. The government does not utilize criminals to bring other people to justice. God does not use satan to punish people. God even punished His own Son in our place there on the cross. He did not call satan to come and punish Jesus. No, He did it Himself. It is recorded in Isaiah 53: Isaiah 53:4,6,10 4 Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken,smitten of God, and afflicted. 6 All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. 10 Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. Now we know that God punished Jesus so that we may walk free. For this reason, God does NOT punish anymore. He punished Jesus Christ for the sins of all men, there is no more punishment except for those who die without Jesus Christ. The day a person dies without Jesus Christ, on that day God’s grace runs out on that person. Isaiah clearly predicted that there will be a period of grace in the dispensation of the Messiah: Isaiah 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. Please take note that the curse of the law is nothing else than punishment. When someone, according to Deuteronomy 27:11-26, declared a curse onto someone it meant that the law was broken and that the person who trespassed the law must now be punished. In the dispensation of Christ that usually does not happen because all sins have been paid for by Christ when he took all punishment on Him. A person has to die without Christ before the curse can come over Him. The curse kicks into action when a person dies if he rejected the blood of Christ. Such a person must then pay for his own sins. This is a clear indication that God does not punish people any more. But when He does, He does it with his angels. He does not use demons to punish people. So how can people believe the lie that the devil makes them sick? No, nobody confiscated or hijacked hell or God’s methods of punishment or God’s legal right to punish from Him. The devil cannot throw you in hell and he cannot put diseases upon you. He is not God! What caused the confusion in terms of punishment and diseases? It is clear from certain Scriptures in the Bible and from personal testimonies that there definitely is a connection between diseases and Satanic oppression. Jesus referred to sick people as being oppressed by satan. One testimony that I heard was in the life of Kenneth Hagin. He testified that he once prayed for a lady with lung cancer for four evenings in a row. She just did not get healed in the healing services. The next evening, the fifth service that he held, she was in the healing-line again and Kenneth decided to pray for her again. The moment he started praying for her he suddenly saw in the spirit realm. He could see a small demon hanging onto this lady’s lungs. Kenneth immediately knew that the cancer was caused by this little demon. He immediately cast it out and the lady was immediately and miraculously healed. Now Scriptures referring to sick people being oppressed by satan and testimonies like the one above may bring us under the impression that satan can go around to randomly inflict people with diseases. This is however not true. Satan hasn’t got that power. If he had he would have gone rampant on all mankind. He hates us so much that he would have killed us like flies. Exactly how does the devil oppress Christians? To answer this question we need to make it clear why people and even why Christians still get sick today. There are two very important reasons for this. Firstly sickness is a natural and direct result of sin. That means any person using drugs, smoking or getting involved in any sin will eventually bring diseases into their bodies directly because of that particular sin. Smoking can cause lung cancer and drugs can also cause many diseases. Even spiritual sins like unforgiveness can cause sicknesses like cancer. It is not God the Father punishing people. It is people naturally causes sicknesses to germinate and to grow inside their bodies because of sin. So, in this case, it is not from God or satan. People cause it to themselves. Secondly, Christians get sick because of unbelief. They just do not believe that God can protect them against danger, sicknesses and any other acts and occurrences that can and may cause injury or damage to their bodies. Because of unbelief, many Christians are exposed to this kind of thing. This is where Satanic oppression gets to such people. Sin and unbelief open doors to Satanic oppression. Satan’s primary goal is to get Christians involved in sin. His secondary objective is to cause people to doubt God’s word of protection. This is how Satanic oppression starts. Every sickness and every disease starts at the “border posts” of the kingdom of God. It starts at the “border posts” of your circumstances. It starts at the “border posts” of your life which is your own little kingdom that God wants you to have dominion over. Let me explain: Jesus Christ conquered the devil on the cross. As a sinless human being, He paid the price on the cross for the redemption of our souls. With this victory, Jesus took the reign of the earth back from satan. He disarmed him and He gave us dominion over our own personal circumstances, the earth and over satan and his demons. We read about this in the book of Colossians: Colossians 2:15 And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a shew of them openly, triumphing over them in it. Jesus won the battle for us. He openly triumphed over satan and He disarmed him. The devil really has no power over us. He is a defeated foe. For this reason, we are not involved in a war with him. The instruction from God is to submit ourselves to God and to resist the devil. Resisting is a somewhat passive resistance like manning a border post. The sole purpose of a border post is to keep illegal people out. Yes, God did equip us with strong and potent armor to protect ourselves. We need to be ready for evil forces by clothing ourselves with the full armor of God. Although we are not involved in warfare we do need to protect our borders and we do need to be strong and ready like an army. Like any nation, we deploy our soldiers on our border posts, ready and clothed in full armor. At this border post, our enemy arrives with lies and deception. He does not arrive at the border post with firearms, canons or bazookas. He is not even clothed in spiritual warfare armor because the Lord Jesus Christ completely disarmed him on that wonderful day. He, however, does have a very strong weapon! His tongue! He uses his tongue to deceive and to entice us into all sorts of sin and temptations. At the border post, he seeks only one thing and that is to enter. He wants an open door. He wants a place in our lives. To achieve this he starts to negotiate with us. He starts to reason with us. He tries all his dirty little tricks to persuade us to open the gate for him. He even tries to creep past us without us noticing. He entices us to open the door for him by allowing sin in our lives. He attempts to get us so far as to confess negative things over our lives. He lies and he deceives hoping that we will fall for those lies. Exactly what he did with Eve. And again, Adam and Eve were not involved in spiritual warfare with satan. Even today the devil uses the same tactics as he did with Adam and Eve. He questions the word and the promises of God to make us doubt in God. There at the border post is where it all starts. As a result, we sometimes start harboring ungodly and toxic thoughts. The more we give in to his lies, temptations, and deceptions, the more we act and the more we say what he wants us to do and wants us to say. This leads to sin and sin brings death. We start smoking and drinking. We start despising other people and we start to be unforgiving towards other people. Sin is the cause of sickness. Smoking causes all sorts of lung diseases. Hate and bitterness (unforgiveness) cause cancer and other diseases. This is how we open the door for the devil. This is how satan slowly but surely starts oppressing a child of God. We allow him to influence us and that causes us to become sick. We sometimes allow demons to cause affliction in our bodies by permitting them to do so. We give in to his ways, his will, and the pressure that he puts on us. He cannot make you sick. It is us getting involved in sin and all sorts of ungodly practices, disobedience, and fear. The devil does not oppress innocent Christians by putting all kinds of disease onto them. We reap what we sow. If you sow sin you will reap diseases. It comes naturally because of that. The devil can do absolutely nothing to an innocent Christian. It is the “not so innocent Christian” who picks up problems. People, we can never blame God because He does not tempt us and He does not punish us. We can never blame the devil because he just hasn’t got any power over us. We can only blame ourselves because we got involved in bad thinking and sin because of the lies, temptations, and deception that we listened to and adhered to. We accepted the lies of the enemy there at the border post and we allowed him to enter into our lives. We are absolutely NEVER a victim of circumstances outside our control. That is a lie from hell! We are always to blame for anything and everything that goes wrong in our lives. God gave us Divine protection, Divine healing, Divine provision, and Divine maintenance. If we serve God the way we should we are always completely protected. Can you remember the impenetrable hedge that God put around Job? The devil just could not get to Job in any way as much as he wanted to. The problem is that we are not obedient to God and His word. We do not believe his word and we do not make his word part of our lives. We do not meditate on His Word so that the Holy Spirit can use the word to build up our most holy faith. Stop blaming the devil and stop blaming God. Accept your responsibility to reign as a king in the kingdom of God and over your personal circumstances according to His will and His word. Do not give the devil any place in your life and do not open any door for him. Submit yourself to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you. If you do this, he cannot do anything to you at all. What a wonderful truth this is? We can always be victorious in all circumstances in life. Praise God for the work he has done! With His blood he saved us! With His power He raised us! Praise God for the work He has done! This is all for today. In the next session, we will proceed with the aspects that we touched on in this session. We will slowly but surely determine how God and the word of GodRead more

Audio and Written Versions: Spiritual Warfare Session 1 Biblical Spiritual Warfare Session 1 Audio Version Of This Web Page MP3 Player behaving funny? Try a different browser or a different device My name is Basie Martins. I trust that you are all well and I want to thank you again for listening to this series. For you who do not know, this series is about spiritual warfare. Yes, you have heard me correctly. We start today with the first session of a new series titled “True Biblical Spiritual Warfare”. The reason why I am looking forward to discussing this topic is the pure joy of announcing the victory that Jesus Christ achieved for mankind and for the church in this regard. The world and the church need to know that Christ made it possible for us to reign as kings in the kingdom of God and in our own lives because of what He has done on that cross. He made it possible for us to reign from a position of authority in Him and with him on his throne. We were joint-heirs with him and we are already in this powerful position in Him on his throne from where we reign with him. This implicates that we reign from a position of rest in him.  There is a lot of misunderstanding in this regard and we are going to point those misunderstandings out with the necessary references to the Scriptures that support this doctrine. To the church, Jesus Christ Himself, the apostles and millions of Christians right through the ages were and are still involved in an ongoing war and strategy against evil forces. To the church, the war against evil is supported by Scriptures. The Bible explicitly refer to us being in a spiritual warfare against evil. 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. I think the whole church agrees that we are in a spiritual battle and we agree that spiritual warfare is a reality. However, the church does not agree on the way that we should be involved in this battle and the strategies that we should follow to win this battle. There are a lot of false doctrines and false strategies that the church got involved with which is not effective, not Scriptural and even dangerous. With this series, we will be attempting to give people the necessary clarity that they need to be successful in this area of their faith-walk in Christ. A lot of people in the church are under the impression that the devil and the demons are powerful. They think that these evil spirits and all the forces of darkness can harm them tremendously and that they can do all sorts of negative things in their lives if they are not actively defeating these forces by means of spiritual warfare. Now, this sounds about correct to most Christians but in fact, nothing can be further from the truth. People have been vigorously and viciously involved in spiritual warfare and the breaking of bloodline curses and so on because they believe the lie that I just mentioned.  Through the years, I thankfully learned a quite different story. I was fortunate enough to be taught by Spirit-filled men of God who did not believe this lie one bit. These guys really studied the word of God. They were taught by the Spirit and in turn, they taught God’s people the truth. Having said that, I need to make the following statement: “Of course I know that there is a struggle between good and evil! It is just that children of God are completely ignorant about the principles governing this war and they are also ignorant about the way that evil needs to be resisted”. It is absolutely amazing how easily people are being deceived into believing all sorts of false doctrine without even realizing it. The fact is that these people do not know the Scriptures. If they knew the Scriptures they would have realized immediately when somebody attempted to teach them a false doctrine. The mistake that we made through the years and still make today is relying on pastors and ministers to teach us instead of relying on the Holy Spirit to teach us. It is quite a different story when you take up the word of God yourself to study. You will be amazed at the results when you study the word of God yourself. If you really ask the Holy Spirit to guide you and to teach you that is exactly what happens. He will guide you and He will teach you. It is in such a case a totally different story altogether because when the Holy Spirit starts to reveal the word of God and the will of God to you, you supernaturally understand God’s will and God’s word. What makes the difference? When you personally study the word of God you gain firsthand knowledge of the word of God. It is like planning your own trip to a really far destination. When you go through the detailed maps yourself you become familiar with all the information you need to know in order to reach your destination safely. If you rely on others to plan the trip for you though, you do not know anything except the directions that the person gave you. In such a case you just do not possess all the knowledge and information that you need to address all the difficulties and possible drawbacks that might cross your path. It is like being kept in the dark. You do not even know if the directions itself are correct in the first place. We cannot rely on other people when it comes to the will of God and the word of God. We really do need to have a personal relationship with God. We do need to communicate with God and we do need to allow God to communicate with us and to teach us His word. This series enlightens the subject of “spiritual warfare” but you need to be brave enough to proceed with your own studies if you really want to know the truth. You cannot rely on others. So many people have been deceived and therefore they deceive many people in return. There is a Scripture that supports this statement to the letter: 2 Timothy 3:13-17 13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.  14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;  15 And that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus.  16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:  17 That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. This portion of Scripture makes it as clear as daylight. Verse 13 clearly says that there are people who are being deceived. It also says that these people also deceive others. Some of them might not do this on purpose but still, they have been deceived and they deceive others. Many exorcists fall under this category. They have caused a lot of damage to the church in terms of doctrinal issues when it comes to generational curses and spiritual warfare. Verses 14-17 confirm that we have learned from God, if we allowed Him to teach us, we do have the Scriptures which is able to reproof, correct and instruct us in righteousness. Each and every doctrine need to be supported by Scripture. If there is no Scripture to support it then it is just not true. An example is the false doctrine of generational curses. Did you know that there are absolutely no Scriptures that state or indicate that Christians are or can be punished because of the sins of their ancestors? Did you also know that there are actually Scriptures that clearly state that the sons WILL NOT carry the sins of their ancestors and that the ancestors WILL NOT carry the sins of the sons? Yet people believe in generational curses. Did you know that the only reference to generational curses was made only to heathen nations and people who hate God? Did you know that there are Scriptures that state that God even took generational curses away from heathen people and unbelievers? This implies that since the cross, even unbelievers and people who hate God do not have to carry the sins of their ancestors? Did you know that there is not even one Scripture in the whole Bible that says that we must repent of the sins of our ancestors? Did you know that there is not one Scripture in the whole Bible that says that we must break generational curses? Did you know that there actually are a number of Scriptures that say that we must only repent of our own sin? Did you know that there actually are Scriptures that say that the sins of the one who committed that sin will be on him and on him alone? Did you also know that there are actually Scriptures that say that the righteousness of a person can only save him alone? That implies that nobody can be made righteous by their ancestors just as nobody can be made unrighteous because of the sins of the unrighteous or ancestors. There are Scriptures for all the statements I made here. I am going to give you those Scriptures but first I need to discuss a very important Biblical principle with you. This principle is of the utmost importance. If you know and understand this principle you cannot be deceived. What is this principle? No matter how unbelievable Scripture might seem to you, it always is and always means exactly what it says! I want to repeat this, No matter how unbelievable Scripture might seem to you, it always is and always means exactly what it says! Apart from a few symbolic issues, it is therefore quite easy to understand the Scriptures. The moment people ignore this principle, those people open themselves to deceit. The moment you expose yourself to believe something contrary to what Scripture says, at that moment you become a victim of deceit. Really! Does this principle always work with all Scriptures? Yes, it does. There are no exceptions. You can test this principle if you want to. In fact, we call it the “Deception test”. It is quite easy to determine whether you have been deceived and whether you are still being deceived. This test proves these two facts beyond any doubt. The test is done in two easy steps: Step 1 will determine whether you have been deceived and step 2 will prove it beyond any doubt. This is quite easy. Are you ready for the test? Step 1: Just answer the following questions with a simple “yes” or a “no”:  Are there any scriptures that you know of that make certain statements, but you actually believe the contrary? This means you know of Scriptures that make some statements but you also know that you actually do not believe that those Scriptures are valid anymore.  Do you know of people who actually believe these Scriptures? This means that there actually are people who declare that they believe these Scriptures and that these Scriptures are true. They usually declare that they do experience the results of what these Scriptures promise.  Do you believe the contrary without supported scriptures to prove the contradiction? This means you do not know any Scriptures that actually directly contradict those Scriptures. Now that was easy! Did you answer these questions honestly? How do you feel about the following Scriptures? Mark 11:23-24 For verily I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he saith shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he saith. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them. John 14:13-14 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father. And whatsoever ye shall ask in my name, that will I do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. Matthew 21:21-22 Jesus answered and said unto them, Verily I say unto you, If ye have faith, and doubt not, ye shall not only do this which is done to the fig tree, but also if ye shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; it shall be done. And all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive. Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. If your answer on at least one of the three questions above was “yes”, then you probably have been deceived and are still being deceived. Step two of this test will prove the facts beyond any doubt. When the Bible makes any statements, those statements are true unless it has been overruled by another Scripture. In such a case the most recent scripture cancels the validity of the first or the former Scripture. You will probably recognize such Scriptures by statements made to this effect by the relevant writer or person that made that claim in the Bible. Jesus, for instance, brought up some Old-Testament Scriptures that were changed with the following words: “It is written that… then something will follow like “a tooth for a tooth”…and then He will say, “But I tell you”…followed by the change or the correct statement. Remember God is always the same. He does not change but He does change things. For instance, in the Old Testament salvation could be obtained through the blood or the offering of a lamb. God changed this by substituting the lamb in the New Testament with Jesus Christ, the true Lamb of God. The above references are classic examples of Scriptures that have been changed. The Bible belongs to God because it is the word of God. He may change the word exactly as Jesus did in this case. If Scripture had not been changed then the first applicable Scripture still is the truth. This is why the “Deception test” is so easy to do. This test is absolutely foolproof and the reason why it is foolproof is the complete absence of contradictory scriptures for all the valid statements in the Bible. Let us proceed and complete the “Deception test” now. Step two: Just answer the following questions with a simple “yes” or “no”: Do you believe that Jesus Christ still heals people even today? Do you believe that people are still being baptized in the Holy Spirit today? Do you believe that the gifts of the Holy Spirit are still functioning in people’s lives today as it did in Biblical times? Do you believe that we are living in the last days? Do you believe that according to the prophet Joel that in the last days the Holy Spirit will come upon people and that they will dream dreams and that they will see visions? Do you believe that people still see visions? Do you believe that people are still casting out demons, still laying their hands on people to heal them from diseases, still speaking in tongues, still prophesying and still functioning in all the other gifts of the Spirit? Do you believe that generational curses do not exist anymore as stated in Ezekiel 18:20? If you answered “no” on any of these questions then you have been and still are being deceived. As a reminder; God followed a very important principle in the Bible that is very important for all of us to know. That principle is the following: All statements in the Bible made by God directly or by His prophets are in fact plain and simple the truth. It is exactly what it says and it means exactly what it says. That is why people believe these statements. Those who do not believe these statements are simply being deceived. You can, of course, test yourself on a number of Scriptures. People who have been seriously deceived will find that there are quite a number of Scriptures or statements made in the Bible that they do not believe. They actually believe the contrary although there are absolutely no Scriptures that support their beliefs. These people will find that certain “man-made statements” actually support their beliefs. This is where the deception comes in. If there is no Scripture that contradicts the original statement, to these people, another statement will do the trick. Example: Scripture or statement: Mark 16:16-20 16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.  17 And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;  18 They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.  19 So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.  20 And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen. Now some people absolutely believe this Scripture. Yes they do, even though some parts in this Scripture seem totally outrageous. They, however, believed Christ and they speak with new tongues, they cast out devils, they lay hands on the sick, they take away snakes, deadly things do not hurt them, signs and wonders follow them. These people do not only believe, but they also do these things. These people know that if God says something then it is the truth no matter how ridiculous, outrageous or impossible it may sound. These people can therefore not be deceived. Now some people do not believe this Scripture and they do not carry out these things. Why not? Although they are Christians, in this case, they have been deceived not to believe God’s word. That is the bottom line. They do not have faith in this word. Are there more recent Scriptures canceling this Scripture: None. There are absolutely no Scriptures that indicate that this Scripture is for some reason not valid anymore or not the truth anymore. Alternative Statements made by people who do not believe this Scripture:  Signs and wonders were only there to get people to believe. Well, it happened. People did believe and therefore signs and wonders are not necessary anymore. (There is no Scripture that supports this statement)  People were only baptized in the Holy Spirit in Biblical times in order to function in the gifts of the Spirit. This was necessary because at that stage they had no Bible yet. Well, the Bible was eventually written and therefore we do not need the baptism in the Holy Spirit anymore. (There is no Scripture that supports this statement)  These promises were only for the apostles. It was not for everybody. (There is no Scripture that supports this statement)  God gave us the Bible. Therefore He does not speak to us anymore and therefore He does not perform miracles anymore. The speaking in tongues, the word of wisdom and the word of knowledge and other gifts of the Spirit are therefore not necessary anymore. In fact, all the gifts of the Spirit are not necessary anymore. (There is no Scripture that supports this statement)  God only wanted to establish the church with wonders and signs. Obviously, after the church was firmly established signs and wonders were not necessary anymore. (There is no Scripture that supports this statement) Are there any Scriptures that support these statements? No. Now although there are no Scriptures to support these statements, people still do believe these statements. They will try to use certain Scriptures in the Bible to support these views whether those Scriptures are applicable or not. If they cannot find anything to support these views they just believe these statements anyway. Period. These people have been deceived to believe the doctrines of men rather than the word of God. This is actually nothing else than the doctrines of devils. You will be amazed to see how many Scriptures are either just totally ignored and how many times the exact opposite is believed. Well, this is the world of the deceived. The ultimate “Deception test“ The more Scriptures, like the one above, that you identify as being contradictory to what you believe, the more you have been deceived. This can be quite a shock for some people. The bottom line is that we should actually believe exactly what is written in the Bible. Not the contrary. Scriptures on generational curses: It is important to understand that there came a time in the history of the nation of Israel that God decided to get involved in a debate. The nation was debating a serious issue. This issue was generational curses or bloodline curses. There were a lot of arguments made and statements made. The nation was confused. God saw this and He decided that the subject of the debate and the misunderstandings regarding the issue were serious and it had the potential to cause a lot of complications for the people of Israel. He realized that He had to reveal his will and purpose regarding the issue. He had to get involved in this debate.  It is very interesting how He got involved. He made two observations about the debate and He had something to say about it: His first observation was: “What mean ye, that ye use this proverb concerning the land of Israel, saying, The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge?” Didn’t God change that in the days of Jeremiah already? Jeremiah 31:29-30  In those days people will no longer say, The parents have eaten sour grapes, and the children’s teeth are set on edge. Instead, everyone will die for their own sin; whoever eats sour grapes – their own teeth will be set on edge. This was a proverb in Israel referring to the law given them by God in Deuteronomy 5:7-10 (for I the LORD thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me). However, in Jeremiah 5 God referred to a time in the future when this saying will not be used anymore. By this statement, God promised Israel that there will be a time in the future that the children will not be punished for the sins of their ancestors anymore and that everybody will be responsible and accountable for their own sins only. That time came very soon after these promises were made. Even in the days of Ezekiel the laws (about generational curses) were already abolished. It was predicted and promised many years before Ezekiel, in the days of Jeremiah already, and in the days of Ezekiel God confirmed without a doubt that it is already in place as he promised the nation through Jeremiah. For some reason, the nation of Israel did not know this and that is why God intervened in order to help them understand his view and his will regarding generational curses.  God’s second observation was the following: Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? So God wants to know from them, why do you want the son to bear the iniquities of the father although the son walked righteously before me? It is clear that the nation of Israel did not understand God’s will about the responsibility or the accountability of people. First I need to give you some background on why these Scriptures on generational curses came into existence in the Bible: The Israelite’s did not really understand the concept of generational curses and so a lot of misunderstanding and a lot of myths came into being in Israel in the time of the prophet Ezekiel. They also did not know that God abolished the old laws regarding generational curses. There was quite a debate among the Israelites on this subject. They knew that something of this nature was written in the book of Deuteronomy but that was about all most of them knew about the subject. Remember that those days the Old-Testament was not available to the common man resulting in a lot of speculation about the word of God. God saw all the misunderstandings and He heard all the speculations so He decided to get involved in this debate with the sole purpose to set things straight. We read all about this in Ezekiel 18:1-32. I am now going to debunk a lot of beliefs in the false doctrine of generational curses and I am going to give you the necessary Scriptures that support the statements that I am making here. The first statement: Scripture: The son will not carry the sins of the father and the father will not carry the sins of the son: Ezekiel 18:17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. Ezekiel 18:19 Yet say ye, Why? doth not the son bear the iniquity of the father? When the son hath done that which is lawful and right, and hath kept all my statutes, and hath done them, he shall surely live. Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. So in these three verses, God explicitly declares that the one shall not bear the iniquity of the other. The second statement: Scripture: Even heathen nations and heathen people do not have to be punished for other people’s sin: John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. The Greek word for world in this Scripture means the “whole world and all its residents”. This means that Jesus Christ was punished in our place. He was punished so that we do not have to be punished. Even the sinner does not have to be punished today. This is called the “time of grace”. From the moment that Jesus died and got punished for the world on the cross, nobody is punished until of course, an unbeliever dies without Christ. At that moment, when he dies, the curse of the law hits him with full force. That means that the moment a person dies without Christ he has to carry his own punishment. This is clearly stated in Isaiah 65:20. Isaiah 65:20 There shall be no more thence an infant of days, nor an old man that hath not filled his days: for the child shall die an hundred years old; but the sinner being an hundred years old shall be accursed. This Scripture pointed to the time of Christ, the good and acceptable year, the “time of grace” when even sinners will live a full and long life. However, when his time of grace runs out, he will be cursed and he will pay the penalties for his sins. Galatians 3:13-14 Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith. Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. The third statement: Scripture: Repent only of your own sin: Ezekiel 18:21-23 But if the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, and keep all my statutes, and do that which is lawful and right, he shall surely live, he shall not die. All his transgressions that he hath committed, they shall not be mentioned unto him: in his righteousness that he hath done he shall live. Have I any pleasure at all that the wicked should die? saith the Lord GOD: and not that he should return from his ways, and live? Ezekiel 18:26 When a righteous man turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and dieth in them; for his iniquity that he hath done shall he die. Ezekiel 18:27-28 Again, when the wicked man turneth away from his wickedness that he hath committed, and doeth that which is lawful and right, he shall save his soul alive. Because he considereth, and turneth away from all his transgressions that he hath committed, he shall surely live, he shall not die. Ezekiel 18:30-32 Therefore I will judge you, O house of Israel,every one according to his ways, saith the Lord GOD. Repent, and turn yourselves from all your transgressions; so iniquity shall not be your ruin. Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit: for why will ye die, O house of Israel? For I have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD: wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye. So with these Scriptures, God, who got involved in this debate, is directly making statements revealing his will regarding generational curses and the accountability of people. He said I will judge everyone according to his own ways. According to what he or she himself or herself have done, irrespective of what the parents have done. The fourth statement: Scripture: People will be punished only for their own sin: Ezekiel 18:4 Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die. Ezekiel 18:18 As for his father, because he cruelly oppressed, spoiled his brother by violence, and did that which is not good among his people, lo, even he shall die in his iniquity. Ezekiel 18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father, neither shall the father bear the iniquity of the son: the righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. Deuteronomy 24:16 The fathers shall not be put to death for the children, neither shall the children be put to death for the fathers: every man shall be put to death for his own sin. The fifth statement: Scripture: The sins of a person cannot make another person unrighteous: Ezekiel 18:13-17 13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live: he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him.  14 Now, lo, if he beget a son, that seeth all his father’s sins which he hath done, and considereth, and doeth not such like,  15 That hath not eaten upon the mountains, neither hath lifted up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, hath not defiled his neighbour’s wife,  16 Neither hath oppressed any, hath not withholden the pledge, neither hath spoiled by violence, but hath given his bread to the hungry, and hath covered the naked with a garment,  17 That hath taken off his hand from the poor, that hath not received usury nor increase, hath executed my judgments, hath walked in my statutes; he shall not die for the iniquity of his father, he shall surely live. The sixth statement: Scripture: The righteousness of a person cannot make another person righteous: Ezekiel 18:9-13 9 Hath walked in my statutes, and hath kept my judgments, to deal truly; he is just, he shall surely live, saith the Lord GOD.  10 If he beget a son that is a robber, a shedder of blood, and that doeth the like to any one of these things,  11 And that doeth not any of those duties, but even hath eaten upon the mountains, and defiled his neighbour’s wife,  12 Hath oppressed the poor and needy, hath spoiled by violence, hath not restored the pledge, and hath lifted up his eyes to the idols, hath committed abomination,  13 Hath given forth upon usury, and hath taken increase: shall he then live? he shall not live:he hath done all these abominations; he shall surely die; his blood shall be upon him. God really wanted to kill this false doctrine in its tracks. If you read the whole chapter of Ezekiel 18 you will see that God purposely covered all scenarios and all aspects from all angles in order to make it as clear as daylight. There is no such thing as generational curses because everybody pays for his own sin. Because everybody pays for his own sin everybody must repent of his own sin. The accountability of sin is respectively upon each individual. God says a number of times in this chapter that the soul that sins, that soul must die. Even in Deuteronomy 24:16, he said that the son cannot be punished for the father’s sin and the father cannot be punished for the son’s sin. The Bible just cannot be more clear on this subject than this. Now there are absolutely no Scriptures that state the contrary. So what did the deceivers do to counter this problem? They made a lot of statements that contradict these Scriptures. They even attempted to use some Scriptures out of context to support all these statements. This is all for today. In the next session, we will carry on with this aspect of the word of God regarding generational curses. We will look at which Scriptures were taken out of contRead more

How To Build Up Miracle-Working Faith? How To Build Up Miracle-working Faith In Your Life? Audio Version Of This Web Page MP3 Player behaving funny? Try a different browser or a different device Hi there, my name is Basie Martins. We are soon going out to heal the sick, cast out demons, and raise the dead, for the first time. Remember, there always have to be a first time, and yes the first few times can be a bit challenging. My aim with this video is to help you get ready and able to go out, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to raise the dead. This was an instruction that Jesus gave us all, and, He will never ask us to do anything that we cannot do. There is no doubt in my mind that we can all do this. We just need faith the size of a mustard seed and we need to be obedient of course. This is all it takes. The good news is that faith comes through the word of God. The word of God has a natural or built-in ability to generate faith automatically. So today I want to do two things before we move out together for the first time. The first thing I want to is to bring your attention to a book that I have written titled, The Truth About Sicknesses And Diseases” This book will equip you to go out and to heal the sick and to cast out demons and to raise the dead. It covers all the relevant aspects that you need and it guides you through the necessary steps that you need to follow so that you can put the miracle-working faith of God into action. This book is available for purchase on my website. If you cannot afford this book, I have a free alternative available that can do the job as well. A free equipping course titled “Victorious Living in Christ”. It is also available on my website. I’ll leave the link to this course below this video. To benefit to the best of your ability. Listen to the audio message whilst you are also reading it at the same time. This is the most effective way to get yourself thoroughly equipped. It is better than audio only and far better than television. Did you know that of the three, television is the least effective? It is a proven fact. Anyway, this course will help you to get equipped. It will show you that there are no hindrances to healing accept a lack of faith. It does not matter who you pray for. It does not matter if they are saved or not. It does not matter if they are involved in sin or not. Through your faith in Christ and his word, through your obedience, they will all receive their healing. Healing is guaranteed. You are the only person who can hinder healing. Nobody else. So if you do not see success in this regard, you need to check your faith and obedience and you need to have grid. You need to push through. It is a lot like a mother who gives birth to a baby. You cannot abort the baby when you struggle. You need to have grid and you need to push through until you see results. The second thing I want to do is to share with you how I managed to built and develop this miracle-working faith in my own life. It is my personal testimony, in particular on how faith and miracles became part of my life. I mentioned in a previous session that the word of God is the primary force and the most important factor when it comes to living a victorious life in Christ. Whenever a person knows the true word of God and if he believes that word and if he is obedient to God and his will and his word, he will live a victorious life in Christ. He will live in faith and he will live by every word that came out of the mouth of God. I am now going to discuss the steps that we need to follow to achieve this. I already mentioned that the word of God has a built-in ability to produce faith and I am going to tell you how I achieved faith in my life and what steps I followed to start to slay the giants in my life. The secret is in meditating the word of God until faith is produced. It is not there immediately after you have read a Scripture or God’s promises in the Bible. It takes a little bit more time than that and a bit of an effort. After I have read and heard the testimonies of great men and women of faith, God revealed to me the steps to produce miracle-working faith in my life. He showed me how He achieved that in the lives of these great men and women. These are the steps that He instructed me to follow and which I did follow and which did build up the miracle-working faith in my heart that I needed: I decided that I am going to believe the word of God no matter how impossible it seemed and that I am going to act in faith. I cut and pasted all the promises of God from a digital Bible into a word document and I printed them all. I did change every Scripture by applying it to me personally. I used the words I and me instead of Israel and so on. I put them up all over the walls in our house. I was literally surrounded by the word of God wherever I was in the house. I started to read them over and over again, one by one continuously daily. I even attempted to learn these Scriptures by heart although I was not very successful with that. But I meditated on these Scriptures every day. I read them over and over again and again, loudly, and I could feel day by day how the Holy Spirit was nailing these Scriptures into my heart or building it into my heart like you build a brick into a wall. He was engraving the word of God onto the tables of my heart. I repeated every word of every Scripture every day over and over again. Each time I emphasized a different part of each Scripture and I made all those Scriptures part of my being. I could feel how the word of God slowly but surely produced faith in my heart. I could feel it gradually build up in my heart. I could eventually identify the exact moment (the date and time) when each Scripture has produced enough faith in my heart for me to start acting on them. As soon as I realized that I have the faith for a specific thing, I removed the worldly support system for the specific thing. Eventually, I canceled all my insurances, on my vehicles and all my belongings and I started to trust God for everything in my life. Although many things were already canceled because of my bad financial situation at that time, I decided not to renew them when my finances were restored at a later stage. Even today, I still have no medical insurance, no insurance on my vehicles, no alarm systems or any other worldly support system whatsoever. As I said, it is not easy but it is certainly possible and guaranteed if we persist. Sometimes the restoration process takes a long time and sometimes it manifests quicker. I was healed of many sicknesses and diseases in my life and I was delivered from all calamities and challenging situations and sin in my life, but, some of them took quite a while. Believe me, it was worth the effort. Today, I live in faith and I trust God for everything I need. I live by every word that came out of the mouth of God. As I said, at first it was extremely challenging. It was difficult but it became easier and easier day by day. I experienced resistance from all over. My wife and my family and even friends and colleagues were very concerned with what I was doing. They had all sorts of concerns with the way I trusted God and the way I interpreted the Bible. They thought that I went insane. They attempted to make me understand what the Bible really says and what the will of God really is about certain matters. They told me that nobody believes what I believe and nobody interprets the Bible the way I do. They gave me a lot of warnings and they even tried to scare me. Some even told me that I was surely going to die and that I was surely going to lose a lot of material things. They accused me of a lot of bad things and many people rejected me because of me stepping out in faith. I just ignored them all. When you really believe the word of God, when the word of God really produced faith in your heart, then you do not care what people say anymore. This is when you only regard what God said. People could not scare me anymore. The moment that I have slain the giant of fear, many doors of success and victory immediately opened for me. I could finally understand how Paul could shake off a deadly snake that has just bitten him and how Abram could be ready to kill his only son without thinking twice. The Bible says that Abram did not fear to kill Isaac because he knew that God would raise or resurrect him again. Paul knew that if God said that he must go to Rome to carry out the work that He called him for that the snake could not kill him at all. They just believed God and that is what I intended to do. Sure enough, even I had to face life-threatening situations and circumstances in my life and I behaved or reacted to these situations just like they did. It was God’s faith in action. It was simply there when I needed it. The word of God just produces faith automatically. It was not because of me. So I started to slay the giants, one by one. At times I panicked but the faith in my heart just kept building and building as I kept meditating on the promises of God daily. When I could feel panic, I ran to my printouts on the walls (later in my file) and I meditated the word of God until I calmed down. And then, one beautiful morning I could not panic anymore. Fear disappeared completely. There were many giants. When Marinda and I started this faith walk in Christ our financial situation could not be any worse. We were financially in a dreadful situation. We were on the verge of losing everything that we owed. We could not pay any of our debts. The house, the vehicles and everything we owed were hanging in the balance. We could not understand that after we gave up everything, after we reported for duty, after we stepped out in faith, after we did exactly what we knew God wanted us to do, why we would be facing all these challenging situations all at once. My wife, Marinda, especially could not understand why God was not providing? Why was He not healing us immediately? Instead, everything quickly deteriorated at a frightening speed. Numerous times I got into the shower not knowing (in the natural) if I would have made it out alive. I was weak and my heart played all sorts of tricks on me. It just stopped beating many times by going into a sort of a state of vibration. I slept countless times with both my hands completely dead. It woke me up many times and I had to massage both my arms many times to get the blood back into my hands. I was very sick. I had a heart attack just a year or two before we started on this journey of faith. I was still weak and my medical condition was very unstable. I had to use chronic medication for my heart which I stopped using when we decided to step out in faith. At one stage I learned to trust God completely when it comes to my health. I could literally feel one day that I do not fear trusting God for my health because of the word of God and the promises of God regarding healing. I stopped all medication and I decided not to make use of the medical profession anymore. It did scare me a bit but I refused to be intimidated by emotions of fear, especially when I stopped using the chronic medication for my heart. Fear told me that my blood was going to thicken rapidly and that I was going to get another heart attack. Fear told me that my heartbeat was going to go crazy and that I will eventually die because of it. Fear told me that I was going to die because of a stroke. Fear told me that we were going to lose everything that we owe. I knew that I had to kill the giant called fear, and I am referring to the emotion of fear. As I mentioned in a previous session, there is no such thing as a spirit of fear. Fear is an emotion in our souls that the devil wants us to succumb to. We need to subdue our emotions. We need to control our emotions. It is a decision. We do not have to fight demonic spirits of fear. That is a lie. So whenever I felt fear building up in me, I ran to the walls and I started to meditate those Scriptures about fear and the promises of God about his provisions and about healing. Over and over until I could feel how faith replaced the fear. I became more and more convinced every day that God gave us divine provision, divine protection, divine maintenance, and divine healing every day of our lives and that it is all guaranteed at all times under all circumstances, as long as we do not give up but keep on trusting God and his word. I just kept on doing this and I refused to give up. And one day, the wonders and miracles started to happen. The first thing that happened was divine financial provision. You see, I left my job to start a full-time ministry without any income. God called me to teach his church but He did not want me to join a denomination. He also did not want me to minister to a congregation or pastor a congregation. So this meant that I wouldn’t be able to earn a salary. I was completely dependent on God to provide for me and my family supernaturally. One morning, when we did not even have any food left in the house, I saw a vision of a person I know. In the vision, this person walked to me and he stopped a few feet away from me. He smiled at me and he formed his lips like kissing me. He then turned around and he left. I knew that the symbolic meaning of these actions in dreams and visions is that this person favored me and my family. During that same week, that person knocked on my door and to make a long story short, he committed to carrying my ministry financially. He paid quite a lot of money into my bank account every month for almost three years. More than a quarter of a million rand. It was just enough to keep us going for the period that I mentioned. The day that this man stopped providing for us, that day my wife was signed on permanently at a job where she was a temporary worker. She got a huge raise and that raise was equivalent to the amount that the man I mentioned provided for us monthly. So we did not lose anything. Everything was paid for and we managed to catch up all arrears. We did not lose a thing. God was faithful and He honored his word. There were many giants and the giants were challenging. After we started the walk of faith, I had about five heart attacks over a period of two years. Every time I just ignored the symptoms. I just walked into the field or to a thatched barbecue area in my backyard where I usually pray and I just reminded God of his promises and I kept trusting God. At this stage, I did not fear anymore. I knew that I knew that God will not allow me to die. Every time the pain was excruciating exactly like it was the first time that I had a heart attack (before I started the walk of faith in Christ), when I was admitted into a hospital and when a cardiologist inserted a stent into one of my arteries. My heart was damaged when I had this first heart attack but it got worse after I decided to walk the walk of faith. It became weaker and weaker and my heartbeat became worse and worse. It became very irregular as a result of me not using the chronic medication for my heart. Often I realized that my heart was not beating anymore but just vibrating. During incidents like this, I just ignored all these symptoms knowing that God would not fail me. I knew that I was healed on the cross many years ago and that I do not have to fear sicknesses and diseases that destroy people in the afternoon, according to Psalm 91. I knew that I could believe God and trust in his word. It is guaranteed to work in my life because I believed it and because I have made it mine. So at times, when I realized that my heart is not beating anymore, but just vibrating, I could feel how both my hands go numb and tickling and dead. I just ignored all these symptoms. I reminded God of his word and I usually fell asleep. By the way, this condition that I was healed of, is what caused the death of the well-known actor, Sean Connery on 31 October 2020. According to the Scottish actor’s death certificate, he died in his sleep from pneumonia, heart failure, and old age. Specifically, Connery reportedly died of respiratory failure due to pneumonia as well as atrial fibrillation, an irregular heart rate that can cause an increased risk of strokes, heart failure, and other complications. I had exactly the same heart-condition. Three different times during this period, I could feel how the muscles in one half of my face began to jerk and pull uncontrollably. I remember each time thinking that this is probably how it feels when a person has a stroke. I remember not feeling any fear knowing that I can ignore these incidents completely because of Psalm 91. Twice I just fell asleep and once I experienced it during the day. I just kept doing what I was busy and it stopped after a few minutes. I knew that this was faith in action but that it was not my faith but God’s faithfulness and God’s faith in action. It was God’s faith produced by the word of God. I once experienced a burst or a small explosion in my left eye. I immediately had this black thing moving around and flowing around in the ball of my eye and it obstructed my vision. I remember that during this incident I instantly started to fear because it was very sudden and unexpected. I was busy frying an egg when it happened. I however recovered quickly and I reminded God of Psalm 91. I declared my healing and I started to destroy this black mass in my eye by casting it out in the Name of Jesus. This command started to work immediately. The black mass in my eye began to clear up although it took a few weeks for this thing in my eye to dissolve and to disappear completely. Today, just a few floaters are left and it does not hinder my eye-site at all. I am still declaring my healing in this regard and I know that even the floaters will be gone soon. It will disappear completely because I have the power to remove it with the word of God. It has no choice other than to listen and to be obedient just like the fig tree or the mountain that Jesus talked about. Healing became a reality in my life. I was healed of another eye condition after a medical doctor (years ago) told me that I would have to use chronic medication for this eye condition for the rest of my life. I was healed of a very serious heart condition. I was healed of gout. Everything that I believed became a reality. I discovered that the word of God is really the truth and that we can trust God and his word completely without fear. I discovered that nothing is truly impossible with God and in the lives of believers. I finally realized that God can be utterly trusted. I finally realized that everything is guaranteed. Other than a lack of faith and disobedience, there can never be a nasty surprise out there. God is not going to fail you and tell you, sorry my child, you did not understand this correctly or that correctly and unfortunately I could not help you or anything of the kind. God will never fail you. If you have faith and if you are obedient to God you can trust God for whatever you want to and it will be like you believed. It is guaranteed. When I finally realized this, I completely understood why Abram and Paul were so fearless when bad or challenging things happened to them. I just want to mention that I rarely asked God to heal me or to do something for me. I commanded healing by speaking life and healing to my body and I talked directly to these conditions. I did what Jesus did and I talked to the mountains and the trees and the situations in my life. I confessed and I declared the word of God in my life. I never begged God for anything. I knew that everything was paid for two thousand years ago and that everything belongs to me. I knew that God does not heal anymore. He already healed us all two thousand years ago. I knew I just had to plug in and take my healing like the woman with the issue of blood did. This was the secret. At first, I did not understand this concept but the moment I grasped this my life changed. The moment that I learned that God does not do anything anymore, that He does not heal anymore, that He does not work behind the scenes anymore, that He is not putting things into place in your life anymore but that God entered into his eternal rest, at that moment, my life changed. At that moment I realized that it is all up to us. We need to storm heaven and take it by force. We need to reign as kings in the kingdom of God and take what is ours. We need to take up our inheritance. It is ours, it belongs to us. Healing belongs to us, provision belongs to us, divine maintenance belongs to us and divine protection belongs to us. We just need to step out in faith and take it in faith. We just have to believe the word of God, make it ours and act on it in faith. If we do, everything that we believe for will become a reality. It is absolutely guaranteed. It cannot fail. You will live a long healthy life lacking nothing. You might not be rich but you will have everything you need when you need it. I discovered that certain things are more challenging than others and I also experienced failures. I did use medication occasionally and I did consult a medical doctor once just after I started the walk of faith. As I mentioned in the previous chapter, it is dangerous to ignore certain things if you do not have the faith for it or if you are disobedient to God and his will. Read Hebrews 11:6 and 1 John 3:22 which reveals the fact that without faith it is impossible to please God and by stubbornly getting involved in sin, it hinders people from reigning over bad situations in their lives. It can lead to your death or the death of a family member if you refuse medical assistance if you do not have the necessary faith or obedience for it. Rather back off and live to face the same situation another day. I have realized, and I did experience that we can face one condition at a particular time but not another situation that might be more challenging at the same time. You must learn to face what you have faith for but to postpone what you do not have faith for yet. It is for this reason that we should not gamble with the lives of our children or our loved ones. Do not feel dismayed or condemned when you face a situation that is just too much for you. Postpone that situation and challenge it on another day. Make use of the systems that the world offers us but make a point of it not to fall into mediocrity. If you do, that thing will kill you one day. We do need to slay every giant in our lives. The giants that we do not slay will slay us eventually. Israel had to conquer all the heathen nations in the land of Canaan. Although they did experience some defeats, they did conquer some of these nations at a later stage. However, they failed to conquer them all and they failed to be obedient to God regarding his instructions in dealing with these nations. The nation of Israel only claimed about 10% of the land that they were promised. They did not claim their full inheritance and those nations that they failed to conquer, those giants that they failed to slay eventually defeated them and they lost their inheritance because of that. This is all within our reach. Our inheritance is great. It is divine and it is ours. We can achieve it all. We can be victorious in life and in Christ if we truly want to be. We just need to step out in faith, we need to flex our faith muscles and we need to storm heaven and take what is ours by force. It is not that easy but it is completely doable and worth the effort. The joy and satisfaction that we will experience when we have slain that last giant is priceless. For me, there is no choice. If we do not claim our inheritance, we will experience a lot of negative and bad things. We will experience situations in life that will be just too much for us to handle. It will lead to bad experiences and it will kill us before our time. God wants us all to live a life that will completely satisfy us and that will make us happy and joyful and blessed. He wants us to live a wonderful and full life full of blessings and joy. Do not be afraid. All the promises of God are guaranteed for everybody no matter who you are or what you are experiencing in your life right now. You can and you will turn everything around again. You will be restored completely. There is no exception. The only conditions are that you report for this and that you never give up and that you keep on trusting God. And so this concludes my personal testimony on healing and faith. Believe me, you can all do the same. Go to my website, use the equipping material that you need and get yourself equipped to be an instrument of excellence in the hands ofRead more

How the Church Conquered the Mighty Roman Empire? Session 1: Conquering the Nations: How Did the Early Church Conquer the Mighty Roman Empire? Audio Version Of This Web Page MP3 Player behaving funny? Try a different browser or a different device My name is Basie Martins. I trust that you are all well and I want to thank you again for listening to this program. For those of you who do not know, we are starting with a new series today, titled “Conquering the Nations”. This series of teachings are aimed at helping the church, the body of Christ, how to live in the kingdom of God. How to experience life, how to address all the many challenges of this life, in particular, the challenges that governments and political organizations throw at us. This series is aiming at activating and mobilizing the church to act and behave as God wants us to in this regard, so that the church can overcome its enemies and prosper, and so that countries are governed by just and holy political leaders. The church is supposed to achieve this by following the strategies that God gave the early church. Unfortunately, most Christians do not know what those strategies were. They do not know how the early Christians infiltrated corrupt governments to change the way they act, behave, and govern. You have heard correctly, the church is supposed to infiltrate governments. This is exactly what the early church did. They defeated anti-Christian governments from the inside. The church should be able to affect, influence, steer, and support governments. This series does help all believers to understand the strategies that the early church followed. It does activate and mobilize the church to stand together as one closely knit unit, able and ready to ensure that the church becomes the foundation on which governments are built. It is all about what each of us should know and needs to do to achieve this. The series will be very practical and that is why it is part of the Global Activation and Mobilization Network Street-ministries and Tent-ministries. It is an integral part of the great commission. I am sure many people might wonder how on earth can this be part of the great commission? Well, it will be explained in detail. It spells out the divine strategies of God in this regard. When the mighty Roman Empire launched a potentially deadly attack on the church, to destroy the church, God used the strategies that will be discussed in this series, to overcome the Roman Empire. By following these strategies, the early church succeeded in shaking off and ultimately overthrow the Roman Empire. The domination, the oppression, and the serious threat the Roman Empire posed to the church were successfully countered by the church following God’s strategies. Now, this was amazing. At that time, who would have ever thought that the church would not only stand her ground against the mighty Roman Empire but ultimately defeat this dangerous enemy? Today, the church is facing similar enemies right across the world. In some countries, where the church is dominated and oppressed like the church was in Biblical times, our brothers and sisters in these countries should be exhorted. But most importantly, they should be taught how to carry out and follow the strategies that are discussed in this series. We do not have to face the mighty Roman Empire that the early church did, but, some governments today are oppressing the church almost as much as this evil kingdom did. It is just as hard for the body of Christ in many parts of the world as it was in those days. The body of Christ is oppressed in almost every country or nation right across the world. The whole world is against Christianity and they seek to destroy the church completely. The evil empires and kingdoms of this world want to eradicate the church from the face of the earth. They want to get rid of us and they will do anything and everything they can to succeed in their endeavors. Nobody can deny the fact that there is a fierce onslaught on the church right now. The church is experiencing difficult times and the church is struggling. The body of Christ is struggling because we have forgotten how to fight against this world. We are not following the strategies that God gave the early church. We are not doing what we are supposed to do. Why not? Because we allowed the world to infiltrate the church and destroy the church from the inside. We compromised too many times in the past. We allowed the world to act in a way that we should not have allowed them to do. We failed to infiltrate the world and defeat the world from the inside like the early church defeated the Roman Empire. They destroyed that evil empire. It does not exist anymore. The Roman Empire bowed before the church before it was finally destroyed. It literally happened! The most important thing about all this is that yes, it is political. The church does stand directly against evil governments. Evil governments are very suspicious of the church. They fear the church. They know that the church can topple governments. The church is supposed to topple evil governments and replace them with just and holy and Godly governments. Not only is this a strategy that God gave the early church, this actually happened in the past. As I said, the biggest and most powerful kingdom in the history of the world was defeated by the church, using the strategies that I am discussing in this series. Let me tell you about it. Let us read Daniel 2:28-45 28 But there is a God in heaven that revealeth secrets, and maketh known to the king Nebuchadnezzar what shall be in the latter days. Thy dream, and the visions of thy head upon thy bed, are these; 29. As for thee, O king, thy thoughts came into thy mind upon thy bed, what should come to pass hereafter: and he that revealeth secrets maketh known to thee what shall come to pass. 30. But as for me, this secret is not revealed to me for any wisdom that I have more than any living, but for their sakes that shall make known the interpretation to the king, and that thou mightest know the thoughts of thy heart. 31. Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image. This great image, whose brightness was excellent, stood before thee; and the form thereof was terrible. 32. This image’s head was of fine gold, his breast and his arms of silver, his belly and his thighs of brass, 33. His legs of iron, his feet part of iron and part of clay. 34. Thou sawest till that a stone was cut out without hands, which smote the image upon his feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to pieces. 35. Then was the iron, the clay, the brass, the silver, and the gold, broken to pieces together, and became like the chaff of the summer threshingfloors; and the wind carried them away, that no place was found for them: and the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. 36. This is the dream; and we will tell the interpretation thereof before the king. 37. Thou, O king, art a king of kings: for the God of heaven hath given thee a kingdom, power, and strength, and glory. 38. And wheresoever the children of men dwell, the beasts of the field and the fowls of the heaven hath he given into thine hand, and hath made thee ruler over them all. Thou art this head of gold. 39. And after thee shall arise another kingdom inferior to thee, and another third kingdom of brass, which shall bear rule over all the earth. 40. And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron: forasmuch as iron breaketh in pieces and subdueth all things: and as iron that breaketh all these, shall it break in pieces and bruise. 41. And whereas thou sawest the feet and toes, part of potters’ clay, and part of iron, the kingdom shall be divided; but there shall be in it of the strength of the iron, forasmuch as thou sawest the iron mixed with miry clay. 42. And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. 43. And whereas thou sawest iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay. 44. And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever. 45. Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. This dream that Nebuchadnezzar had was a revelation of what was going to happen with the kingdoms of this world. It clearly reveals the fact that the church will be a big threat to the governments and kingdoms of the world. It prophesied that the church will destroy kingdoms and governments. The four major empires that preceded the kingdom of God, the church, were the target of Christ. They were the target because Christ was sent by God to judge the nations. Starting with the kingdom of Nebuchadnezzar, the Assyrian Empire, who was the head of Gold, according to verse 38. Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, Thou art this head of gold. The Assyrian Empire was then followed by the Median Empire (the Medes and Persians), followed by the Greek Empire, who was the third empire and then followed by the Roman Empire. Each time a new Empire rose from the earth, it defeated the previous empire. Now Israel was at that stage, during the reign of the Roman Empire, entering the last days of their physical existence and status as the nation of God. John the Baptist already announced that the Christ, the Messiah was already among them and that He came to judge the nations, including the Jews. The ax was already against the roots of the tree. He did not come to bring peace but division. The dream of Nebuchadnezzar already revealed to us that the kingdom of God will destroy the kingdoms of this world and that it will grow bigger and bigger until it filled the earth. So John the Baptist warned everybody to repent because the judgments of God were upon them. The judgment of God was against the nation of Israel but also the other nations of the earth. Matthew 3:10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. John 9:39 And Jesus said, For judgment I am come into this world, that they which see not might see; and that they which see might be made blind. The judgment of Jesus started with the house of God. He judged the nation of Israel first. He went to the evil Jewish government of the time, the pharisees, and this is what He told them: Matthew 23: 1-39 1. Then spake Jesus to the multitude, and to his disciples, 2. Saying, The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses’ seat: 3. All therefore whatsoever they bid you observe, that observe and do; but do not ye after their works: for they say, and do not. 4. For they bind heavy burdens and grievous to be borne, and lay them on men’s shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. 5. But all their works they do for to be seen of men: they make broad their phylacteries, and enlarge the borders of their garments, 6. And love the uppermost rooms at feasts, and the chief seats in the synagogues, 7. And greetings in the markets, and to be called of men, Rabbi, Rabbi. 8. But be not ye called Rabbi: for one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren. 9. And call no man your father upon the earth: for one is your Father, which is in heaven. 10. Neither be ye called masters: for one is your Master, even Christ. 11. But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant. 12. And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted. 13. But woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven against men: for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer ye them that are entering to go in. By the way, this verse reveals the fact that the Jewish government was standing directly in the way of Christianity. The Jewish government of the time, under Roman rule, vigorously persecuted the Christians. They also influenced the Roman Empire to do the same. But let us carry on… 14. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye devour widows’ houses, and for a pretence make long prayer: therefore ye shall receive the greater damnation. 15. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and when he is made, ye make him twofold more the child of hell than yourselves. 16. Woe unto you, ye blind guides, which say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! 17. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? 18. And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. 19. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? 20. Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. 21. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein. 22. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon. 23. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to leave the other undone. 24. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel. 25. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye make clean the outside of the cup and of the platter, but within they are full of extortion and excess. 26. Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. 27. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness. 28. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity. 29. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because ye build the tombs of the prophets, and garnish the sepulchres of the righteous, 30. And say, If we had been in the days of our fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. 31. Wherefore ye be witnesses unto yourselves, that ye are the children of them which killed the prophets. 32. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. 33. Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell? 34. Wherefore, behold, I send unto you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them ye shall kill and crucify; and some of them shall ye scourge in your synagogues, and persecute them from city to city: 35. That upon you may come all the righteous blood shed upon the earth, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias son of Barachias, whom ye slew between the temple and the altar. 36. Verily I say unto you, All these things shall come upon this generation. 37. O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! 38. Behold, your house is left unto you desolate. This Scripture, confirms that the judgment of God on the house of Israel was imminent. In just a few years, the nation of Israel will lose everything they had. Verse 39… 39. For I say unto you, Ye shall not see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. So in Matthew 23, we see Jesus Christ challenging the government of his time head-on. He called them out. Many times before this incident He called them out and urged them to repent. They did not and with this incident, He gave them his last warning and He notified them of the coming judgment. In verse 36 He said that all the punishment that all previous evil generations deserve will come upon that generation. So the judgment was imminent. He warned of the judgment that will befall Jerusalem, the Jews, and all the pharisees. The judgment did come. In 70 AD and during the period thereafter until 135AD all these men were all destroyed and Jerusalem was destroy. Even the temple was destroyed. The Jewish nation lost everything. They lost their belongings. They lost their families and children. They even lost their faith. They lost the ability to practice their faith and even today, they never had the privilege to practice their faith as they did in the past. They cannot perform any of their religious rituals because of the temple of the dome which was purposely built to prevent them from building a new temple for God. So this prevents the Jews from practicing their faith and it allows Christianity, the only true religion, to be practiced all over the world. Christianity indeed did replace Judaism. So between 70AD and 135AD, the Jews were systematically destroyed or expelled from Jerusalem. In 135AD Jerusalem became the city of Aelia Capitolina and not a single Jew was allowed to even visit Jerusalem for thousands of years. 135AD was the year that Israel ceased to exist, for two thousand years. So Peter was right when he said that they were living in the last days: Acts 2:14-17 14. But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words: 15. For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day. 16. But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel; 17. And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams Peter undeniably connected the promise of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit with the incident that occurred that day. He recognized the fact that they were living in the last days, referring to the last days of the nation of Israel. These were indeed the last days of the nation of Israel and Peter knew that they were living in the last days, as indicated by verse 17. It was almost as if he knew that God will destroy Jerusalem and expel all Jews from Israel and Jerusalem for two thousand years. He spoke as if he knew that Israel will cease to exist as a nation for two thousand years. This is what the kingdom of Christ did to the nation of Israel. Jesus came to set up his kingdom in the days of the kings of the Roman Empire, and Israel was destroyed first. At that stage, the nations or kingdoms symbolized by the image that Nebuchadnezzar saw, were still ruling the world of the Roman Empire. Remember, when a kingdom is taken over by another kingdom, such a kingdom does not cease to exist. It is just taken up or absorbed by the next kingdom. When the Median Empire conquered the Assyrian Empire, the Assyrians became part of the Median Empire. And so both these empires became part of the Greek Empire. The Roman Empire conquered all these kingdoms and they all became part of the Roman Empire. The peoples of all these kingdoms paid taxes to the Roman Empire and they also had to give their sons to be utilized as soldiers in the Roman army. They also enjoyed a lot of privileges and benefits for being part of this mighty Empire. This was indeed a mighty empire. It was huge and it ruled the world for almost two thousand years before its fall. The United States of America is just 244 years old and it does not have the power and abilities that the Roman Empire had at that time. This just emphasizes the fact that the Roman Empire cannot be compared to any empire, even today. Even the USA is like a midge flying around the head of an elephant when compared to the Roman Empire. The influence the Roman Empire had on the world will probably not be repeated by any other empire ever. Everything around us is in some way a result of the practices of the Roman Empire and the world is still influenced by things that have its origin in the Roman empire. So this empire was a huge challenge for the church. Because of this empire, the kingdom of God was birthed in perilous times. Jesus came to set up his kingdom when this mighty kingdom ruled the earth. Yet, Daniel declared that the kingdom of God will destroy these kingdoms in Daniel 2:45 Forasmuch as thou sawest that the stone was cut out of the mountain without hands, and that it brake in pieces the iron, the brass, the clay, the silver, and the gold; the great God hath made known to the king what shall come to pass hereafter: and the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure. This is awesome. This is powerful. But exactly how did the church destroy this empire? And how did the early Christians experience this battle? Believe me, it was a very tough battle. The important thing that you will notice, is that this battle was a major clash between two kingdoms. The one kingdom, the Roman Empire attempted to destroy the other. It was very clear that the Roman Empire wanted to destroy Christianity. There was a major push or strategy to get rid of Christianity. On the other hand, Christianity did not attempt to destroy the Roman Empire. Instead, it infiltrated the Roman Empire and it changed if from the inside. This was difficult and even devastating for the Christians, and although it appeared that they would be destroyed, quite the opposite happened. Let us look at what happened during this battle and what strategies the Christians followed to conquer the Roman Empire. I really do need to bring your attention briefly to the challenges that the early church faced in New Testament times. This will tell us exactly how we need to address the challenges that we face today. The early Church was birthed in difficult times and they had to endure devastating circumstances and harsh resistance from the governments of the world that they lived in. After Christ’s ascension, He gave them the Holy Spirit who led and assisted the early Church through these treacherous waters. They faced devastating persecutions and difficulties from many enemies all over the Roman Empire in those days. The church was seen as a real threat, a real irritation, and a real enemy to people and governments and of course, to the Emperor of the Roman Empire. Exactly who were the enemies of the church and what exactly were they up against? The local government of the Jews, as one of the provinces of the Roman Empire, the pagan religions of the Roman Empire, and of course the government of the Roman Empire itself were all big obstacles and hindrances to the body of Christ. At first, the Jews attempted to stop Christianity in its tracks by denying them to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ at all. When this approach was not successful, the Jews increased their pressure on Christians. They started to vigorously persecute them in all sorts of ways. They even started killing Christians with the consent of the government of the Roman Empire. The Roman Empire eventually increased its involvement by vigorously persecuting Christians themselves. Thousands of Christians were killed and robbed of their possessions for many years. The atrocities against Christians were unprecedented in many ways. Despite all this, the Christians faithfully kept fulfilling the great commission as Christ instructed. Daily, they were found on the streets, in the market places and in houses, risking their own lives by preaching the gospel of Christ. Taking into consideration the immense resistance that the early Christians had to face, it was an absolute miracle that they overcame all those obstacles. The true Church eventually conquered all their enemies in those days. Jesus Christ and the Apostles warned them that they will have it difficult and that they will pay a price for their faith in Christ. They were told that their enemies will be defeated. Through the apostles and the Holy Spirit and prophecies, the early church knew that they will conquer their enemies. If they stayed pure in their faith, they would eventually reap the benefits of everlasting life in Christ but they would also defeat their enemies. They knew this and they believed this. These promises did prove to be true. The Church did conquer all her enemies. The church outlasted its enemies. Of course, they knew that new enemies would sure stand up against them but they believed God and they believed Daniel. They knew that the stone would get bigger and bigger until it filled the earth. Exactly how did the Church conquer her enemies? And they overcame their enemies by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; and they loved not their lives unto the death. This is how we always have victory over all our enemies! The early church was obedient to God and His word only. They testified of Christ. They declared the word of God and they did not love their lives. They fearlessly kept on preaching the truth. They were not ashamed of Jesus Christ and they boldly declared their faith in him. They kept on living out their faith according to the will and the word of God even if it meant losing their lives doing so. Another strategy that they used was the fact that they fearlessly and boldly called out the sins and atrocities and unjust actions of people and leaders and the Roman government. They were not silent. We know that John the Baptist paid with his life for calling out Herod Antipas who married his brother’s wife. They did not fear calling out people in high places who ignored God, his word, and his will or who rejected the gospel of Christ. They called them out. They stood on street corners and they shouted out to people to repent. They named the sins and they challenged those who committed these sins. Just look at how Peter addressed the leaders and the government in Acts 3:14-20, as described by Charles Pope: 14. But ye denied the Holy One and the Just, and desired a murderer to be granted unto you; 15. And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses. 16. And his name through faith in his name hath made this man strong, whom ye see and know: yea, the faith which is by him hath given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. 17. And now, brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it, as did also your rulers. 18. But those things, which God before had shewed by the mouth of all his prophets, that Christ should suffer, he hath so fulfilled. 19. Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; 20. And he shall send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you. Apparently, Peter never got the memo that we preachers are not supposed to mention unpleasant things like sin, and we certainly should not accuse our listeners of having sinned. Aren’t we supposed to be gentle to people? Aren’t we supposed not to offend people? Aren’t we supposed to speak only in abstractions and generalities? Imagine this, Peter called them killers, co-conspirators in handing over God to be crucified: “You killed the author of life”! He shouted. The unwritten rule among many people today, especially those of the older generation, is that we should never—under any circumstances—offend anyone. We should not say anything controversial or that risks upsetting anyone. We should not mention, sin, Hell, judgment, or Purgatory. We should not let them realize that we do not agree with them. We shouldn’t preach on moral topics like abortion, fornication, contraception, divorce, racism, or homosexuality. For that matter, we should never even let the words “mortal sin” escape our lips! Yet here is Peter saying, “You killed the author of life.” The logic is that if we talk in this way, we’ll offend people, and they’ll stop coming. They will be offended and they will not listen to us. Never mind that our churches have largely emptied in the aftermath of the widespread application of this policy. No indeed, it must be all honey and no vinegar, ever. It is interesting that Simon Peter, though clear and bold in his preaching about sin, did not seem to cause the alienation feared by many modern priests. In his sermon of Acts 2, we read not of alienation but of mass conversion: When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the other apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.” With many other words he warned them; and he pleaded with them, he warned them and he pleaded with them, he warned them and he pleaded with them, “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day (Acts 2:37-41). This response isn’t what some of the fearful, dovish, “do-no-harm-ever” preachers and liturgists of today would predict! Peter’s nets were nearly breaking with thousands of converts even after telling them they had crucified Jesus, warning them, and calling them to repentance and baptism in no uncertain terms. After Peter’s even sterner words of Acts 3 telling them, “You killed the Author of life,” the numbers grew even more: But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand (Acts 4:4). Somewhere along the line, preachers lost their edge. The gospel, the good news of salvation, doesn’t make a lot of sense without reference to sin. To say that we are saved implies that there is something from which we need to be saved. Without a vigorous understanding of sin and the ultimate destination of Hell from which we have been saved, the gospel starts to seem optional, just a nice story—not really all that crucial or urgent. The reality is that the good news is highlighted by, and makes sense only, in the light of the bad news. Only if I know that “I’ve got it bad and that ain’t good” does the news of a cure seem to be wonderful, even fabulous. We live in dainty times; many people are thin-skinned and easily offended. However, I have found that speaking clearly about sin, the need for repentance and the glory of mercy is experienced by most people as refreshing. To be compelling, good preaching needs to have an edge. Abstractions, generalities, and greeting-card sentiments don’t work. Chatty sermons, silly jokes, and soft tones don’t excite interest. Our empty churches say that loud and clear. Some will inevitably take offense to such preaching, but that is ever the case. A good preacher, one who is worth his salt, must be willing to give up his life, or at the very least to enduring harsh criticism. Timid preachers are only a little better than useless. They are, as Gregory the Great said, “dumb dogs that cannot bark.” Thank God that Peter never got the memo! As his fruitful example shows, vigorous biblical preaching includes an edgy quality; it addresses sin, setting it forth plainly but in a way that highlights the glory of grace and mercy. The bottom line is that “You killed the author of life.” Collectively we’ve done it in a thousand ways. However, know that Jesus Christ loves you and has mercy on you in abundance; you can lay hold of this if you repent and run to Him for healing and mercy. This song says, “Sinner, please don’t let this harvest pass and die and lose your soul at last.” – The Striking and Bold Content of the Apostles’ Preaching by Charles Pope This is one of the strategies that the early church followed. They preached sin and they called people out. They were bold and they were fearless. They led many to Christ. The church grew at an unprecedented rate. They infiltrated the enemy and they started to change the enemy from the inside. This is the reason why this strategy is part of the great commission. We defeat the enemy by making the enemy part of us. The secret is the speed at which they did it. They did not sit warming the pews in a church building, listening to a sermon. No, they were found in the streets, daily, boldly preaching the gospel of Christ, daily calling out people because of the sins that they were committing. They feared nothing. They were bold and they named the sins of the people. They added to the kingdom daily. They were advancing the kingdom of God rapidly. All over the Roman Empire. At every street corner, in every house, in every neighborhood, in every marketplace, everywhere people gathered, these men and women were challenging the citizens of the Roman Empire with the gospel of Christ. Although they never physically defended themselves against their enemies, in the end, they conquered all their enemies. Like Christ who was led like a lamb to be slaughtered, so did the Church deal with the governments of the world. They kept on being obedient to God and they left the judgment of those who did all those injustices to them to God. They did not start a “Jewish or Christian Murder” campaign. They did not start a “Christian Lives Matter” campaign. Not even after of thousands of Christians were oppressed and murdered Hebrew 11: 35-38 35. Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection: 36. And others had trial of cruel mockings and scourgings, yea, moreover of bonds and imprisonment: 37. They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being destitute, afflicted, tormented; 38. (Of whom the world was not worthy:) they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, and in dens and caves of the earth. The early Christians had a tough time, yet they were happy and full of joy. They did not give up on life and they did not allow anything to hinder their efforts to preach the gospel of Christ and to set the captive free. 2 Corinthians 4:9 8. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; 9. Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; 10. Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. 11. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus’ sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. During those days, every good thing that we see today was started by Christians. During Biblical times, governments did not care about their citizens. Everybody was busy with his own affairs, everybody was selfishly seeking power, pleasures, and financial wealth. Everybody was serving the many gods that were part of the very popular pagan religions of the time. When someone became terminally ill, they were frowned upon, rejected, and pushed out of the cities where such people were left on their own to die. The gods must have gotten angry with such a person and they probably are punishing him or her they believed. Subsequently, everybody abandoned such people. The general practice in those days was to leave many people to die without food and medical assistance. The church changed all this. They risked their lives by caring for such people. They gave them shelter, food, and clothes and they made their lives as comfortable as possible. They extended hands of friendship and love to such people. Social welfare organizations, support groups, and medical care institutions, hospitals, and many other supportive institutions all have their origins in the Roman Empire where Christians started it all. Eventually, governments got involved but initially, social welfare, development, and support initiatives all started with the Christians in the Roman Empire. The Christians had a great impact on the citizens of the Roman Empire. They changed people. People saw what they were doing. They saw the love and goodness of God in their hearts. Many people did repent and the church grew rapidly. Even the family of government officials became part of Christianity. Even government officials themselves became Christians. This changed everything. When Emperors persistently prosecuted Christians, the family members of government officials, who were in danger of getting killed themselves, pleaded with their husbands to try to change the situation. Persecution had to stop. More and more pressure eventually caused officials in the Roman Empire, and even the Emperors, to stop this cruel practice. The church was eventually legalized all across the Roman Empire. To the detriment of Paganism, the church became a state religion. Christianity was, at last, safe and sound, in the Roman Empire. To personify the fact that the church conquered the mighty Roman Empire, Roman Emperor Henry IV trekked across the Alps in 1077 to beg for Pope Gregory VII’s forgiveness. Only after three days of kneeling in the snow did the medieval ruler finally convince the Pontiff to welcome him back into the Catholic Church. Henry IV had been excommunicated for usurping the Pope’s authority and appointing his own bishops. The dramatic “mea culpa” was a turning point in the centuries-long struggle between religious and royal leaders during the Middle Ages, and the image of Henry IV bowing before his spiritual rival is one that artists and writers later immortalized in paint and prose. Anyway, over many years, one after the other, the true Church conquered their enemies. At first, paganism fell as a direct result of Christianity being officially decreed as the official religion of the Roman Empire. Things drastically changed all over the Roman Empire from that moment. The church outlasted the government of the Western Roman Empire (Rome) when it fell during the invasion of the ten Northern tribes. What a sight that must have been! Nobody thought that the mighty Rome would ever fall. Unfortunately, the Orthodox-Roman Catholic Church became an enemy of the true church. She became like the Empire she was busy conquering. However, the true church of Christ conquered the Roman Catholic church during the time of the reformers. They witnessed how the kings of the world turned their backs on the Roman Catholic church. They saw how the rulers of both the Western Empire (now under new government) and the Eastern Empire withdrew their support from the Roman Catholic church. They saw how these rulers took the status, power, and influence away from the pope and the Roman Catholic church. Eventually, they also outlasted the Eastern Roman Empire during the invasion of the Mohammedans. During this invasion in particular a decision was made not to touch any Christians while the rest of the citizens of the Eastern Roman Empire were slaughtered and defeated. Of course, all these governments caused serious casualties within the ranks of the Christian Church. Of course, they made life very difficult for them but in the end, the Church was victorious. Although the early Christians suffered a lot, they made the world a better place for their families and their children. They did not lose their faith and they stayed faithful to God and faithful to the truth. They ignored the laws and the decrees of all these governments when it was not in line with the will of God and the word of God. They just refused to act and live contrary to the will of God and the word of God by obeying wicked man-made laws and decrees. In every country, right across the world, we need the whole church, every Christian, every Christian denomination, every house church, to follow the two strategies that we discussed in today’s session. Why do I say all denominations and all Christians? Because we have a daunting task on our hands. We need all our brothers and sisters to work together if we want to make a difference. This world wants to destroy us. We need to go out into the streets and to the market places and to the houses and residences of every person in every town and every city and every country so that we can reach the lost for Christ. It is all about numbers. The church needs to be represented on every street corner. The more people we have actively involved in preaching the gospel of Christ, reaching the lost, the more success we will have infiltrating the kingdoms of this world. We need to change the kingdoms of this world from the inside. Do you understand why the fulfillment of the great commission is so critical in this regard? However, the second strategy in today’s session is just as important. We need to fearlessly preach the truth. We need to call out the sinners. It does not matter if such a sinner is a king, or a mayor or a doctor, or a bus driver. We need to address the sins in their lives. We need to say it as it is. We need to call out corrupt government officials. We need to call out the politicians. We do need to offend the people. If we don’t turn back to the ways and the strategies of the early church, we wRead more